“It is so great to talk to like-minded individuals at Kincell whom, I can tell, are going to be true partners.”
Senior Vice President for CMC
Small Immunotherapy Company
A key advantage of working with Kincell Bio is the experience of our team, with expertise in early-stage cell therapy CMC, project management, and manufacturing.
Chief Executive Officer
Bruce Thomson brings more than 28 years of experience to his position at CEO. Prior to his role with Kincell Bio, LLC, Bruce was Vice President and Technical Lead for the Cell Therapy Franchise at Resilience, Inc., where he helped to build the development and GMP manufacturing capabilities and served as a technical advisor both internally and externally.
He has over 18 years of CMC strategy, product development and cell therapy manufacturing experience. In his first startup role, he was Vice President of Process Sciences at Lyell Immunopharma, where he was responsible for Process and Analytical Development, as well as tech transfer of processes and methods to a newly built state-of-the-art cGMP facility. Prior to Lyell, Bruce served as the Sr. Director of the Therapeutic Products Program at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (FHCRC), where he led GMP manufacturing of cell and gene therapy products. He was responsible for supporting more than 15 active clinical programs and contributed to the filing of 6 INDs for various cell therapy programs.
As part of his early career development, Bruce spent nearly 10 years at Pfizer in the Pharmaceutical Sciences division where he gained expertise in analytical and process development.
Bruce received his B.A. in Biology, an M.S. in Biochemistry from The Ohio State University and Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Louisville.
Chief Financial Officer
Tatjana Heller brings over 20 years of diverse financial leadership and deep life sciences industry experience. Prior to her role at Kincell Bio, Tatjana was a VP of Investor Relations, Treasury, and Business Development at Resilience, Inc. where she oversaw a period of rapid expansion and capital deployment. Prior to Resilience, Tatjana was a Head of Portfolio Forecasting, Analytics, and Reporting at Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research (NIBR), where she led portfolio decision-making process for Novartis’ 300+ R&D projects in discovery and early development phases. Prior to her time at NIBR, Tatjana was part of the Life Sciences Financial Advisory leadership team at Ernst & Young LLP and Deloitte LLP. In this capacity, she supported clients by applying a financial lens to significant business decisions in support of organic and inorganic growth strategies.
Tatjana obtained a business degree with a concentration in Finance from Trier University, Germany, and went on to obtain an MBA from Clark University. Tatjana is a Chartered Financial Analyst since 2009.
Chief of Staff
Jennifer Keister is the Chief of Staff to the CEO. Jen brings a range of expertise to her work at Kincell, including experience as a consultant helping corporate clients, state governments, national governments, international development organizations, and nonprofits achieve strategic and operational success.
Jen received her BA in Government from the College of William & Mary, and her MA and PhD in Political Science from the University of California, San Diego, and has held research fellowships at Harvard University’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, the US Institute of Peace, the University of Notre Dame’s Kroc Center, and the Cato Institute.
VP of Business Development
Jessica Carmen has more than 15 years of experience in the cell and gene therapy industry. Recently she was Executive Vice President of Science & Technology at Adjuvant Partners, supporting companies in the cell and gene therapy space with their strategy, partnering, and business development needs. In a consulting capacity, she has supported the business development team at Oxford Biomedica, a manufacturer of clinical and commercial viral vectors. She has a broad technical knowledge base in cell and gene therapies with deep understanding of manufacturing of these innovative medicines and unique insights into the commercialization of tools and services to support the manufacture of these therapies.
In her prior roles she has been responsible for out-licensing a non-viral enabling technology for cellular engineering at MaxCyte. She also has been responsible for establishing partnerships with developers of cell-based medicines in order to expand the cell therapy contract manufacturing business at Lonza. Dr. Carmen has been instrumental in the establishment of the Standards Coordinating Body for Regenerative Medicines and is currently serving as Vice President of the Board of Directors. She has been a member of the Science and Technology Committee of the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine and has served on the Commercialization Committee for the International Society of Cellular Therapy. Dr. Carmen earned a Doctorate from the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Florida.
VP of Manufacturing Operations
Matt Haines is the VP of Manufacturing Operations at Kincell Bio where he is leading the buildout and operation of Kincell’s Advanced Manufacturing Platform (AMP+). Prior to joining Inceptor Bio, he was the Senior Director of Manufacturing at AveXis/Novartis Gene Therapies where he played a key role in the successful approval and launch of a commercial gene therapy as well as the expansion of their manufacturing network. In his 20+ years in the biotech industry he has held various roles within Manufacturing, Engineering, Manufacturing Sciences and Quality at multiple companies such as Biogen, Amgen and Merck. Matt earned his BS in Chemical Engineering from Drexel University.
Chairman
A serial entrepreneur with decades of experience building value in biotech, Mark Bamforth has founded, built and sold three CDMOs.
In 2019, Mark founded Arranta Bio, an advanced therapeutics CDMO focused on the microbiome, plasmid and mRNA vaccines, which was sold to Recipharm in April 2022. Prior, he founded Brammer Bio, a best-in-class viral vector CDMO for cell and gene therapies that supported leading innovators (acquired by Thermo Fisher Scientific in 2019). In 2010, Mr. Bamforth founded a biologics CDMO, Gallus BioPharmaceuticals, and acquired a world-class facility and team with a commercial supply agreement with Janssen. The Company tripled through organic growth and merged with Laureate Biopharma, before being sold to DPx Holdings (Patheon) in 2014.
Mark currently invests in and mentors U.S.- and Scottish-based life science entrepreneurs in addition to serving as a general partner in an antimicrobial resistance fund.
Mark spent 22 years at Genzyme, with nearly a decade as a corporate officer leading the Company’s 12-site global manufacturing operation and a pharmaceutical CMO unit. He serves on the boards of Continuus Pharma, Pneumagen, Enterobiotix and Entrepreneurial Scotland. Mark has a BS in Chemical Engineering from Strathclyde University and an MBA from Henley Management College.
Chief Executive Officer
Bruce Thomson brings more than 28 years of experience to his position at CEO. Prior to his role with Kincell Bio, LLC, Bruce was Vice President and Technical Lead for the Cell Therapy Franchise at Resilience, Inc., where he helped to build the development and GMP manufacturing capabilities and served as a technical advisor both internally and externally.
He has over 18 years of CMC strategy, product development and cell therapy manufacturing experience. In his first startup role, he was Vice President of Process Sciences at Lyell Immunopharma, where he was responsible for Process and Analytical Development, as well as tech transfer of processes and methods to a newly built state-of-the-art cGMP facility. Prior to Lyell, Bruce served as the Sr. Director of the Therapeutic Products Program at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (FHCRC), where he led GMP manufacturing of cell and gene therapy products. He was responsible for supporting more than 15 active clinical programs and contributed to the filing of 6 INDs for various cell therapy programs.
As part of his early career development, Bruce spent nearly 10 years at Pfizer in the Pharmaceutical Sciences division where he gained expertise in analytical and process development.
Bruce received his B.A. in Biology, an M.S. in Biochemistry from The Ohio State University and Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Louisville.
Shailesh Maingi is the Founder and Executive Chairman of Kineticos Life Sciences. He is also the Founder, Chairman and CEO of a stealth mode start-up Cell and Gene Therapy biotech focused on oncology. Shailesh has served on the Board of Directors of a number of biotechs, including Locus Biosciences, Gallus Biopharmaceuticals and Arranta Bio. Additionally, Shailesh is Adjunct Faculty at the UNC’s Kenan-Flagler School of Business.
In 2015, Shailesh started a fund to invest in innovative biotechnology companies. Recently, he announced a second investment fund, Kineticos Ventures. In 2018, he co-founded the InVincible Cancer Research Fund, a non-profit funding breakthrough science.
Prior to founding Kineticos Life Sciences, Shailesh was a senior executive at Cardinal Health and Sigma-Aldrich. He began his career as an R&D scientist with Roche Diagnostics after earning a BS in Chemistry from UNC, Chapel Hill and an MBA from Golden Gate University.
Derek Hennecke was the Founder and CEO of Xcelience, a Florida-based contract development and manufacturing company that specialized in developing clinical Phase I-III drug product. He started the company in 2006 and sold it to a large multinational in 2016. He is currently a Board Member for The Friedreich’s Ataxia Research Alliance. Derek received his BSC from the University of Alberta and his MBA from RSM Erasmus University.
Jack Purcell is a managing partner at Ridgemont Equity Partners, a Charlotte-based middle market private equity firm. His current focus areas are general firm management, business & tech-enabled services, and industrial growth. He is actively involved in the portfolio management for Allredi, Crete Mechanical Group, Fleetpride Corporation, Munch’s Supply & Marcone, and Worldwide Produce. He was previously at Banc of America Capital Investors and related entities. His prior portfolio involvement includes Amerit Fleet Solutions, Aurora Parts & Accessories, Backstage, Clairus Group, Dickinson Fleet Services, Gallus Biopharmaceuticals, and J.A.M. Distributing Company. Jack received his M.B.A in Finance from University of Pennsylvania, The Wharton School and his B.A. in Economics from Davidson College.
Walker Poole is the Vice Chairman at Ridgemont Equity Partners, a Charlotte-based middle market private equity firm. He previously founded Banc of America Capital Investors and related entities. Additionally, he has prior experience at NCNB Corporation and Bankers Trust Company. His current area of focus is healthcare. He is actively involved in the portfolio management for Agape Care Group, American Outcomes Management, Anne Arundel Dermatology, HemaSource, Sunvera Group, Perimeter Healthcare, and Unison Therapy Services. His prior portfolio work includes Allied 100, eviCore, Gallus Biopharmaceuticals, Optical Resources Group, OrthoNet, SP Pharmaceuticals. Walker was a Morehead-Cain Scholar and received his B.S. at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
