Biotechnology expert joins CDMO

At the beginning of June, Dr Ralf Otto took up his new position as Chief Operating Officer of Warsaw-based Rezon Bio.  Otto brings more than 25 years of international leadership experience in the CDMO and biopharmaceutical industries and possesses extensive expertise in biologics development, clinical and commercial cGMP manufacturing, technology transfer, production scale-up, operational excellence and CDMO transformation in Europe and the United States.

At Rezon Bio, Otto will be responsible for the operational areas of clinical and commercial cGMP manufacturing, development, quality, engineering and business processes across the entire integrated end-to-end CDMO platform.

Before joining Rezon Bio, the biotechnologist, who holds a PhD, held senior management positions, including at Boehringer Ingelheim BioXcellence. There, he oversaw large-scale production in mammalian cell cultures, ensuring the supply of clinical and commercial biologics. He later became General Manager and Site Head in Fremont, California, and drove the transformation of the site into a multi-product CDMO operation focused on operational excellence and growth. As President and CEO at Rentschler Biopharma Inc., he was responsible for capacity expansion, operational transformation and organisational development in the field of integrated services for the development and manufacture of biologics. Prior to this, as a partner at McKinsey & Company, he advised global biopharma, CRO and CDMO companies on overall strategy, commercial and operational transformation, as well as organisational change and capacity building.