MINNEAPOLIS, Minn., March 27, 2018 – Be The Match BioTherapies®, an organization offering solutions for companies developing and commercializing cellular therapies, today announced the appointment of Chris McClain, MBA, to Vice President, New Business Development and Sales, and Steven Devine, MD, a renowned stem cell transplant physician, as Medical Director. In addition, the company appointed Jamie Margolis, PhD, to Director, Product Development Operations.
“As we continue to pursue our mission to support companies developing new cellular therapies with strong potential to improve patient outcomes in a range of disease areas, we are delighted to announce these key additions and promotions,” said Amy Ronneberg, President of Be The Match BioTherapies. “Chris has been an integral part of the team since joining as a consultant two years ago, and will play an important role in continuing to strengthen our relationships with key industry stakeholders. Jamie is an incredible leader and a pioneer of Be The Match BioTherapies, having been with the organization since its inception.”
“We are also pleased to welcome Dr. Devine, a well-respected blood and marrow transplant investigator who has been an active industry and government advisor with tremendous experience overseeing both government- and industry-sponsored stem cell transplant clinical trials,” Ronneberg continued. “He will play a critical role in our efforts to determine the best opportunities for leveraging the many assets of our organization to partner with cell and gene therapy companies who are bringing innovative therapies to patients.”
McClain is a seasoned life sciences executive and entrepreneur. Prior to joining Be The Match BioTherapies, he was co-Founder of Nora Therapeutics, Inc., a venture-backed biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapies in areas of significant unmet medical need in reproductive health. While at Nora Therapeutics, McClain and his team raised more than $50 million in venture capital to fund preclinical and clinical development of Nora’s lead asset and to build out a world-class executive team.
Prior to founding Nora Therapeutics, McClain held a variety of management consulting and operational roles in the technology sector. For the past two years, he has been a consultant to the Be The Match BioTherapies Business Development team.
McClain has a B.A. and MBA from the University of California, Berkeley. He has served as an advisory member of the University of Minnesota Office for Technology Commercialization Venture Center, as a guest lecturer in the Life Sciences program at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson Graduate School of Management, as a mentor to emerging companies participating in Carlson’s annual MNCup startup competition, and as co-chair of Medical Alley’s Biotech Shared Interest Group.
Dr. Devine, who also supports the CIBMTR® (Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research®) as Senior Vice President and Senior Medical Director of Research Operations, brings more than 25 years of clinical experience in stem cell transplantation.
Prior to joining Be The Match BioTherapies and CIBMTR, he was Professor of Internal Medicine and Director of the Blood and Marrow Transplant program at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC-James). Before that, he held positions at Washington University in St. Louis, the University of Illinois in Chicago, and Emory University, Atlanta.
He has also served on the graft-versus-host disease Advisory Boards of Bristol Myers Squibb and Incyte Pharmaceuticals, Kiadis Advisory Board, and Genzyme Advisory Board, and was a member of the boards of directors of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Alliance for Clinical Trials cooperative group and the American Society of Blood and Marrow Transplantation. He is past chair of the National Heart Lung and Blood/NCI-sponsored Blood and Marrow Transplant Clinical Trials Network (BMT CTN), and of the transplant committee for the Alliance, part of the NCI’s National Clinical Trials Network. Dr. Devine received his medical degree from the University of Massachusetts Medical School, and trained in hematology and oncology at the University of Chicago and Emory University.
Dr. Margolis has nearly a decade of experience in managing the complexities of cellular therapies. She and her team work closely with clients to understand their unique needs and determine how Be The Match BioTherapies can best support delivery of services to meet clients’ specifications. It is her team’s responsibility to ensure the smooth operational delivery of products and services to clients.
She joined Be The Match BioTherapies’ parent company, the National Marrow Donor Program® (NMDP)/Be The Match®, in 2009 and spent the first six years in patient case management, supporting the operational needs of health care providers for stem cell transplant and troubleshooting unexpected disruptions that occur throughout the complex product delivery process.
Dr. Margolis has worked for Be The Match BioTherapies since it was established in 2016. She holds her Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and Genetics from the University of Minnesota.
Media Contact: