London, UK, August 30, 2022 – Ori Biotech Ltd. (Ori), a leader in cell and gene therapy (CGT) manufacturing technology, today announces details of its strategic expansion plan following its $100 million Series B funding round in January 2022. Ori has augmented key expertise, personnel and facilities globally in order to rapidly transition into the launch of its innovative cell and gene therapy (CGT) manufacturing platform.
“Delivering an automated manufacturing platform to the cell and gene therapy industry requires Ori to deliver scientific, technical and digital innovation in one integrated platform. Our recent Series B funding has enabled us to continue to invest in rapid expansion in preparation for full commercial launch. This ambition has also required us to bring new expertise into the business as well as expand our physical footprint in the US and UK,” said Jason C. Foster, CEO, Ori Biotech. “We have added significant expertise to our senior team and are opening two new facilities that will jointly enable us to extend our leadership position in the industrialization of personalized medicines. In addition, the new members of our SAB, Isabelle Rivière and Jason Bock bring a combined 45 years’ experience from their positions at two of the leading cancer centers in the world, Memorial Sloan Kettering and MD Anderson respectively, and will provide critical insights as we continue to work with academic research centers.”
Ori is continuing to expand key personnel both in the US and UK, with a variety of additional roles within teams across digital infrastructure, data analytics, software, manufacturing, and quality. Kale Feeter and Lindsey Clarke have joined Ori as Directors of Business Development. Kale was formerly at Cytiva and Thermo Fisher while Lindsey joins from Bio-Techne having previously been at Miltenyi Biotec. In addition, Quentin Vicard, has been appointed as Director of Product Management joining from Sartorius, Brian Macauley has joined as Cloud Platform Lead and Claire Horlock as Principal Scientist, joining from Autolus.
Ori Biotech has built on what is already a world class Scientific Advisory Board (SAB). Isabelle Rivière adds 25 years of CGT experience to the SAB, including from the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSKCC), where she is currently the Director, Cell Therapy and Cell Engineering Laboratory. Isabelle is also a co-founder of Juno Therapeutics, and a board member of the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ASGCT) and past board member of the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (ARM). Jason Bock, CEO at the newly formed CTMC and formerly VP and Head of Biologics Product Development, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, also adds 20 years biotech experience developing and bringing therapeutics to the market.
In parallel, Ori is opening a new laboratory and corporate facility in Princeton, New Jersey, US, and will be opening a new Technology Centre, in Cambridge, UK. David Smith, VP, Technical Operations, will head the team based at Princeton Innovation Centre Biolabs. This space includes labs as well as corporate offices and meeting facilities. The laboratory space is to be used for partner work, proof of concept testing, demonstrations, technology integration, as well as providing additional application development. This facility will support the existing main Ori laboratory facilities in London, UK. The new Technology Centre in Cambridge, UK will be used for engineering, R&D including in the fields of mechanics, electronics, software, data science, multiphysics and robotics. Led by Stuart Milne, Chief Technology Officer, the facility will enable a specialized team of engineers and scientists to develop Ori’s next generation prototypes, mechanical, electrical and software activity and digital platforms.
“The commercialization of Ori’s automated cell and gene therapy manufacturing platform will require technical and scientific research and development as well as working closely with a range of different organizations within the international cell and gene therapy sector on an ongoing basis. Our New Jersey facility will provide a flexible location for us to meet with our partners and customers based in the US,” said David Smith, VP, Technical Operations, Ori Biotech.
“Expanding Ori’s ability to operate in both the US and UK will be vital not just to launch the platform that the cell and gene therapy sector requires but to continue to enhance the platform as the sector evolves. Our dedicated UK technology centre in Cambridge will be vital for the device and hardware development,” said Stuart Milne, Chief Technology Officer, Ori Biotech.
About Ori Biotech
Ori is a London-and New Jersey-based manufacturing technology company pioneering flexible process discovery with seamless translation and scalable commercialization of cell and gene therapies. Ori has developed a proprietary, full stack manufacturing platform that closes, automates and standardizes CGT manufacturing. This allows therapeutic developers to advance and bring their products to market at commercial scale. The promise of the innovative Ori platform is to fully automate CGT manufacturing. This will increase throughput, improve quality and decrease costs by combining proprietary hardware, software, data and analytics.
Ori was founded in 2015 by Dr. Farlan Veraitch (UCL). Ori has been fully funded with a Series A of $30 million in 2020, and a Series B of $100 million in January 2022. Ori has brought together a seasoned board and management team with over 200 years of combined pharmaceutical, CGT and venture building experience. This includes CEO Jason C. Foster (Indivior), CBO Jason Jones (Miltenyi), CDOO Kevin Gordon (Tmunity), CTO Stuart Milne (Cytiva), VP Tom Heathman (Minaris), VP David Smith (Minaris), VP Lee Unroe (Indivior), Chris Mason (AVROBIO), Paul Meister (ThermoFisher) and Annalisa Jenkins (Dimension Therapeutics) alongside expert advisers like Bruce Levine, Anthony Davies, and Robert Preti. For more information, visit oribiotech.com