​he Small Molecule CDMO team here at Mantell Associates is recognised as the 'go-to' partner within this niche space, with an unprecedented track record of placing professionals from Mid-Senior through to C-Suite & Board appointments. As a team we cover all areas from; Small Molecule API's, Dosage Forms, Peptides, Oligonucleotides & other chemical entities.

The Small Molecule space currently dominates the market and will continue to do so for the next 10+ years. The first half of the year saw some interesting moves in terms of senior personnel, however the second half of the year seems to be even more fascinating - take a look at some of the notable changes within the industry.

​

Sylke Hassel, Chief Executive Officer

Moved to: PharmaZell Group

Moved from: Lonza

Sector: Small Molecule CDMO

One of the major moves within the Small Molecule space sees Sylke Hassel move to PharmaZell Group. Having previously worked at the likes of Sandoz and McKinsey, she has now made the move from Lonza where she was SVP and Global Head of Mammalian, to join the PharmaZell Group business as CEO. She brings with her 16 years of experience within the industry, as well as a PhD from The Julius Maximilians University of Würzburg. Since joining, PharmaZell has merged with Novasep meaning now combined they have annual sales of almost $600 million and 2000 employees.

​

Angelo Gatto, Chief Commercial Officer

Moved to: Adragos Pharma

Moved from: Aenova Group

Sector: Small Molecule CDMO

Angelo joined Adragos Pharma as Chief Commercial Offer in August 2021, after serving as Senior Vice President, Global Sales and Marketing at Aenova Group where he had overall responsibility for the Sales and Marketing group and was also a member of the Executive Leadership team. He was with Aenova for 11 years and prior to this he worked at various companies including Pfizer and Johnson&Johnson. Angelo is a respected leader in the Small Molecule CDMO space and will undoubtedly use his vast experience and skillset to contribute to Adragos Pharma's continued growth.

​

Jenifer Wheat, Chief Commercial Officer

Moved to: Solvias AG

Moved from: Lykan Bioscience

Sector: Small Molecule CDMO

In the middle of Q2 of 2021, Jenifer Wheat was appointed Chief Commercial Officer at Solvias AG. Throughout her career, Jenifer has been a CCO at Lykan Bioscience, Head of Commercial Development at Lonza, and previously served as Vice President and Head of Global Business Development at Samsung Biologics. She brings a vast range of experience to her new role, and she has extensive knowledge of biopharmaceutical manufacturing and business life cycle. She is also highly skilled in negotiation of business agreements across the US, EU, Korea, Japan and the Middle East.

​

Hua Tu, Chief Technology Officer

Moved to: Curia

Moved from: LakePharma

Sector: Small Molecule CDMO

Curia acquired LakePharma back in August 2021 and Hua Tu, LakePharma’s founder and CEO, will serve on Curia’s executive team as Chief Technology Officer. Hua brings more than 20 years of experience in the biotech industry to Curia. He founded LakePharma, the biologics company, in 2009 and built the business into one of the premium U.S.-based biologics service providers. Before founding LakePharma, he got his Ph.D from Stony Book University, and he spent 11 years at Amgen working on various drug development programs. In 2020, Hua was listed by ‘IndustryEra’ as one of the ’10 Best Inspiring CEOs’.

​

Andreas Winterfeldt, Chief Executive Officer

Moved to: PHT International, Inc

Moved from: Lianhe Chemical Technology

Sector: Small Molecule CDMO

After being the Chief Executive Officer and President at Lianhe Chemical Technologyfor 3 years, Dr, Andreas has left to join PHT International as CEO. Prior to joining the company in 2015, he was with Boehringer Ingelheim for 9 years, Honeywell for 2 years and Huber for 3 years. He is an accomplished executive with a highly diversified, international and multicultural background with over 30 years of experience in general management, strategy development, transformational change management, global business management. He joins PHT to help them be a leading CDMO within 5 years.

​

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!