– USA, MD – MaxCyte (LON: MXCT/MXCN), a leading provider of platform technologies for cell engineering, today announced the appointment of Rekha Hemrajani and Dr. Yasir Al-Wakeel, BM BCh, to its board as non-executive directors with immediate effect.
Ms. Hemrajani is appointed as a non-executive member of the Compensation Committee and Dr. Al-Wakeel is appointed as a non-executive member of the Audit Committee.
“With their expertise in business and corporate development as well as finance combined with deep life sciences industry experience, Ms. Hemrajani and Dr. Al-Wakeel bring valuable insights and perspective to our board,” said CEO, Doug Doerfler. “We are honored to have them join us as we advance the next-generation of cell therapy discovery, development and commercialisation.”
About Rekha Hemrajani
Ms. Hemrajani is a senior executive with more than 20 years of biopharmaceutical industry experience and has extensive expertise in all aspects of corporate strategy, corporate and business development, financing, and strategic planning. She currently serves as chief executive officer (part-time) and director of Jiya Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ: JYAC), where she led the $100 million initial public offering. Ms. Hemrajani has held senior management positions at numerous listed biopharmaceutical companies, including president, CEO, and director of Aravive, Inc (NASDAQ: ARAV), chief financial officer and chief operating officer of Arcus Biosciences, Inc. (NYSE: RCUS), and chief operating officer of FLX Bio, Inc. (NASDAQ: RAPT). Previously, she was vice president, head of Licensing and Mergers & Acquisitions Group for Onyx Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ONXX sold to Amgen for $10.4 billion), vice president of business development of Exelixis (NASDAQ: EXEL), and on the healthcare investment banking teams of Lehman Brothers, Inc. and Credit Suisse First Boston. She is currently a non-executive director of ALX Oncology Holdings (NASDAQ: ALXO).
Ms. Hemrajani received a Master of Management from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University, and a B.S. in economics and computer science from the University of Michigan.
About Dr. Yasir Al-Wakeel
Dr. Al-Wakeel currently serves as CFO and head of corporate development for Kronos Bio (NASDAQ: KRON), where he oversees the company’s financial planning and accounting, investor relations, and business development activities. He was instrumental in the company’s $288 million IPO. He previously served as chief financial and strategy Officer at Neon Therapeutics (NASDAQ: NTGN) where he played a key role in the company’s public and private financings as well as its eventual sale to BioNTech. Before that, he was CFO and head of corporate development at Merrimack Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: MACK), where he helped shape and execute the company’s refocused business strategy, culminating in a $1 billion asset sale to Ipsen. Before those roles, Dr. Al-Wakeel served in senior roles in equity research and corporate finance at Credit Suisse focused on the biotechnology sector. During his tenure in corporate finance, he was involved in more than $30 billion in strategic and financial transactions for the firm.
Dr. Al-Wakeel, began his career as a practicing physician, holding both clinical and academic medical posts in the United Kingdom. He holds a BM BCh (Doctor of Medicine and Surgery) from Oxford University and an M.A. in theology from Cambridge University.
About MaxCyte
MaxCyte is a leading commercial cell-engineering company focused on providing enabling platform technologies to advance innovative cell-based research as well as next-generation cell therapeutic discovery, development, and commercialization. MaxCyte’s existing customer base ranges from large biopharmaceutical companies, including all of the top 10, and 20 of the top 25, pharmaceutical companies based on 2020 global revenue, to hundreds of biotechnology companies and academic centers focused on translational research. MaxCyte has granted 13 strategic platform licenses to commercial cell therapy developers. Including these strategic platform licenses, MaxCyte has granted pre-clinical and clinical licenses to academic and industry customers covering over an estimated 140 programs, of which an estimated 100 programs are for clinical use. MaxCyte was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Gaithersburg, Maryland, US.
For more information: https://maxcyte.com/
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