Skip to main content

Symbiosis boosts business development team to support US growth

Written by: Mike Wood
Published on: 6 Jun 2019

Stirling, UK – LEADING contract manufacturing organisation (CMO) Symbiosis Pharmaceutical Services has boosted its business development team to support its growth and continued development in the US.

Business Development Manager Helen Caddy-Leach will be responsible for maximising the CMO’s presence in the US market, working with new and existing clients to ensure the continued successful delivery of sterile biomanufacturing services to US clients.

Symbiosis, headquartered in Scotland, UK, recently relocated to new premises on Massachusetts Avenue in the heart of the global biotech hub of Cambridge, MA, with Technology Square and Kendall Square only minutes from the new office.

The US continues to be a significant growth area for Symbiosis, with more than 30% of annual revenues generated from this key geographical market. This strategic office move brings Symbiosis closer to its existing clients while representing an excellent platform on which to further boost the company’s profile while positioning it well for continued growth in North America.

Helen’s previous experience includes time as Commercial Manager for an analytical services company and prior to that with a specialist in life sciences decontamination services.

Colin MacKay, CEO at Symbiosis Pharmaceutical Services, said: “Helen’s experience means she has a strong understanding of GMP and the sterile cleanroom environment which gives her an excellent grounding for her role here at Symbiosis.

“Helen will support the growth of the business in the US. Biopharma continues to significantly grow in this market, especially the number of small to mid-size and virtual companies, and Symbiosis is quickly becoming the foremost CMO for the outsourcing of small-scale sterile filling.

“Helen’s experience and knowledge will benefit both the team at Symbiosis and our growing client base in the US.”

The appointment follows the recent announcement that Symbiosis and Freeline Therapeutics, a UK biotechnology company focused on developing curative viral vector gene therapies for chronic systemic diseases, have been jointly awarded a collaborative grant of £1.3m ($1.65m) from Innovate UK in partnership with the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult (CGTC) in Stevenage, UK.

The Freeline-led project will see Symbiosis develop an innovative UK-based drug substance/drug product viral vector supply chain solution intended to increase the speed of the Freeline production cycle by over 25%.

Helen said: “My experience in the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical markets gives me a great understanding of the challenges that our clients face. This enables me to tailor Symbiosis’ services to meet client needs and ultimately ensure that we work together to deliver the best service and hit their clinical trial goals.

“It’s a very exciting time to be joining Symbiosis as the company continues to innovate and position itself as a world leader in it sterile bio-manufacturing.”

Symbiosis specialises in the aseptic fill/finish of biologic and small molecule pharmaceutical products into vials and focuses on the sterile manufacture of injectable drug products in both liquid and lyophilized formulations.