​The Large Molecule CDMO arm of Mantell Associates covers all appointments within Contract Development and Manufacturing Organisations for new & existing Biological entities, including Vaccines, Cell & Gene Therapy, Biosimilars, Monoclonal Antibodies and Recombinant Proteins. This market is growing rapidly and has been amplified by the pandemic with COVID-19 vaccine production ramped up. The first half of 2021 was interesting in terms of senior movers, and the second half of 2021 is providing strong competition – notably the number of exciting female C-Suite appointments across the board. Here are some of the movers & shakers from Q3 & Q4 in 2021.

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Ulrike Lemke, Chief Transformation Officer

Moved to: Recipharm

Moved from: Lonza

Sector: Large Molecule CDMO

Ulrike is an outstanding example of strong female leadership in within CDMO. With an enviable academic record comprising a Msc in Biochemistry and a PhD in functional Genomics, Ulrike has enjoyed a hugely successful career thus far. Highlights include 4 years with McKinsey & Company before 5 years with Lonza which saw her reach VP, Global Head of Marketing for Pharma & Biotech at a 15,000-person company. After 2 years with Sartorius as SVP, Head of Marketing for Bioprocessing, Ulrike has most recently joined Recipharm where she is re-united with former Lonza CEO, Marc Funk. As CTO, Ulrike is spearheading a major transformation during a hugely exciting time for Recipharm.

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Mark Womack, Chief Executive Officer

Moved to: Stelis Biopharma

Moved from: AGC Biologics

Sector: Large Molecule CDMO

Mark Womack is a name who everyone respects – his work is widely recognised, and he has now secured a much-deserved CEO role with Stelis Biopharma. Mark’s career began in the Navy, including leading a unit in combat central on a destroyer class ship. Following that, he conquered the international management consulting industry, with big name clients in many sectors, including Biopharma. Despite having no scientific degree, his track record and leadership skills secured him the CBO role with AGC Biologics, where he led a 3x new sales increase in just 2 years. Mark is now leading Stelis Biopharma through their next stage of business growth.

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Deborah Wild, President & CEO

Moved to: Cellipont Bioservices

Moved from: Ex-Catalent

Sector: Large Molecule CDMO

Deborah is a veteran in two fields; the US Army & the Biologics CDMO space. She spent 8 years as a Staff Sergent with 30+ years’ in Biotech. Deborah spent 15 years with Genentech before 13 years in Executive Quality roles. In 2017, at Paragon, she played a key role in transforming a family business into a PE funded organisation which sold to Catalent for $1.2bn in 2019. At Catalent, she reached Global Head of Client & Business Management for CGT whilst also on the board of CoreRx. Recently, Deborah led a consultancy before becoming President & CEO of Performance Cell Manufacturing, which most recently changed its name to Cellipont Bioservices. They will certainly be an interesting CDMO to follow.

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Jean-Baptiste Agnus, Chief Business Officer

Moved to: AGC Biologics

Moved from: Ajinomoto

Sector: Large Molecule CDMO

Jean-Baptiste brings 20+ years of experience within CDMO across Small & Large Molecule. With a Msc in Organic Chemistry as well as Process Engineering, Jean-Baptiste has used his education to succeed in a variety of international commercial positions. His longest time was spent with Novasep (13 years), where he began as a Business Development Manager and received multiple promotions culminating as Head of Business Development for CDMO. His next two companies are both Japanese owned market leaders. This included 3 years with Ajinomoto Bio-Pharma as VP of Sales & Marketing before recently securing a CBO position with AGC Biologics, tasked with driving their Cell & Gene Therapy expansion.

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Hannah Lesch, Chief Technology Officer

Moved to: Exothera

Moved from: Kuopio Center for G&CT

Sector: Large Molecule CDMO

Hannah’s highly successful 15+ years of industry experience dedicated to Gene Therapy were kickstarted with her Msc in Biotechnology followed by a PhD in Molecular Medicine. Since then, she has stayed close to academia, as an adjunct professor at the University of Eastern Finland. She is also a known face with the Gene Therapy space, speaking at many public events. During her time in industry, Hanna spent 8 years with Ark Therapeutics as a Senior Scientist before 2 as Assistant Research Manager. The past 7 years have spent within CDMO with FinVectors OY as Research & Development Director before most recently securing a CTO position with Exothera.

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A NOTE FROM OUR CEO: Alessandro Mantell

It is with great pride and excitement that Mantell Associates have launched our first ever ‘Movers & Shakers’, which has been designed to highlight some of the biggest moves across the Life Science & Pharmaceutical Industry within the first six months of 2021.

Anyone who has followed the Mantell Associates journey so far will see the great extent of the effort and care that we have invested into making Mantell Associates not just ‘another recruitment business’ but a truly specialist, high-level headhunting organisation. We focus on Senior level appointments and consulting services, but we strive to share market intelligence and industry relevant content, and to provide exposure for individuals and businesses through the Mantell Associates Network podcast, which has already featured 21 industry leaders. In this ‘Movers & Shakers’ we look at the high level leadership moves between January and June this year, in particular across CDMO Large Molecule, CDMO Small Molecule, Life Sciences, Medical Devices & Consultancies, Market Access, HEOR. The incredible people and businesses that we highlight in this particular ‘Movers & Shakers’ are not only those who changed role but rather those who, during an incredibly difficult time, saw an opportunity to make an impact on the world and those around them.

Thank you from all of the Mantell Associates team – we hope you enjoy it!

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