Vibalogics Advances Growth with Leadership Hires

Vibalogics, a global contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) specializing in the production of oncolytic viruses, viral vectors, and vaccine virotherapy products, has made key senior U.S.-based hires to the global leadership team.

Roger Lias joins Vibalogics as chief commercial officer with responsibility for global oversight of the company’s business development, sales and program management divisions. Mr. Lias will be responsible for harmonizing the approach for all customer interactions worldwide and growing business at both the Boxborough, MA and Cuxhaven, Germany facilities.

He brings a wealth of experience in the biologics CDMO arena, having held senior commercial roles at Lonza and Diosynth before being a member of the founding management teams at KBI Biopharma, Cytovance Biologics and Eden Biodesign. 

More recently, Mr. Lias served as CEO at Avid Bioservices and Stelis Biopharma, where in both instances he was responsible for the successful transition to dedicated CDMO models.

Mr. Lias joins industry veterans Joe Sinclair who recently joined the company as vice president of business development and corporate strategy, and Matt Codd who was recently appointed as vice president of global sales.

Bringing over 15 years of focused academic and industry experience in pharmaceuticals, biologics and advanced modalities to the role, Mr. Sinclair is an expert in devising and leading corporate development initiatives to advance market growth in the CDMO sector. Prior to joining Vibalogics, he sat as a member of site leadership within WuXi AppTec and WuXi Advanced Therapies’ Philadelphia Cell & Gene Therapy businesses, where he was responsible for global commercial and salesforce management.

At Vibalogics, Mr. Sinclair is responsible for leading corporate growth strategy; evaluating the company’s strategic direction; identifying, overseeing and pursuing strategic business opportunities, alliances, joint-ventures, partnerships, and the evaluation of investments.

Mr. Codd adds 18 years of experience and a proven track record in sales performance and leadership in both the life sciences and the CDMO sector. His success stems from developing large partnerships with strategic drug development clients that have delivered significant value.  He will bring that deep expertise to Vibalogics to drive the growth of the organization.

Mr. Codd comes to Vibalogics having worked in leadership positions at Aji Biopharma Services and AMRI where he was responsible for driving drug substance and drug product service capabilities. Most recently, he launched the drug product business unit at Argonaut Manufacturing Services.  In his new role, he will lead the company’s sales initiatives and target key partnerships to elevate Vibalogics’ position as a leading partner in the virotherapy market.

The hires form a key part of the company’s strategy to accelerate global growth. They join other recent key executive hires, including CEO Tom Hochuli; CFO, Michael DiMeo; vice president of quality, Judith Adair McCorry; and head of process sciences, Max Qian. Together, this team will lead Vibalogics’ expansion driven by over $200 million in new capital investment in the new clinical- and commercial-stage GMP facility in Boxborough, MA, as well as the further expansion of the early-to-late clinical facility in Cuxhaven, Germany and expanding virotherapy manufacturing capacity by over 40%.

“We are proud to welcome Roger, Joe and Matt onboard to support our strategy to enhance our business and commercial offering globally. Their formidable skills and market experience will be vital as we work to realize our global ambitions,” said Mr. Hochuli. “The viral vector and vaccine sector is currently at a crucial place in its’ global development, with demand at an all-time high. Future projections for sector growth are extremely promising—I know that Roger, Joe and Matt are energized to be able to contribute to the growth of Vibalogics’ service capabilities to support the innovative therapies of our customers, that will positively impact the lives of many patients ahead.”