Ziccum appoints senior biotech manager as new COO
Ziccum has appointed senior international biotech engineering manager Xavier Turon as its new Chief Operating Officer. Turon will lead the team developing LaminarPace, Ziccum’s unique mass transfer drying system, and is bringing extensive academic and industrial experience. His appointment follows the recruitment of a new CFO as Ziccum delivers on its strategy of growing its management capabilities.
As Ziccum is progressing with a successful new strategy and business model, rewarded by recent agreements with leading Pharma and Biotech partners, the company is introducing a new position in its management team. A Chief Operating Officer has been recruited to manage the Operations team and to lead the important LaPaSim project for 3D-modelling of the LaminarPace technology. This strengthening of the Ziccum team will contribute to the successful development of the core technology, as well as help delivering results in the partnered projects.
Xavier Turon brings excellent industrial and academic expertise to the company. His track record in Chemical engineering and Life Science management is a valuable fit for Ziccum; Turon has deep expertise in biological drying processes, including freeze-drying and spray drying, as well as specific experience working in proteins and peptides. Most recently as Industrial Biotech Manager at Lipotec, Lubrizol Life Science in Spain, he led a team designing, developing and scaling up GMP-quality manufacturing plants for pilot as well as commercial scale for bioactive ingredients.
In addition, Turon has significant academic expertise. From 2008 – 2016 he was Assistant Professor at the Chemical Institute of Sarrià (IQS) in Barcelona, leading the Bioprocesses unit in developing and scaling up bioprocesses from benchtop to pilot. His international experience includes three years as Associate Researcher at the State University of North Carolina in the US, as well as background as a Doctoral Researcher in Chemical Engineering at Polytechnique Montreal, Canada’s leading engineering university.
Xavier Turon: “I am pleased and excited to join Ziccum. LaminarPace is a genuinely unique technology which will contribute to developing better biotherapeutics. It clearly fills an industrial need - I look forward to contributing to its ongoing technological and industrial development while joining the excellent, growing team at Ziccum. The stage is set for a major breakthrough in biopharmaceutical drying".
Ziccum CEO Ann Gidner: “Xavier is a very valuable recruitment for Ziccum, and we welcome him warmly. His extensive knowledge in chemical engineering science will help ensure the best possible advancements in the LaPaSim project and further strengthen our dialogues with teams and prospects. The role will be pivotal in driving successful LaminarPace development forward, to enable new, user-friendly formulations of RNA and other vital biotherapeutics”.
