Syngene appoints two senior leaders in US

Syngene International has appointed two senior leaders, Alex Del Priore and Dr Alan Collis, with effect from 26th July, 2021. Priore has been appointed as the Senior Vice President, Manufacturing Services and Collis has joined as the Vice President, Integrated Drug Discovery Services. The two will be based in the US, according to a statement from the company.

The statement mentioned that Priore is a member of the Executive Committee and will provide a strategic direction for the growth of the manufacturing services business leveraging the company’s discovery and development strengths for an effective end-to-end offering. He is responsible for the growth of API outcomes from Syngene’s new facility in Mangalore and will develop a sustainable client base for the business in collaboration with the commercial and business development teams. He will also be responsible for the growth of the large molecule operations and will oversee Syngene’s Biologics operations unit to continue building it as a diversified manufacturing business.

Collis has joined as the leader of the SynVent team. SynVent is a platform for integrated discovery and early development, delivering upon strategies built in collaboration with, and on behalf of clients to advance novel molecules into clinical trials. He will be responsible for the formulation and implementation of Syngene’s overall Integrated Drug Discovery (IDD) scientific strategy and will oversee the end-to-end execution of client programmes.

Commenting on the appointments, Jonathan Hunt, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Syngene International, said, “As we continue our rapid growth in the global CRO/CDMO marketplace, these hires align with Syngene’s focus on providing end-to-end solutions for discovery, development and manufacturing across a range of therapeutic areas and modalities. We look forward to having Alex and Alan on board, which will help strengthen our position as a partner in innovation for our clients and to steer Syngene towards new growth milestones.”

Priore has a track record of over two decades in the development, commercialisation and life-cycle management of products in various lifesciences segments. He has also served as General Manager with global P&L responsibility. In addition, he has been instrumental in M&A, strategy development and new product introduction.

Expressing happiness on the appointment, he said, “I am delighted to take on my new role at Syngene and contribute towards pushing the boundaries of science in manufacturing and advanced therapies in biologics. As part of an integrated scientific solutions provider for multiple industries, I look forward to the exciting journey.”

Collis is a drug discovery and development scientist specialising in discovery, pre-clinical and early clinical project leadership. He has served the European and US markets in various leadership roles, with responsibilities including medicinal chemistry, DMPK, safety assessment, CMC and phase-I studies. He has led 33 novel small molecules into pre-clinical evaluation by partnering with a diverse set of teams (internal and external) that initiated multiple clinical studies of new science.

Speaking on his appointment, he said, “As a ‘hand on’ cross-functional scientist, I am thrilled to have this opportunity to join and help grow Syngene. I aim to swiftly progress the great scientific insights of our partners into clinical evaluation. The path requires a thoroughly connected and integrated strategy sitting squarely across our multiple proven capabilities in research, development and manufacturing.”