Newcells Biotech strengthens executive and US team with key appointments

Newcells Biotech (“Newcells”), a leading drug discovery partner specializing in in vitro model development and custom assay services to improve in vivo human outcome prediction, today announced key leadership changes to its executive team, including Dr. Valeria Chichagova was promoted to the position of technology director. Dr Colin Brown becomes Chief Scientific Officer and Professor Lyle Armstrong, co-founder of the company, will become Scientific Advisor. The company also announced the addition of new sales staff to its U.S. team to further support its global customer network. After a year of rapid growth, these appointments demonstrate Newcells’ continued focus on driving expansion and technological innovation in response to increased market demand for new approach methods (NAM) in drug discovery processes.

In her new role as Chief Technology Officer, Valeria will lead the development of products and services aligned with Newcells’ strategic goals and strengthen its market position. He will lead a team responsible for new product innovation across all platforms to enhance existing models and develop new capabilities. Valeria, previously co-director of iPSC Technology and head of Retina, built the company’s ocular platform, successfully leading the launch of the first-to-market retinal organoids and subsequent commercialization of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). in vitro models. Building on his expertise, in this new senior role he will deliver greater innovation capacity and increase R&D efficiency by leveraging best practice sharing across the Newcells portfolio of platforms.

A recognized expert in renal research, Colin has overseen the development and commercialization of Newcells’ renal platform, several core cellular assays for measuring renal transport and toxicity, and has authored over 100 publications in this field. He joined the company in 2018 as director of innovation, after almost 30 years at the University of Newcastle as an associate professor in the Institute of Cellular and Molecular Biology. Leveraging its deep expertise in the field in developing predictive solutions in vitro models, as CSO, Colin will continue to shape the Company’s technological advancements, promote scientific excellence and mentor the growing technology team.

Lyle founded Newcells with CEO Dr. Mike Nicholds in 2015 as a spin-off from the University of Newcastle. In his new role as Scientific Advisor and as a current member of the Management Board, he will continue to support the Company in implementing the vision that inspired the creation of the company. In addition, Lyle continues to serve as Professor of Cellular Reprogramming at the university, leading a highly respected research group focused on the use of human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to develop new tools and therapies for drug discovery.

Sales roles added to the US team support Newcells’ broader expansion strategy; strengthening its technical knowledge in a key international market. The new positions provide U.S. customers with access to expanded local support for the Company in vitro models.

Dr. Mike Nicholds, CEO and co-founder of Newcells Biotech, commented: “Newcells has built an industry-leading reputation for developing and applying human tissue models to accelerate clinical application in drug discovery. The depth of expertise across our company is something we are extremely proud of. I am delighted to congratulate Valeria and Colin on their new roles and look forward to continuing to work closely with Lyle to realize the vision we have for the Company. I welcome our new team members in the US as we continue this exciting growth trajectory and deliver more innovative solutions to our customers. In this way, we continue our mission to reduce discovery and development risk and help bring new, innovative medicines to market faster.”