Sterile manufacturing group Symbiosis Pharmaceutical Services has boosted its North American presence with the appointment of a US based business development executive.
The Scotland-based contract manufacturing organisation (CMO) has engaged Rich Masino to promote its commercial interests on the West Coast of the US, which follows the recent appointment of business development manager Derek Richards to oversee its commercial interests on the East Coast.
With over 25 years’ experience in the biotech, life science, and pharmaceutical sectors, Rich Masino has specialised in the pharmaceutical contract manufacturing sector over the last decade. Prior to that he has held product development positions at Molecular Devices and Affymetrix and senior commercial roles at Stratagene (Agilent Technologies) and LIFE Technologies (ThermoFisher).
He joins Symbiosis to support the CMO’s strategic focus by promoting its core aseptic manufacturing services in North America. Growing demand for these services has been fuelled by increased demand for small scale biologic and small molecule sterile production capabilities to support a growing number of clinical trials globally.
Colin MacKay, CEO at Symbiosis Pharmaceutical Services, said: “We continue to raise awareness of our world class capabilities in the North American market in response to increasing demand from biotech and pharma companies seeking service excellence from a regulatory-compliant and time-focused contract sterile fill/finish CMO.
“Bringing Rich on board gives us an opportunity to engage directly with new clients located on the West Coast and to support our existing relationships with North American clients.
“The challenge ahead is to ensure that companies in the U.S. understand where we can add specific value to their drug development projects. What works in our favour is that we have an outstanding track record of consistently and successfully helping clients achieve their crucial drug development milestones in the most time-efficient way possible.”
Rich stated: “I have known Colin for many years and have not been surprised by the company’s expansion, which has been lead by the company having a niche focus in terms of providing sterile vial filling services for conventional small molecules, biological, cytotoxic, liquid and lyophilised drug products at a relatively small scale.
“I am excited about the firm’s U.S. expansion plans and delighted to be joining the team at this juncture. I’m confident this will be a catalyst for great mutual success in the North American market for many years to come.”
Symbiosis specialises in sterile injectables and the aseptic manufacturing of drug products into vials. Its core manufacturing capability takes place within a purpose-built facility in Stirling, Scotland, designed for the manufacture and quick release of sterile drug products at clinical and niche market scale.