News & Insights
January 13, 2026
Research Triangle Park, NC — Kincell Bio, a leading contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) in cell therapy, today announced the promotion of three accomplished executives to strengthen its leadership team and advance its mission of delivering life-changing therapies to patients worldwide.
Bruce Thompson, PhD, has been promoted to President and Chief Technology Officer, driving technology strategy and innovation to provide technical solutions for clients. As Kincell’s founding CEO, he established the company’s technical and operational foundation. His prior leadership roles include VP of Process Sciences at Lyell Immunopharma, technical and operational leadership positions at Resilience and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center where he led GMP manufacturing of cell and gene therapy products. Bruce holds a Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Louisville and he brings over 25 years of experience in cell therapy development and manufacturing.
Melodie Bryce has been promoted to Chief Quality Officer. In this capacity, Melodie will lead the organization’s quality strategy, ensuring best-in class quality systems and robust regulatory compliance across all operations. Melodie has nearly three decades of experience in quality leadership, with deep expertise spanning cell therapy, antibody and aseptic production. Throughout her career, she has successfully designed and implemented comprehensive quality frameworks and led organizations through regulatory inspection readiness including for cell therapy commercial supply. Her professional background includes senior quality leadership roles at KBI Biopharma, Cognate BioServices, Matica Biotechnology and Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies. Melodie earned her B.S. from North Carolina Wesleyan University and is widely recognized for her disciplined, pragmatic, approach to quality excellence in highly regulated environments.
Matt Haines is being promoted to Chief Operations Officer, leading supply of cell therapy products to the clinic, operational excellence and manufacturing scalability . In addition, he will be responsible for driving Kincell Bio’s physical expansion planning through designing, building and maintaining compliant facilities including capacity for cell therapy innovators. Matt brings over 20 years of biotech industry experience, specializing in manufacturing sciences and operations at Biogen, Amgen and Merck. Before joining Kincell, he served as VP of Manufacturing Operations at Inceptor Bio, a cell therapy innovator, and Senior Director at AveXis/Novartis Gene Therapies, contributing to the approval and launch of a leading commercial gene therapy. Matt holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Drexel University.
These leaders played a pivotal role in making 2025 a transformational year for Kincell Bio by delivering on client programs through strengthening the organization with strategic talent acquisition and developing our capabilities at our RTP, NC and Gainesville, FL sites. Their understanding of the CMC and operational challenges that innovators face is key to building a strong relationship that results in trust, open communication, and successful partnerships.
“Bruce, Melodie, and Matt have demonstrated exceptional leadership and expertise, and their expanded roles further strengthen our ability to deliver innovative, high-quality solutions for our clients while accelerating access to transformative therapies for patients. Together with our highly skilled teams, we will continue to expand our clinical development and commercial supply infrastructure, accelerate technology transfer, and strengthen our commitment to delivering life-changing cell therapies efficiently and reliably,” said Larry Pitcher, Chief Executive Officer.
Kincell’s mission is to support innovators from early development through pivotal clinical stages and into commercial launch with tailored CMC development, manufacturing, and analytical services. The organization is also committed to advancing the field of cell therapy with tailored solutions that empower innovators to bring their therapies to market efficiently and effectively.
About Kincell Bio
Kincell Bio engineers cells into therapies. With manufacturing facilities located in Research Triangle Park, NC, and Gainesville, FL, Kincell Bio is a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) with the mission to streamline CMC development, with expertise in analytical and process development and GMP manufacturing, testing and release from early clinical, to pivotal studies, and product launch. Kincell Bio is focused on supporting innovative companies developing immune cell therapies, including autologous and allogeneic CAR-T, TCRs, Tregs, and CAR-NK programs, as well as developing expertise in stem cell products and iPSCs. For more information, visit www.kincellbio.com, and follow us on LinkedIn.
For further information, please contact info@kincellbio.com
