New CEO to implement growth plan at Cell Therapies Pty Ltd

Melbourne, Australia 21 April 2014: Cell Therapies Pty Ltd (Cell Therapies), the leading manufacturer and distributor of cellular therapies in Asia Pacific, has appointed Dr Tim Oldham as CEO to implement an aggressive growth plan. Dr Oldham succeeds founding CEO and Managing Director Ray Wood who will continue as a Director.
Cell Therapies has more than eleven years experience with a wide range of cellular therapies for clinical trial and approved therapeutic uses. Cell Therapies has developed multiple processes for leading stem cell companies, including Mesoblast Ltd and Prima Biomed Ltd, that have been successfully transferred to global manufacturing networks. It has maintained an enviable Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) record at its Melbourne facilities within the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre; and licensed its quality system to support cGMP compliance at several other facilities across Asia.
“As late stage and approved product numbers grow, scaling manufacturing up and out to reliably deliver a time sensitive, patient specific product with needle-to-needle control is becoming THE challenge facing the cell based therapies industry,” says Dr Oldham. “Cell Therapies’ unique expertise is solving this challenge. I am very excited to have been chosen to build on this expertise and grow our contract manufacturing and approved product distribution business into SE Asia. These markets comprise more than 650 million people and are some of the fastest growing healthcare markets in the world.”
In January 2013, Cell Therapies licensed Medipost’s second-generation cartilage repair product, Cartistem. The company is in several active discussions to secure distribution rights to other late stage products addressing high un-met patient needs. Its Melbourne capacity is being upgraded to PIC/s compliance and will double in 2016-17 when it moves to a brand new facility at the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre (VCCC). The move to the VCCC continues Cell Therapies’ history of strong integration with the clinical delivery of cellular treatments. Additional capacity is available in Adelaide where affiliated company Nextcell Pty Ltd provides manufacturing services to the CRC for Cell Therapy Manufacturing. Discussions are advancing with a partner to develop a facility in Malaysia and a capital raising process has begun to facilitate expansion.
“The time is right for Cell Therapies. We have a proven platform of scarce capabilities that every product development company needs, the industry is maturing fast as more Phase III trials confirm the potential, and Dr Oldham’s appointment brings the growth and commercialisation skills we need to capitalise on the industry’s growth, ” said Chairman Dr Christian Behrenbruch. Dr Oldham has been leading growth in new and emerging pharma and biotech markets for more than 10 years. Between 2002 and 2012 he held increasingly senior roles at Mayne Pharma Ltd and then Hospira Inc where he was President, Asia Pacific. He led Mayne Pharma’s entry into biosimilars, several new market and new segment entries in Europe and Asia, and achieved double digit growth in Hospira’s generic and specialty pharmaceutical portfolios in Asia. He is also a non-executive director of listed biotech companies Acrux Ltd and iSonea Ltd. “Dr Oldham’s skills and experience ideally compliment our already deep technical and scientific skills and reputation,” said Dr Behrenbruch.
Commenting on the leadership succession, outgoing CEO Ray Wood said, “it is with great pride that I hand over the business to Dr Oldham. We have been working together effectively for several months, the transition is progressing smoothly and great momentum is building behind the growth plans. Our world-class technical and scientific team, led by Dr Dominic Wall, will be well served by Dr Oldham’s leadership.”
About Cell Therapies Pty Ltd:
Cell Therapies is the leading manufacturer and distributor of cellular therapies in Asia Pacific, a region of over 650 million people. Cell Therapies provides the essential manufacturing and distribution infrastructure for the safe, reliable and scalable delivery of cellular therapies into clinical trials and for therapeutic use.
For over eleven years it has made these capabilities available on a contract basis to some of the world’s leading stem cell companies, developing products and processes that are compliant with global regulatory and cGMP requirements and successfully integrating with global manufacturing networks. Cell Therapies also in-licenses late stage products for high un-met needs for commercialisation in SE Asia and Australasia.
Partner, investor and media enquiries to:
Dr Tim Oldham
+61 3 9656 1615