BOSTON & LOUISVILLE, Ky.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Talaris Therapeutics, Inc., a late-clinical stage cell therapy company developing an innovative method of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation with the potential to transform the standard of care in solid organ transplantation, certain severe autoimmune diseases, and certain severe non-malignant blood, immune, or metabolic disorders, today announced the appointment of four vice presidents in areas of strategic importance for the company.
Devin Blass, Vice President of Technical Operations, previously served as Senior Director of Manufacturing and Supply Chain at Talaris. Before joining the company in 2019, Mr. Blass oversaw cell manufacturing operations at Bellicum Pharmaceuticals and was the Director, Commercial Program Manufacturing at Mesoblast. Prior to his industry experience, Mr. Blass advanced through roles of increasing responsibility at MD Anderson Cancer Center, where he played a significant role in building the infrastructure and systems to obtain licensure for HPC, Cord Blood. He holds a B.S. in biochemistry from Texas State University.
Eric Gornstein, Vice President of Strategy, previously served as Head of New Product Planning at Talaris. Mr. Gornstein joined Talaris in 2019 from Radius Health, where he led the company’s commercial insights and analytics function and helped build the commercial operations organization and infrastructure to launch their first product, Tymlos®, in the United States. Previously, he served in market and business development roles at Biogen, Millennium, TransForm, Acceleron and AstraZeneca, and as a strategy consulting Director at Leerink Swann Consulting and Navigant. Mr. Gornstein holds a B.A. with distinction in biology from Boston University, where he was a Trustee Scholar, and an MBA from MIT Sloan School of Management.
Kirstin Powel, Vice President of Quality Assurance, comes to Talaris from the Novartis Cell and Gene Therapy Unit where she served as Global Head of Quality Operations. In that role she had quality responsibility for the overall supply chain and played a key role in pre-approval inspection preparation and global launch processes for the first FDA-approved CAR-T cell therapy, Kymriah. Ms. Powel was previously employed by Lonza, AG in positions with increasing levels of responsibility in Quality, most recently in the Global Quality organization with global quality oversight for biologics as well as cell and gene therapy products. Ms. Powel holds a B.A. in biochemistry from Rutgers University and an M.S. in physiology from North Carolina State University.
Suzanne Tollerud, Vice President of Corporate Development, previously served as Vice President of Operations at Talaris. Prior to joining the company in 2014 as its Director of Business Operations, Ms. Tollerud worked in management consulting at The Bridgespan Group and Bain & Co. in roles of increasing responsibility. She holds an M.A. in sociology and a B.A. in East Asian studies, both from Stanford University.
“We’re delighted to welcome these four individuals to their new roles in areas of great importance for Talaris moving forward, as we build out our in-house manufacturing and quality operations, advance our lead program through a Phase 3 registration clinical trial, and expand our therapeutic pipeline,” said Scott Requadt, Chief Executive Officer of Talaris. “We look forward to their continued contributions to Talaris’ success.”
About Talaris Therapeutics
Talaris Therapeutics, Inc. is a late-clinical stage cell therapy company developing an innovative method of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation with the potential to transform the standard of care in solid organ transplantation, certain severe autoimmune diseases, and certain severe non-malignant blood, immune, or metabolic disorders. Talaris is backed by a number of leading life sciences investors and maintains corporate offices in Boston, Mass., and a cell processing facility in Louisville, Ky. www.TalarisTx.com.
