Avid Bioservices Announces Appointment of Two Senior Directors of Business Development with Responsibility for North America, Europe and Asia

TUSTIN, Calif., April 13, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Avid Bioservices, Inc. (NASDAQ:CDMO) (NASDAQ:CDMOP), a dedicated biologics contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) working to improve patient lives by providing high quality development and manufacturing services to biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, today announced the appointment of two senior directors of business development with responsibility for driving CDMO business growth within North America, Europe and Asia.  Jason C. Brady, Ph.D. will serve as senior director of business development for the eastern region of North America, as well as Europe.  Sylvia Hinds has been named senior director of business development for the western region of North America in addition to the Asia Pacific region.

Dr. Brady is an accomplished sales professional with an extensive track record of successfully securing new manufacturing contracts with biopharmaceutical clients.  He most recently served as senior director of sales and business development at Aji Bio-Pharma, a leading global provider of biopharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing services.  During his five years in this position, he managed the company’s expansion into the development and manufacturing of antibody drug conjugates, as well as the onboarding of new clients focused on fill/finish of complex biologics.  Prior to Aji Bio-Pharma, Dr. Brady spent eight years at Lonza, a global leader in the manufacture of biologics.  At Lonza he served in various commercial positions of increasing responsibility with a focus on securing manufacturing and service contracts for the company’s global biologics manufacturing network, as well as leading an expansion into new manufacturing technologies. In his new role with Avid, Dr. Brady will be responsible for driving the continued growth and expansion of the company’s CDMO business in the eastern portion of  North America and Europe. 

Ms. Hinds possesses nearly 17 years of experience in key business development roles in the CDMO and contract research organization (CRO) industries, having established specialized expertise in biologics, gene and cell therapy, and sterile fill/finish services.  In these roles, she has demonstrated the proven ability to consistently develop and penetrate new markets and exceed sales revenue targets.  Ms. Hinds most recently held the title of director, business development, North America western region for oligonucleotide-based gene therapy services at Nitto Denko Avecia.  During her career, she has also held positions of increasing responsibility with Brammer Bio, Novasep, Cook Pharmica and Baxter, delivering impressive results in the areas of new business generation and revenue growth, among others.  In her new role with Avid, Ms. Hinds will be charged with expanding the company’s CDMO business with both new and existing clients in the western portion of North America and the Asia Pacific region.

“The additions of Jason and Sylvia, coupled with our recent appointment of Tim Compton as chief commercial officer, provide Avid with an experienced business development team with a proven track record of success in the CDMO field.  We have already begun to see a noticeable uptick in customer engagement and opportunities in the short time that Tim has been on board and expect that the efforts of Sylvia and Jason will significantly accelerate that trend,” said Rick Hancock, interim president and chief executive officer of Avid.  “We are pleased to welcome Sylvia and Jason to the Avid team and look forward to the important contributions that they will make in supporting our efforts to drive meaningful business and revenue growth.”

About Avid Bioservices, Inc.

Avid Bioservices is a dedicated contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) focused on development and CGMP manufacturing of biopharmaceutical products derived from mammalian cell culture. The company provides a comprehensive range of process development, high quality CGMP clinical and commercial manufacturing services for the biotechnology and biopharmaceutical industries. With over 25 years of experience producing monoclonal antibodies and recombinant proteins in batch, fed-batch and perfusion modes, Avid's services include CGMP clinical and commercial product manufacturing, purification, bulk packaging, stability testing and regulatory strategy, submission and support. The company also provides a variety of process development activities, including cell line development and optimization, cell culture and feed optimization, analytical methods development and product characterization.