6. Medicine is developing at a breakneck pace, fed as it is with technological innovation and best in class biotechnological discoveries. It would be an understatement to say that this is a competitive industry, with companies of all sizes and locations pushing the industry ever-forwards, everonwards towards betterment. As a group of companies, Cellex has an advantage over its competitors and peers – collating experts of various disciplines and fields, it can adapt to the needs of this ever-changing landscape. Here, Carla discusses Cellex’s operations and focus. “It all started with the Cellex Collection Centers – one located in the east and one in the western part of Germany. We run the largest and most experienced stem cell and bone marrow collection centers for allogeneic unrelated donations. During the past 20 years, we performed more than 50.000 collection procedures. That means 50.000 patients all over the world were transplanted with a product collected in Dresden or Cologne. “When immunotherapy became a new option in cancer treatment Cellex founded CMT Cellex Manufacturing, Transport and Logistics. This company runs the Cellex Cell Manufacturing Plant in Cologne with 1300 sqm clean rooms, 450 sqm lab area, cryostorage and warehouse. In contrast to other CDMOs we run our own logistics and transport department because we are convinced supply chain is key for successful CGT business. CMT serves as a CDMO for clients – big pharma and small biotech – and manufactures different products. We are very proud that we were able to accompany two of our customers with three products from clinical phase to commercial phase. The very latest achievement is the manufacturing license Best Biotechnology Company CEO 2023: Carla Kreissig Cellex is a group of companies all housed under one roof, and all dedicated to deliver treatment options for patients suffering from malignant diseases. As CEO, Carla Kreissig plays a crucially important role in delivering innovative, next generation solutions to some of the worst diseases plaguing humanity. We spoke with Carla following her success in the programme to find out more about Cellex’s work. Jan23337 for an allogeneic CAR-T product produced by using a viral vector and CRISPR Cas for genetic manipulation. “Our smallest company is CMS Cellex Medical Services. CMS runs a donor registry with dedicated donors. The purpose of the registry is to provide starting material for research and development and allogeneic cell and gene therapy products. In addition, CMS has its own collection center, where the customized products are collected.” By being a series of companies under a larger label, Cellex is able to fast-track development, unhindered as it is with external collaboration and restrictions. If a solution is promising, Cellex is fully equipped to get the product to market. This is biotech without inhibition or bottlenecks, which has allowed the company to, simply, outmanoeuvre competitors who struggle to keep pace. Let’s switch to Carla’s expertise in particular, and the skills she has utilised to help Cellex grow from strength to strength. Naturally, any leader of a company as forward-thinking in the space as Cellex, needs a thorough education in the industry. “I am a physician by education and hold an MBA degree. I started my training in transfusion medicine at a university hospital and worked for several years in the bone marrow and stem cell transplantation department. Very early in my career I was involved in the treatment of patients suffering from life threatening diseases. “In the 70´s first bone marrow donor registries were founded with the aim to find a matched donor for patients suffering from leukaemia. In the 90´s, when I got my specific education, the bone marrow collection has been replaced by peripheral blood stem cell mobilisation and collection. At that time, I was one of the first physicians in the university hospital who was in charge of this very new technique, which helped to make transplantation available for much more patients. However, over the years we learned that transplantation can’t cure every patient. Therefore, immunotherapeutic approaches have been developed and I was lucky to get the possibility not only to be in charge of one of the world´s largest allogeneic stem cell collection centers with up to 4.000 collections per year, but also to build a completely new company under the roof of Cellex group specialised in cell and gene therapy manufacturing.” Carla’s approach to management allows for her team’s expertise and initiative to flourish, as she moves on to explain in more detail. “My style is management by exception. That gives my team a lot of room to develop concepts. Not everyone likes this open space. However, it gives the possibility to grow in the organisation. Key for my success is the Cellex team. Every single team member burns for the task to “Every time a new therapeutic option is developed, there is a bottleneck regarding collection or manufacturing capacity. We want to provide appropriate resources to bring these options into the clinic as fast as possible.”
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