New Hire with Significant Commercial and Academic Experience
The Cell Therapy Catapult, which is focused on the development of the UK cell therapy industry to increase the nation’s health and wealth, has appointed industry veteran Professor Johan Hyllner to its executive management team as Chief Scientific Officer (CSO). He joins from French company Cellectis SA, where he was CSO for Cellectis Stem Cells, and has significant experience of directing and running scientific programmes in both industry and academia.
As Chief Scientific Officer at the Cell Therapy Catapult, Professor Hyllner is responsible for external scientific relations, assessment of candidate projects and technical oversight of preclinical programmes. The CSO will ensure that the scientific direction of the Cell Therapy
Catapult remains at the forefront of translational research.
Professor Hyllner has occupied a range of management roles in the cell therapy industry, in which he has worked for over 15 years, at companies such as Cellartis AB, Vitrolife AB and Scandinavian QC Laboratories AB. He has extensive transaction experience and has been involved in major collaborative projects with industry and academia.
Keith Thompson, CEO of the Cell Therapy Catapult, said: ‘I am delighted to welcome Johan to our management team as Chief Scientific Officer. His strong scientific background and commercial focus make him the ideal hire for us, as we continue to develop our project pipeline and focus on building the UK cell therapy industry.’
Professor Johan Hyllner, Chief Scientific Officer, said ‘My role as CSO at the Cell Therapy Catapult provides a great opportunity to be involved in high-quality scientific projects and helping them progress towards the clinic. I’m looking forward to working on this exciting initiative with Keith and the team, and to engaging with the cell therapy community in the UK and internationally.’