ViroCell Biologics Expands U.S. Business Development Team
Appoints Meredith Brown as Senior Director and Elaine Rihn as Director of Business Development.
December 16, 2024
ViroCell Biologics, a cell and gene therapy (CGT) contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) specializing in GMP viral vector manufacturing for clinical trials, is expanding its U.S. business development team with the appointments of Meredith Brown as Senior Director and Elaine Rihn as Director of Business Development.
Both join from Lonza Inc., where their roles focused on generating and expanding commercial contracts with clients in CGT manufacturing. Brown and Rihn will focus on growing ViroCell’s U.S. market share and report to Traci Kyes, ViroCell’s Vice President of Business Development.
John W. Hadden II, CEO at ViroCell, commented: “We are delighted to appoint two highly talented and experienced professionals to further accelerate ViroCell’s strong commercial traction in the vector market. Team ViroCell extends a warm welcome to Meredith and Elaine, who have proven track records of delivering commercial results in cell and gene therapy manufacturing, to bring ViroCell’s unique viral vector design, de-risking, and high titer GMP offering to more innovators across the U.S.”
Meredith Brown
Brown has a wealth of expertise in business development, executive leadership, and venture capital strategy in the biotech industry. Most recently, she was Director of Business Development and Account Management at Lonza Inc., where she facilitated the company’s commercial activities by negotiating contracts for CGT process development and GMP manufacturing across all clinical stages.
Before joining Lonza in 2019, Brown was the founder and CEO of Gravitas Biomanufacturing, established to provide specialized manufacturing to early-stage CGT companies requiring clinical grade products. She also launched another start-up company to provide vectors for cell therapy, gene therapy and DNA vaccines.
Elaine Rihn
Rihn brings over 15 years of CGT commercial development and customer relationship experience to ViroCell, as the company seeks to capture a greater U.S. market share.
She was most recently Director of Business Development, Cell and Gene Technology at Lonza Inc., where she focused on technology capabilities in gene, viral and cell therapies, collaborating with potential customers to offer clinical phase service solutions. Previously, Rihn worked at Gamida Cell Ltd. as a Director of Commercial Readiness and Supply Chain Operations in the U.S. portfolio from 2020. She also spent 11 years as Senior Program Manager and Global Lead in Cell and Gene Therapy at Lonza Walkersville Inc.