About us
OUR STORY
CytoImmune’s integrated ecosystem of biologic and cell therapy technologies and capabilities enables us to discover, develop, manufacture, and commercialize an unprecedented, broad spectrum of regenerative medicines. Our approach enables a sharp focus on differentiated technologies and R&D efforts, while simultaneously removing barriers to knowledge and new scientific breakthroughs. Our state-of-the-art clinical cell manufacturing facility in Toa Baja, Puerto Rico, is custom-designed to support the development and commercialization of cutting-edge NK cell therapies. By leveraging our proprietary, robust, and well-characterized NK cell expansion and engineering technologies, we aim to deliver high-quality cell therapy solutions to our partners. At CytoImmune, we are dedicated to fostering collaborations that drive the future of cell therapy and improve the lives of patients with cancer. Discover how our expertise in cell therapy development and manufacturing can accelerate your path to success.
LEADERSHIP TEAM
Jose Vidal, Ph.D.
Chief Operating Officer
- Led CMC for first BLA approval of an allogeneic immunotherapy.
- Oversaw 1,000 employees and $500M budget at Amgen.
Dr. Vidal joins CytoImmune from Atara Bio, where he led the Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls (CMC) and was instrumental in the development of Atara’s allogeneic T-cell therapy. He was responsible for Global Quality Assurance Operations, functionality and compliance, and Process Sciences. Moreover, he was in charge of the product manufacturing processes development from the preclinical stage to commercialization.
Prior to Atara, Dr. Vidal was Vice President of Global Product Process Development and Vice President of Drug Substance Operations at Amgen. He supervised over 1,000 employees and oversaw a budget of half a billion dollars while managing its worldwide product development network.
Before holding several senior and executive roles in pharmaceutical companies such as Wyeth, Pfizer, and prominent startups, including Biovail, Dr. Vidal earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Puerto Rico and a Ph.D. in cellular molecular biology.
With over two decades in developing biopharmaceuticals worldwide, Dr. Vidal will manage CytoImmune’s cell and virus manufacturing and lead the operations team in Puerto Rico in its mission against cancer.
José Vidal, Ph.D.
Michael A. Caligiuri, M.D.
Co-Founder & Chief Scientific Officer
- President, City of Hope National Medical Center
- Deana and Steve Campbell Physician-in-Chief Distinguished Chair
- Past President, AACR
- Elected to National Academy of Medicine for breakthrough human NK cell and T cell discoveries
Michael A. Caligiuri, M.D., is the President of the City of Hope Natonal Medical Center and holds the Deana and Steve Campbell Physician-in-Chief Distinguished Chair. He is a world-renowned physician, scientist, builder, innovator, leader and visionary. Dr. Caligiuri is dedicated to developing the next generation of leading-edge immune therapies for cancer, rapidly delivering them to patients and ultimately curing the disease.
Prior to joining City of Hope, Dr. Caligiuri worked for 20 years as a physician, scientist and leader in the cancer program at The Ohio State University. He spent the past decade as CEO of The James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute and directed The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center for 14 years, recruiting over 300 cancer physicians and scientists and building the 3rd largest cancer hospital in America.
Dr. Caligiuri has spent the last 35 years studying human natural killer (NK) cell biology during which time he made several seminal discoveries that have paved the way for CAR NK cells to advance into the clinic. He has over 400 peer-reviewed original research publications on NK cells and/or cancer. Over 1,000 patients have been treated on clinical trials designed or co-designed by Dr. Caligiuri to modulate NK cells for cancer therapy.
Dr. Caligiuri is the past president (2018) of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), the world’s largest cancer research organization with 40,000 members in 120 countries. He was elected as a Fellow to the AACR Academy, received a lifetime achievement award from Stanford University School of Medicine and was elected to the US National Academy of Medicine for his basic and translational work on human NK cells and cancer.
Michael A. Caligiuri, M.D.
Ivone Bruno, Ph.D.
VP, Preclinical Affairs and Process Development
- 25 + years in CGT products (viral vectors, CRISP, Stem cell, iPSCs, TCR, CAR NK/T, RNA technologies).
- CMC team lead focused on manufacturing, process development and
analytical development/qualifications.
25 + years in CGT products (viral vectors, CRISP, Stem cell, iPSCs, TCR, CAR NK/T, RNA
technologies). CMC team lead focused on manufacturing, process development and analytical development/qualifications..
Ivone Bruno, Ph.D.
Tania Rodriguez, Ph.D.
Director of Research & Process Development
- Imunologist with 17+ years of academic and industry experience leading preclinical/toxicology efforts in CAR products (T/NK) for IND
submissions/clearance. - Manage CRO/CDMOs for CGT drug development.
Dr. Tania Rodriguez joined CytoImmune in 2021 and is the Director of Research and Process Development. She has over 17 years of experience in preclinical pharmacology and safety assessments of cell and gene therapies, process and assay development, and clinical biomarker strategies.
Prior to CytoImmune, Dr. Rodriguez was Associate Director and Principal Scientist at Invectys, USA. At Invectys, Dr. Rodriguez led the preclinical IND enabling studies plan of the company’s leading autologous Chimeric Antigen Receptor T cell (CAR-T) product, managed contract research and manufacturing organizations for Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls (CMC) activities, and was instrumental in the preparation of the pre-IND briefing package for the company’s first CAR-T product for the treatment of solid tumors (NCT05672459).
Prior to Invectys, Dr. Rodriguez was a lead scientist at Bellicum Pharmaceuticals, where she worked on preclinical assessments of the company’s T cell-based cell products including T-cells genetically modified to express CARs or T-cell receptors (TCRs) for the treatment of solid tumors and hematological malignancies. At Bellicum, she designed and conducted IND enabling vitro and in-vivo pharmacology, pharmacokinetics, and safety assessments leading to IND submission and clearance of the company’s first HER2-targeted dual switch autologous CAR-T product for the treatment of solid tumors (NCT04650451).
Dr. Rodriguez earned a PhD in Immunology & Experimental Therapeutics from the University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Houston Texas. Her research focused on Major Histocompatibility Complex -I (MHC-I) molecules and dendritic cell-induced T-cell immunity against melanoma. After her PhD, Dr. Rodriguez joined the Cell and Gene Therapy Department at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Tx, as a post-doctoral fellow. Her research focused on the development of CAR-T cells for the treatment of glioblastoma.
Tania Rodriguez, Ph.D.
Omer Butt, Ph.D.
Vice-President, Regulatory Affairs
- Regulatory affairs professional with 17 + years of experience in Biologics and Cell Therapy regulations, including CMC review focus at the US FDA.
- Extensive experience with global trial management and BLA development of allogenic cell therapy products.
Dr. Omer Butt joined CytoImmune in 2022 as the Vice President of Regulatory Affairs. He brings over 17 years of experience in the regulatory space, working closely with US FDA, EMA, and PMDA in the Cell Therapy and Biologics space.
Prior to joining CytoImmune Therapeutics, Dr. Butt was the Senior Director of Global Regulatory Affairs at Athersys Inc., where he managed their Investigational Drug, MultiStem®, an allogenic “off the shelf” cell therapy, in a Phase III registration trial globally. He led numerous interactions with the FDA, Country-specific European Regulators, EMA, and PMDA, for the initiation of new INDs and filings of BLA in Japan.
Dr. Butt joined Athersys after spending time at larger companies such as Sanofi, Shire, and Biogen, where he managed multiple portfolios including monoclonal antibodies and enzyme therapy. He is extremely well versed in both Clinical Development of products and life cycle management. Products that he had regulatory oversight on with the above-mentioned companies ranged in therapeutic area from Oncology to Neurology. Before joining the industry, Dr. Butt spent his early career years at the US FDA, as a Staff Fellow, where his responsibilities included the CMC review of INDs, BLA, and all associated life cycle amendments.
Dr. Butt earned a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from The Ohio State University, with a focus on Stem Cell Biomechanics.
Omer Butt, Ph.D.
Board of Directors
Richard T. Santulli
Co-founder and Chairman of CytoImmune Therapeutics, former founder and CEO of NetJets, Inc.
Rich Santulli, was the founder and chairman of Milestone Aviation Group, a helicopter and business jet leasing company. He is best known for pioneering the concept of fractional jet ownership with NetJets, a company he developed in 1986. Santulli was once considered a possible successor to Warren Buffett at Berkshire Hathaway.
Richard T. Santulli
Christina Coughlin, M.D., Ph.D.
CEO of CytoImmune Therapeutics, Inc.
Christina Coughlin, M.D., Ph.D. has been appointed the CEO of CytoImmune Therapeutics. Dr. Coughlin joined CytoImmune from Rubius Therapeutics, Inc. where she served as the Chief Medical Officer and led the clinical development, translational medicine and regulatory efforts in the allogeneic red cell therapy platform. Prior to Rubius, Dr. Coughlin was with Tmunity Therapeutics, Inc., where she served as Chief Medical Officer and was responsible for the development of autologous CAR-T and TCR-T cellular therapies.
Dr. Coughlin has held other leadership roles in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology fields in her career including Chief Medical Officer at Immunocore, heading the development of the soluble TCR platform, and Oncology Asset Team Leader at Pfizer. Dr. Coughlin received her M.D. and Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania and completed fellowships in Hematology and Oncology at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and in the Translational Research Group under the direction of Carl June, M.D. at the University of Pennsylvania.
Kinam Hong, M.D.
Kinam Hong, M.D.
Managing partner Sofinnova Partners
Kinam joined Sofinnova Partners in January 2017. Kinam co-managed the Exane Equinox fund, a global healthcare fund with a focus on later-stage, public biotechnology companies. Kinam invested in global life sciences companies developing innovative medicines with the potential to address areas of large unmet medical need.
Kinam had previously spent 10 years as an investor and analyst covering the biotechnology sector, including at Citigroup investment research where he focused on small- and mid-cap biotechnology companies.
Prior to his investment career, Kinam worked in new product development at Sanofi, a multi-national pharmaceutical company, where he managed a HIV vaccine candidate in Phase 3 development. Kinam also held roles in business development and strategic marketing, where he worked on various infectious diseases and oncology licensing deals and on Sanofi’s strategy in China, respectively.
Kinam is a medical doctor and holds degrees in molecular biology/biochemistry and medicine from the University of Florida. He also holds a CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) and MBA from INSEAD (France).
Graeme Bell
Doug Williams, Ph.D.
CEO of Codiak Biosciences, Inc.
Douglas E. Williams, Ph.D., is Codiak’s President and CEO. He previously served as Biogen’s Executive Vice President, Research and Development from January 2011 to July 2015.
Dr. Williams joined Biogen from ZymoGenetics, where he was CEO and member of the Board of Directors. ZymoGenetics was acquired by Bristol Myers Squibb during his time as CEO for $985 million. Previously, he held leadership positions within the biotechnology industry, including Chief Scientific Officer and Executive Vice President of Research and Development at Seattle Genetics Inc., and Senior Vice President and Washington Site Leader at Amgen Inc.
Dr. Williams also served in a series of scientific and senior leadership positions over a decade at Immunex Corp., including Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Senior Vice President of Discovery Research and Vice President of Research and Development.
Prior to joining Immunex, Dr. Williams served on the faculty of the Indiana University School of Medicine and the Department of Laboratory Medicine at the Roswell Park Memorial Institute in Buffalo, New York. Dr. Williams has served on numerous boards of directors for companies in the biotechnology industry and is currently a member of the Board of Directors of Ovid Therapeutics, Chairman of the Board of AC Immune, and is a Director for private companies Cygnal Therapeutics and Xenikos.