Cellares Appoints Ali Soleymannezhad as Chief Commercial Officer to Lead Global IDMO Expansion and Drive Cell Therapy Access
Cellares, the pioneering Integrated Development and Manufacturing Organization (IDMO) transforming the cell therapy landscape, today announced the appointment of Ali Soleymannezhad as Chief Commercial Officer (CCO). In this newly created role, Soleymannezhad will spearhead Cellares’ global commercial strategy as the company scales its network of IDMO Smart Factories across the United States, Europe, and Japan. This appointment is a strategic move aimed at accelerating Cellares’ commercial growth, expanding its global footprint, and preparing for a potential initial public offering (IPO).
Soleymannezhad brings more than two decades of leadership experience in life sciences commercialization and biopharmaceutical innovation. He previously served as Chief Commercial Officer at MaxCyte (NASDAQ: MXCT) and Executive Vice President at Tosoh Bioscience, where he led global business development, commercial strategy, licensing, marketing, and product management initiatives that expanded adoption across multiple regions and therapeutic sectors.
At MaxCyte, Soleymannezhad played a pivotal role in scaling the company’s commercial operations internationally. He oversaw sales, marketing, product management, and field application teams while securing enterprise and partnership agreements with leading biopharmaceutical companies in the United States, Europe, and Asia. His efforts were instrumental in accelerating the adoption of advanced life-science technologies and expanding global market penetration.
During his tenure at Tosoh Bioscience, he directed the company’s global strategy and managed its profit and loss responsibilities. He secured multi-year supply agreements and embedded Tosoh’s cutting-edge technologies into critical bioprocessing workflows, reinforcing the company’s position as a trusted provider in the life sciences industry. At Cellares, Soleymannezhad will leverage this wealth of experience to secure long-term, multi-program partnerships, positioning Cellares’ IDMO Smart Factories as a cornerstone for sponsors’ cell therapy portfolios and facilitating broader patient access to transformative therapies.
Soleymannezhad’s appointment comes at a critical juncture in the cell therapy industry. Despite remarkable scientific advances, manufacturing capacity and cost efficiency remain major barriers preventing patients from accessing potentially curative therapies. Today, most approved cell therapies are personalized cancer treatments produced one dose at a time, relying on labor-intensive workflows within region-specific cleanrooms. Each geographic region often requires separate technology transfer, validation, and regulatory approval, creating a fragmented manufacturing landscape that slows global launches and forces companies to make manufacturing decisions country by country rather than portfolio-wide.
Cellares addresses these challenges through its unified IDMO platform, providing a scalable and standardized approach to cell therapy manufacturing. By partnering with Cellares, sponsors can streamline global operations, avoid duplicating capacity regionally, and accelerate clinical and commercial launches. The company actively engages regulators to ensure that its automated manufacturing systems meet global compliance requirements, helping sponsors navigate regulatory pathways with greater efficiency and confidence.
Central to Cellares’ innovation is the Cell Shuttle™, the first end-to-end cell therapy manufacturing platform to receive the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Advanced Manufacturing Technology (AMT) designation. This recognition not only underscores the platform’s technological sophistication but also provides sponsors leveraging Cellares’ IDMO services with regulatory support and expedited review for investigational new drug (IND) applications, biologics license applications (BLAs), and global launches. By reducing the risks and complexities associated with adopting automated manufacturing, the Cell Shuttle enables sponsors to bring therapies to patients faster and more efficiently.
“Throughout my career, I’ve focused on bringing breakthrough technologies to patients, but Cellares represents a fundamentally different approach,” said Ali Soleymannezhad, Chief Commercial Officer of Cellares. “Far too many patients miss out on life-changing cell therapies because global manufacturing capacity simply cannot meet demand. With Cellares’ first-of-its-kind Cell Shuttle and its global IDMO infrastructure, we now have the ability to deliver therapies at scale. I am honored to join Cellares on this mission and am fully committed to ensuring that every therapy capable of transforming lives can actually reach the patients who need it.”
In his role as CCO, Soleymannezhad will oversee enterprise sales, business development, licensing, and strategic marketing. He will work closely with biopharmaceutical partners to build multi-year, multi-program portfolios that utilize Cellares’ IDMO Smart Factories as shared global infrastructure. This approach allows sponsors to focus on clinical innovation while leveraging Cellares’ manufacturing expertise to accelerate time-to-market and expand patient access.
“Cellares is uniquely positioned to redefine cell therapy manufacturing,” said Fabian Gerlinghaus, Co-founder and CEO of Cellares. “As we establish a robust cGMP track record supporting multiple clinical trials in 2026, Ali’s experience will be instrumental in converting the rapidly growing customer demand into operational scale across our IDMO Smart Factory network in the United States, Europe, and Japan. His leadership will be a catalyst for the next phase of our commercial and strategic growth.”
Cellares’ mission is to meet global patient demand through a fully integrated network of IDMO Smart Factories. By centralizing manufacturing capabilities and standardizing automated processes, the company enables sponsors to avoid creating capacity region by region. This scalable approach not only reduces operational complexity but also accelerates clinical development and global market entry for cell therapies.
The company’s automation expertise has already been demonstrated across multiple manual processes on the Cell Shuttle, achieving a 100% success rate in automation. This technical proficiency underpins the Biotech Incentive Program, through which Cellares funds and executes process automation while assuming the upfront technical risk. The program is designed to reduce barriers for biopharmaceutical companies adopting automated cell therapy manufacturing, allowing sponsors to focus on clinical innovation and patient outcomes rather than operational hurdles.
Soleymannezhad’s academic credentials further reinforce his leadership profile. He holds an MBA from Rice University and both B.E.Sc. and M.E.Sc. degrees in Chemical and Biochemical Engineering from Western University. His combination of technical expertise and commercial leadership uniquely positions him to drive Cellares’ ambitious growth plans.
Cellares’ appointment of Ali Soleymannezhad signals a bold step toward transforming the global cell therapy manufacturing landscape. By unifying advanced manufacturing technology, regulatory engagement, and strategic commercial execution, Cellares is enabling the biopharmaceutical industry to overcome historical constraints in cell therapy production. This integrated approach aims to ensure that groundbreaking therapies reach patients faster, more reliably, and at the scale necessary to meet global demand.
As Cellares scales its IDMO Smart Factory network and expands its portfolio of partnerships, the company is poised to become a strategic partner for biopharmaceutical companies worldwide. By combining automation, regulatory alignment, and commercial leadership, Cellares is setting a new standard in the cell therapy ecosystem—one that prioritizes patient access, operational efficiency, and sustainable growth.
With Soleymannezhad at the helm of global commercial strategy, Cellares is preparing to capture the next wave of opportunities in cell therapy manufacturing. His appointment underscores the company’s commitment to delivering life-changing therapies at scale, strengthening long-term partnerships, and positioning the organization for future public market growth.
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