Rick Hancock named as Board Chairman for BioCina

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Jan 26, 2022, 11:53 ET

SAN DIEGO and ADELAIDE, Australia, Jan. 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- BioCina, a leading contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) announces the appointment of Rick Hancock, Chairman of the Board. Hancock, with over 35 years of experience in life sciences, has held various board, executive and operational positions, developing expertise in cGMP manufacturing including plasmids, regulatory affairs, R & D, and operational excellence. He's been pivotal in business expansion, recognized for driving significant growth at several biotech companies, including CDMOs.

Rick Hancock joins BioCina, Board Chairman

BioCina has extensive pharmaceutical experience, augmented with the recent acquisition of Pfizer's Hospira facilities in Adelaide, Australia. The management team is credited with expanding systems and cGMP manufacturing of microbial-based therapeutics and mRNA vaccines. "I am excited to join BioCina at this point in time. They have state-of-the art facilities with the highest modern CDMO standards with multiple national regulatory body approvals. They are uniquely suited to address the global demand for critical biotechnology products," said Hancock.

One of the core tenets of the BioCina culture is its pin-point focus on exceeding customer expectations. As an independent, pure play CDMO, BioCina possesses the capability and the agility to deliver high quality, highly efficient and effective customer solutions, for early-phase clinical trials to commercialization.

"BioCina shares my deep-rooted passion to leverage biologics for the betterment of patients. To that end, BioCina uses all the tools available - flexibility to meet all the needs of customers, advanced systems, an outstanding team, and timely production schedules. Many BioCina Clients are leading-edge firms that are driving quicker-to-market patient therapeutics and vaccines. For innovators such as these, BioCina outpaces most CDMOs, enabling them to slot their Clients into production, more timely than the industry waiting period of 12-15 months. The company has demonstrated the ability to address critical needs with greater agility and greater speed," added Hancock.

BioCina CEO Ian Wisenberg welcomes Hancock to the BioCina Team. "His leadership acumen, depth of industry experience and zeal to combine cool tech with life-saving work will undoubtably fuel our growth and cement a positive future for BioCina and our team in supporting our Clients," said Wisenberg.

Hancock currently sits on the board for three biotech companies. Most recently he was President and CEO of Avid Bioservices. Prior, he was CEO and President of Althea Technologies known for Plasmid DNA, and he held senior management positions at The Immune Response Corporation and Hybritech Inc. (now part of Eli Lilly & Company).

About BioCina

BioCina Pty Ltd. is a multi-product biologics contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), focused on the development and cGMP manufacture of microbial-based biological pharmaceuticals, including proteins, pDNA, mRNA, vaccines and biosimilars, from early development through to commercialization. The BioCina Adelaide facility, formerly the Pfizer/Hospira plant, has a physical footprint of almost 60,000 ft² for GMP manufacturing, process development, warehouse, and administration. The team has over 35 years of experience and extensive capabilities in microbial process development and manufacturing, with expertise from early process development to commercial manufacturing. Unique to Australia, the BioCina Adelaide site is currently the only TGA, EMA, Health Canada and US-FDA approved commercial facility of its kind in Australia. BioCina is a Bridgewest Group portfolio company.