Strengthened Board Leadership Positions Ori to Scale Automation in Cell Therapy Manufacturing and Advance Distributed Access to Personalized Medicines
PHILADELPHIA, PA and LONDON, UK – April 1, 2026 – Ori Biotech, a leader in next-generation cell and gene therapy (CGT) manufacturing technology, today announced key appointments to its Board of Directors to support the company’s next phase of commercial growth and industry impact.
Dr. Annalisa Jenkins, OBE, has been appointed Chair of the Board. Tony Hunt, former CEO and Executive Chairman of Repligen, and Henrik Andersen, former Senior Vice President at Bristol Myers Squibb, join as Non-Executive Directors. Barry Clare and Professor Chris Mason, members of Ori’s founding board, will step down and continue to advise the company.
“These leadership appointments mark an important inflection point for Ori,” said Jason C. Foster, CEO of Ori Biotech. “With Annalisa as Chair and the addition of Tony and Henrik, Ori has the board depth and operating experience required to scale globally and lead the transformation of cell therapy manufacturing.”
Chair Statement
“I am honored to assume the role of Chair at a defining moment for Ori and for the broader cell and gene therapy sector,” said Dr. Annalisa Jenkins, Chair of Ori Biotech. “The future of this industry will be shaped by five critical imperatives: the need for true automation, the central importance of high-quality biology, the intelligent use of data to automate and control that biology, scalable manufacturing with commercially viable cost of goods, and distributed access to autologous, personalized therapies across oncology and immunology.
To unlock the next generation of transformative medicines, we must move beyond first-generation, costly, labor-intensive systems and toward integrated, end-to-end manufacturing solutions. Ori’s platform has the potential to serve as the anchor technology for that future — seamlessly integrating hardware, consumables, software, data, and analytics to automate biology from development through GMP and commercial scale.
With the addition of Tony and Henrik — both widely recognized leaders in bioprocessing and advanced therapeutics — Ori now has the right board leadership to guide this platform through its next phase of growth. Combined with our expanding partnerships across the biopharma industry and our FDA Advanced Manufacturing Technology designation, Ori is positioned to become a foundational technology partner to therapy developers worldwide.”
Board Appointments
Dr. Annalisa Jenkins, OBE, MBBS, FRCP is a globally recognized biopharma leader with more than 25 years of experience building and financing biotechnology companies. She previously served as President and CEO of Dimension Therapeutics (acquired by Ultragenyx) and held senior leadership roles at Merck Serono and Bristol Myers Squibb. She was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to life sciences.
Tony Hunt is the former CEO and Executive Chairman of Repligen, where he led a decade of transformative growth, scaling the company to a market capitalization exceeding $15 billion through operational excellence, disciplined M&A, and innovation in bioprocessing technologies.
Henrik Andersen brings more than two decades of global leadership across biologics, cell, and
gene therapy development. Most recently, he served as Senior Vice President at Bristol Myers
Squibb, overseeing technology development for cell therapy programs from early-stage development through commercial life cycle management.
These appointments reflect Ori’s commitment to building the governance and strategic depth necessary to transform how advanced therapies are manufactured and delivered to patients
About Ori Biotech
Ori Biotech is a manufacturing technology company focused on enabling scalable, cost-effective, and distributed manufacturing of cell and gene therapies. IRO®, Ori’s next-generation platform, automates cell therapy manufacturing by integrating proprietary hardware, consumables, software, data, and analytics into a unified system that transitions seamlessly from R&D to GMP production.
Launched in 2024, IRO® holds FDA Advanced Manufacturing Technology (AMT) designation, recognizing its potential to improve reliability, scalability, and product quality while accelerating therapy development.
For news and updates, visit oribiotech.com/news-insights
Media Contact: Lee Unroe, Media Relations, Ori Biotech, (804) 887-0740, [email protected]