Apr. 2022 / Company
Daniela Buchmayr
With more than 20 years of leadership experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, Nicoletta brings exceptional strategic and hands-on experience in the development and commercialization of biologics, small molecules, and cell and gene therapies.
In her current role as CTO at Orchard Therapeutics, Nicoletta is responsible for leading all aspects of technical operations, including process and analytical development, manufacturing, supply chain, engineering, and CMC lifecycle management.
Prior joining Orchard, Nicoletta served 18 years in executive positions at Novartis. As Global Head of Cell & Gene Therapies she was leading multidisciplinary international teams responsible for the end-to-end technical development, manufacturing, and project management of several gene and cell therapies modalities, including virus, stem cell, and CAR-T cell processes, from concept to commercialization.
Nicoletta earned her Ph.D. in pharmaceutical technologies from the University of Pavia in Italy. She is a member of the UK Royal Society and the Italian Pharmaceutical Society and holds an Accreditation as Board of Directors for start-ups and mid-size companies from the Board Academy, EFPL, Switzerland.
Nicoletta’s deep knowledge and expertise on managerial and strategic development aspects will help Sarcura not only to spur its technological development, but also to grow the organisation to shape this industry.
“I am delighted to join the Board at Sarcura at this exciting time in the company’s growth and further help the team advance its transformational integrated microfluidic technology platform engineered to enable global scale and cost-effective manufacturing of cell therapies for all patients. I look forward to leveraging my experience as the company continues to look at new areas of growth and collaborate with the strong and passionate Sarcura team and other board members”
Fabio brings outstanding competence as an expert in cGMP process development, manufacturing, and technology innovation across both autologous and allogeneic cell therapy platforms. In his current role as Takeda’s Head of Cell Therapy Process Development, Automation and Digital Technologies, Fabio is accountable for manufacturing, automation, and digitization strategy across Takeda’s cell therapy assets. Prior to joining Takeda, Fabio was Vice President of Cell Therapy Engineering and Manufacturing at Torque Therapeutics (now Repertoire Immune Medicines). He also held positions at Novartis’ Cell and Gene Therapy, where he contributed to the development of the Kymriah manufacturing process, the first FDA-approved CAR-T product.
Beside his cell therapy expertise, Fabio holds a Ph.D. from MIT in Aerospace Engineering, and his early career spanned several additional fields and industries, including cancer diagnostics, microfluidics as well as micro-electrical-mechanical-system (MEMS) for electronics and aerospace applications.
With his technological background as well as his broad experience in device and automation development, Fabio will play a vital role in guiding Sarcura’s technical development and strengthening our expertise.
“I am excited to help Sarcura bring its manufacturing vision to life. Sarcura’s miniaturized, scalable and automated approach enables exquisite cell manipulation & engineering at the appropriate length-scale across all manufacturing operations, hence significantly enhancing control and lowering COGs compared to current macro-scale GMP devices whose physics and functional elements are intrinsically too large to properly manipulate micron-size particles such as cells. Furthermore, via the incorporation of on-chip analytics and QC, Sarcura’s approach will allow for in-situ real-time monitoring and characterization of processes and cellular products. As such, I look forward to helping Sarcura make a difference for patients.”
