Cellares Hires Former Novartis Executive and Bristol-Myers Squibb Alum to Lead Commercialization

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., April 12, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Cellares, a biotech company dedicated to making life-saving cell therapies accessible and affordable to patients in need, today announced the appointment of Arturo Araya as its new EVP of Commercialization. 

Araya is an accomplished commercial leader with over a decade of experience in the cell and gene therapy industry, notably serving as Chief Commercial Officer for Novartis' cell therapy unit during the early development of Kymriah, the first FDA-approved CAR-T cell therapy. Prior to this, Araya served as Vice President for Global Commercial Strategy for several multi-billion dollar Novartis Oncology products. More recently, he served as the EVP and Chief Commercial Officer at Brainstorm Cell Therapeutics, where he prepared for the commercialization of the company's lead cell therapy product to treat neurodegenerative diseases. Araya also has experience working with biopharma giant Bristol-Myers Squibb, where he served as Associate Director of Marketing Research and Business. 

In his new role at Cellares, Araya will lead commercialization efforts for the company's Cell Shuttle, an enclosed, end-to-end, fully automated solution for scaling cell therapy manufacturing. The Cell Shuttle aims to resolve bottlenecks in cell therapy manufacturing by providing a reliable, cost-effective, high-throughput and automated solution.

"We're thrilled to welcome Arturo during this critical time as our focus shifts from cutting edge R&D to commercialization, which is critical to accelerate access to life-saving cell therapies for patients in need," said Fabian Gerlinghaus, CEO of Cellares. "His extensive experience leading commercial teams at global biopharmaceutical companies in an evolving global healthcare environment will be critical as we near the launch of the Cell Shuttle, which we believe will fundamentally impact the cell therapy industry by making manufacturing more accessible and affordable. Araya's track record of building and leading multi-functional teams, domestically and internationally, and his experience in oncology, cell therapy, and gene therapy will be an incredible asset to Cellares."

"I am excited to join Cellares and work towards a future where life-saving cell therapies are fully accessible to patients wherever and whenever they are needed," said Araya. "The Cell Shuttle is a disruptive technology that is poised to shatter the barriers that have held back manufacturing scale-up in the cell therapy industry. Decreasing cost and increasing the supply of cell therapies will make a real difference in patients' lives. I look forward to working with the Cellares team to bring this technology to market and help the cell therapy industry reach its full potential for the benefit of patients."

About Cellares

Cellares is creating the future of cell therapy manufacturing and accelerating access to life-saving cell therapies. The company is developing a one-of-a-kind solution to overcome the limitations associated with manufacturing cell therapies that makes them affordable and widely available to patients in need. With Cellares' proprietary platform—the Cell Shuttle—the cell therapy industry will no longer have to compromise by either choosing a manufacturing platform that is semi-automated but lacks workflow flexibility, or one that provides customization but not the end-to-end automation needed to manufacture at scale. The company is headquartered in South San Francisco, California. 

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SOURCE Cellares