Company Adds Proven Product Development and Commercial Leader as it Accelerates Launch of Flowfect® Cell Engineering Technology
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., August 7, 2023 – Kytopen, a biotechnology company that develops and markets advanced cell engineering solutions, today announced the appointment of Michael Chiu, Ph.D., as Chief Executive Officer. An entrepreneurial leader with extensive experience in building and commercializing new technologies, he brings to Kytopen a proven track record in fundraising, product development, and marketing launches. Dr. Chiu succeeds Paulo A. Garcia, Ph.D., one of the company’s co-founders, who will continue as an advisor.
Michael Chiu, Ph.D. Appointed CEO of Kytopen
Dr. Chiu joins Kytopen at the time of its accelerated roll-out of the Flowfect® technology to high-profile academic medical centers in the U.S. Prior to this, he was the Chief Executive Officer of Erbi Biosystems, Inc., which was acquired by Merck KGaA, Darmstadt Germany (MilliporeSigma in US), last year. Earlier in his career, he was a chief technology officer and senior executive with several high-tech companies, including Automation Engineering Inc. (acquired by Mycronic AB), Trophos Energy, and Teradyne. Dr. Chiu earned a B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Minnesota and an M.S. and Ph.D. from MIT. He subsequently received an M.B.A. through the Sloan Fellows program at MIT.
Paul K. Wotton, Ph.D., the company’s Chairman, said, “Kytopen's suite of genome engineering tools has demonstrated exceptional performance, prompting the expansion and delivery of this transformative technology for wider adoption. Dr. Chiu’s record of accomplishment in successfully commercializing life science instrumentation is a perfect fit for Kytopen’s next stage of growth. The board appreciates Dr. Garcia’s pioneering efforts in transforming the Kytopen technology from its origins in the MIT lab to a proven platform. We share his vision and unwavering passion for this disruptive technology poised to revolutionize the landscape of cell therapy development and manufacturing for the benefit of patients worldwide.”
Dr. Garcia said, “It has been an extraordinary journey translating Kytopen’s innovative Flowfect® technology from the MIT lab to deploying systems to leading researchers and biotech partners worldwide. I am fully confident Dr. Chiu will successfully guide the company through its next phase of accelerated commercial expansion.”
Dr. Chiu added, “Kytopen's platform and products have transformative potential to redefine the discovery and manufacture of the next generation of living medicines. As global demand for these life-saving cell therapies grows, cost, labor, and time-to-market challenges must be addressed. The growing number of Flowfect Discover™ systems at leading academic medical centers and industry partners will accelerate work at the leading edges of this exciting field. I’m excited to work with Kytopen’s talented team to expand the access and impact of our scalable, non-viral gene delivery platform for discovering, developing, and manufacturing new therapies."
About Kytopen
Kytopen is focused on the development and commercialization of groundbreaking genome engineering platforms for expediting the discovery, development, and manufacture of gene-modified cell therapies. Developed at MIT, the Flowfect® platform, harmonizing microfluidics and automation, revolutionizes the delivery of genome engineering materials to cells of therapeutic interest in an expeditious, scalable, and economically advantageous manner compared to current alternatives. In May 2023, Kytopen unveiled the Flowfect Discover™, an automated high-throughput genome engineering platform, and disclosed strategic partnerships with industry-leading Contract Development and Manufacturing Organizations (CDMOs) and translational academic medical centers. By combining Flowfect Discover™ with the Flowfect Tx™ large-scale delivery device in process development workflows, developers can now surmount manufacturing challenges during the discovery stage, fostering swifter and more cost-effective innovation.