24th February 2020
Jellagen® announces the appointment of new Chairman of the Board, Gregg Sando
Jellagen® Ltd, , the leading provider of next generation collagen products from marine sources, announces the appointment of Gregg Sando as Chairman of the Board and Non-Executive Director. Gregg replaces Stephane Thiroloix who will remain as a non-executive director at Jellagen®.
Gregg founded one of the first cancer immunotherapy biotech companies in 2005 and has pioneered the commercialization of innovative cell therapies for oncology and infectious diseases. Gregg studied biochemistry at Harvard and then received an MBA from the University of Chicago. His business career started on Wall Street where he progressed to manage global advisory groups for two leading investment banks.
Returning to his lifelong passion for science, Gregg left investment banking in 2004 and entered the postgraduate research program at the Imperial College London Medical School where he earned an MSc in Immunology. His research work focused on the therapeutic management of immune stimulation and inhibition pathways which provided the basis for the launch of his cancer immunotherapy company, backed by the Wellcome Trust and venture capital investors.
Gregg is also an investor, adviser and Board Director in several start-up life sciences companies as well as a mentor for young entrepreneurs launching biotech start-ups.
- Thomas-Paul Descamps, Chief Executive Officer, commented:
“Having Gregg Sando join the Jellagen team is a great sign for our investors and for the company. We would like to thank Stéphane Thiroloix for his dedication and insight in helping us to build up the company’s sales and marketing infrastructure for its cell culture product line, while also establishing a strong IP portfolio around the application and manufacturing of marine collagen. We are very pleased that he stays at the Board ensuring both a smooth transition and the continuity of our market strategy for research-grade products. Gregg will now help us take Jellagen to the next level through his recent experience in pioneering novel drug development program based on new biotechnologies as well as his deep understanding of corporate finance and governance from his previous investment banking career”.
- Gregg Sando, Chairman of the Board, commented:
“Jellagen is a highly innovative biomaterials company manufacturing a differentiated collagen product for a range of applications. There is great potential for marine based collagen to replace mammalian products in the cell culture market and indeed to open the door for new high value medical uses. I look forward to working with the company to achieve the benefits of marine collagen for patients with rare skin diseases or in need of tissue reconstruction as well as more generally to improve cell culture research”.
About Jellagen:
Jellagen Ltd is a marine biotechnology company manufacturing next generation collagen for medical and scientific research applications. Our strategic mission is to commercialize marine sourced collagen based upon its many advantages over mammalian sources, while also exploring new therapeutic opportunities which arise from the unique qualities of marine collagen as a biomaterial. The Jellagen business model is based upon our deep belief in building sustainable sources for critical biomaterials which do not carry the environmental and human health risks of traditional collagen sources. Our research and development strategy focus on establishing partnerships with medical institutions of the highest reputation to investigate the use of marine collagen as a treatment for skin diseases and as a biomaterial for tissue reconstruction.
Founded in Cardiff, Wales in 2015 Jellagen is already marketing a range of next generation collagen products for research use, while also developing clinical grade formulations for therapeutic and medical device applications. Based on the pioneering research of Professor Andrew Mearns Spragg, collagen in Jellagen’s products is extracted from Rhizostoma pulmo, an ancient species of large jellyfish common to the Irish Sea. Jellyfish-derived collagen is similar to the protein structure of mammalian Type 1 collagen yet demonstrates both physical and biological advantages as a substitute. The company’s proprietary extraction technology (Jellatech™) enables the scaled-up manufacturing of biocompatible, sustainable collagen for cell culture and medical applications, addressing the global drive for research reagents and active pharmaceutical ingredients which are free from the human health and environmental risks of animal-derived products. Jellagen’s product development program has been very successful and continues with the recent release of JellaGel™ – a high performance 3 dimensional tissue system for use in cell therapy and regenerative medicine applications – Peer-reviewed published research as well as the company’s own application-specific advisory papers demonstrate the significant advantages of marine collagen over mammalian collagen for both research and medical uses.
For more information please contact: Adam Watts, Digital Marketing Manager, Jellagen
T: +44 (0) 3333 583 299