British contract research, development and manufacturing organisation (CRDMO) Ingenza has appointed Nick Challoner as its chief executive officer, effective 1 October.
Challoner (pictured, centre) brings over 30 years of experience in business leadership, innovation, and commercial strategy and execution across the chemical and biotechnology sectors, and has operated internationally in Europe, the Americas and Asia Pacific.
He most recently served as group chief scientific officer (CSO) at Croda International, a FTSE 100 company, where he was responsible for the development and execution of global R&D strategy in line with longer-term commercial objectives relating to innovation and sustainability.
He also spearheaded a biotechnology programme from the ground up, delivering impactful innovations through multi-organism strain engineering, biocatalysis and downstream processing, as well as the development of external innovation partnerships in this field.
Prior to becoming CSO, he held the position of President of Life Sciences and, following the acquisition of a new class of lipid delivery systems, he led the business through the scale-up and regulatory approval for mRNA delivery components used by Pfizer/BioNTech for the Comirnaty COVID-19 vaccine, leading to sales of $300m.
He succeeds Ingenza founder Ian Fotheringham, who will be elevated to President at Ingenza.
“Stepping into the role of President will allow me to focus fully on advancing key pillars of our growth plans,” said Fotheringham.
“With Nick’s leadership and expertise now complementing the experience of Ingenza’s board, the company is in an excellent position for the journey ahead.”
Challoner added: “I am deeply honoured by the opportunity to lead Ingenza at such an exciting time.
"My goal is to strengthen the company’s position as a leading strategic partner in the CRDMO sector, driving operational excellence, innovation, quality and transformative growth, as well as investing further in the development of the fantastic team at Ingenza to enable even greater performance for our customers.”
