Company is developing the world’s first autologous iPSC manufacturing for Parkinson’s patient care
SAN DIEGO, Oct. 19, 2022 / PRNewswire / — Aspen Neuroscience, Inc., a private biotechnology company developing the first autologous neuron replacement therapies to treat Parkinson’s disease (PD), announced that Kim Raineri has joined the company as Chief Technology Officer and as a member of the company’s executive team.
Kim brings over 25 years of global experience in the cell and gene therapy, biologics and medical device spaces, with a distinguished record of innovation and implementation of Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP). Aspen Neuroscience has been building out its technical operations and team, and Kim will be responsible for developing the strategy for and execution of the company’s in-house manufacture of its autologous cell therapy portfolio.
“This is an important milestone for Aspen Neuroscience and Kim is an integral part of the team that will bring our products to market,” said Damien McDevitt, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer. “Aspen is entering an historic new stage of growth, as the first company in the world to reach this stage of development, where we are manufacturing autologous PD patient iPSCs for use in upcoming clinical trials.”
“The opportunity for patients to receive their own GMP grade cells to potentially treat neurodegenerative diseases has never before been available,” said Mr. Raineri. “It is an honor to join the team that will be the first to bring this option to the Parkinson’s community.”
Prior to joining Aspen Neuroscience, Kim served as chief manufacturing and technology officer and a member of the executive team at AVROBIO, a Boston-based leader in the gene therapy space. Before AVROBIO, Kim was vice president of operations for Nikon CeLL innovation Co., Ltd, a Japanese contract development and manufacturing organization. During his tenure, he established the company as the preferred provider of custom process development and manufacturing services for cell and gene therapy products in the Japanese market. Previously, Kim also held management positions at Lonza as the business director for cell therapy contract manufacturing operations in Singapore for five years, and as director of operations at Lonza’s Maryland facilities. Kim was also previously the senior manager of the Tissue Processing Lab at CryoLife Inc.
Kim earned his Bachelor of Science from the University of Miami and Master’s in Business Administration from Kennesaw State University. He is also a frequent presenter and panel member at cell and gene therapy industry meetings and was a mentor for Early Stage Professionals through the International Society for Cell and Gene Therapy.
About Aspen Neuroscience
Headquartered in San Diego, Aspen Neuroscience, Inc. is a development stage, private biotechnology company focused on personalized (autologous) cell therapies. The company is developing induced-pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to address diseases with a high unmet medical need, beginning with autologous neuron replacement for both sporadic and genetic forms of Parkinson’s disease (PD) and extending across the brain and affected organs.
A leading iPSC platform company, Aspen combines stem cell biology with the latest artificial intelligence and genomic approaches to investigate patient-specific, restorative treatments. The company has developed a best-in-class platform to create and characterize pluripotent-derived cell medicines, which includes in-house bioinformatics, manufacturing, and QC. For more information and important updates, please visit aspenneuroscience.com.
