Strategic Appointment And Expanded U.S. Footprint For Trakcel As It Aims To Triple Client Base

TrakCel, the industry-leading software developer for cell and gene therapy supply chain tracking and orchestration, has made a further strategic appointment to support its growth in America.

The Wales-headquartered company has appointed Dr. Joe Vitale, from New Jersey, as Director of Process Engineering. The appointment comes on the back of TrakCel’s recent announcement that it has opened its second US office in New Jersey, led by Rob Margolin, to support ambitious growth plans.

As a result of strategic appointments and its expanded US presence, TrakCel is aiming to triple its client base and revenue by the end of 2017 and increase its headcount to over 100 in the UK and US by the end of 2019.

Dr. Vitale joins from PCT, a Caladrius Company, where he was a Senior Biomedical Engineer, focusing on process optimisation for cellular therapy products and acting as expert for several T-cell Immunotherapy clinical processes.

He earned his BA in Biochemistry and Psychology at Montclair State University and his PhD from Rutgers University. His graduate studies focused on the use of pluripotent stem cells for the treatment of muscular dystrophy.

Following his graduate studies, Dr. Vitale carried out his post-doctoral studies at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, in the Department of Hematology and Medical Oncology, where he focused on hematopoietic erythroid differentiation.

With a vast amount of experience in the CMO environment, Vitale will add value to TrakCel by helping its customers with their processes as they scale up from clinical trial to commercialisation – a key requirement for its US customers.

Dr. Vitale said: “Over the last five years, TrakCel has made significant strides in becoming the leading provider of needle-to-needle cell orchestration technology to aid the delivery of regenerative therapies. Its technology has helped industry leaders improve the efficiency and reliability of their products.

“The company is rapidly growing as the industry is increasingly recognising the need to track and control therapies across multiple stakeholders, so I’m joining at a pivotal time in this corporate journey.”

Ravi Nalliah, Chief Executive Officer at TrakCel, said: “Joe has a vast amount of experience and understanding from the front-line of the cell and gene therapy industry; knowledge that will be extremely beneficial when we are liaising with clients from these industries.

“Joe understands exactly what our clients are looking for and will be able to communicate these requirements to our IT teams, ensuring our software platform provides optimum product traceability and control that exactly matches our customers’ needs.

“Growing our presence in the US is a key target for us and Joe’s knowledge and contacts will be instrumental in helping us achieve this transatlantic growth.”

About TrakCel

TrakCel’s software platform provides cell and gene therapy companies with a proven solution that delivers real-time control over the entire supply chain, including manufacturing, from sample collection through to treatment delivery. The TrakCel platform accelerates global scale-up and scale-out of cell and gene therapy products by improving efficiency and removing complexity while maintaining compliance and traceability from needle-to-needle.

TrakCel’s technology is increasingly being adopted by leaders in the cell and gene therapy industry. TrakCel is headquartered in Cardiff, Wales with US offices in California and New Jersey.

MORE ON THIS TOPIC