Abzena has appointed Dr. Campbell Bunce as Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) and Bo Adair MBA as Senior Vice President Process and Operations.
Dr. Bunce joined Abzena in November 2015 as SVP Scientific Operations and Cambridge UK site head. The newly created CSO role recognizes the strong innovation focus and depth of scientific expertise that customers expect from Abzena in biologic and Antibody Drug Conjugate design, discovery and development, as well as an expectation of seamless execution. Dr. Bunce will maintain his Cambridge UK site head responsibilities in addition to this global role.
Campbell is a twenty-year veteran of the biotechnology industry. Throughout his career he has applied innovative solutions for the design, manufacture and clinical evaluation of novel products including vaccines, biologics and small molecules in multiple therapeutic areas. These include inflammation, cancer, infectious disease and addiction. Since joining Abzena, he has guided the expansion of its integrated capabilities across discovery, developability, protein engineering, cell line development, bioconjugation, analytics and bioassay services. His education includes a PhD from the University of Manchester, an undergraduate degree from the University of Glasgow, and numerous scientific publications and editorials.
“Our customers rely on our ability to solve tough scientific questions whilst shortening timelines and ultimately improving clinical outcomes for patients,” Dr. Bunce said. “I view our role as developing drugs by proxy and guide our team to partner very closely with our customer. The combination of world class scientific excellence and technical capabilities will maximize the likelihood of success.”
Bo Adair joins Abzena to the newly created role of Senior Vice President Process and Operations, based in San Diego and leading project management and process improvement globally. He is a twenty-five-year veteran of the industry, having served in senior roles at contract research organizations including Aptuit, and Harlan Laboratories as well as leading management consulting organizations. He has consulted extensively with complex organizations including Bayer, Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson, Cardinal Healthcare, and the United States Army. His background includes an MBA from the Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien & University of South Carolina, an undergraduate degree from Auburn University, and a qualification as a Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt.
Adair will focus on excellence of integrated project delivery within and across Abzena’s sites, leveraging project management, process improvement and enabling technologies. He will ensure all processes are optimized to ensure the highest quality standards.
“I am delighted to be joining the company and look forward to working personally with Abzena’s partners to deliver their projects on the planned timeline to the highest scientific and regulatory quality across Abzena’s integrated design, development and GMP manufacturing capabilities,” Adair said.
“I am delighted to announce these appointments. Campbell deserves the newly created role of CSO, which recognizes his exceptional scientific abilities and the differentiation we bring to the customer as the only Partner Research Organization with a dedicated focus on target to GMP for biologics and ADCs,” Jonathan Goldman MD, CEO of Abzena, said. “Our customers expect more than just CMO services. Separately, I had the privilege of working with Bo Adair for many years and am extremely pleased that we have an executive of his caliber to allow us to scale up our integrated solutions operation as demand and the number of projects grow. Our focus is making a difference for patients and I am confident that Campbell and Bo will help achieve that goal.”