Ray first joined ProtaGene earlier this year as Chief Operating Officer. He brings over 26 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical and CRO industries, including research and development, quality assurance/quality control, technical support of biopharmaceutical products, protein characterization, and application of Six Sigma methodologies.
Former CEO Martin Blüggel, who remains engaged on the Board of Directors, founded Protagen in 1997 and successfully navigated the merger of four organizations, each driven by scientific analytical excellence and market leadership in biologic and cell and gene therapy development, to form the advanced analytical leader, ProtaGene. With the recently completed merger with GeneWerk and partnership with healthcare growth investor Ampersand Capital Partners, ProtaGene will continue building its team and capabilities to support today’s increasingly complex therapeutic development programs.
“ProtaGene is incredibly well-positioned to serve as an analytical leader that supports the development of diverse therapeutic modalities,” commented Blüggel. “It has been an extraordinary experience building the company, and now on the 25th anniversary, I entrust Ray, an experienced executive, to lead ProtaGene to future success. With growing operations in North America and Europe, the company under Ray’s leadership is well prepared to serve our international sponsors within the biologics and cell and gene therapy sectors.”
“With our strong market positioning in North America and Europe, combined platforms in advanced biologic and cell and gene therapy analytical development, and focus on quality systems and strategic project management, I see no limits to what ProtaGene can accomplish,” shared Kaiser. “As an increasing number of novel therapeutics enter the development pipeline, ProtaGene is prepared to rise to the challenges of these new products and modalities. Ultimately, I am thrilled and privileged to lead ProtaGene as the analytic partner of choice to deliver therapeutics to patients in need quickly.”
Before joining ProtaGene, Ray was the Chief Operating Officer at Nexelis, overseeing operations, business strategy, and enhanced service offerings for pre-clinical and clinical bioanalytical testing. He obtained his Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from Purdue University and his Master of Science in Organic Chemistry from St. Louis University. Dr. Kaiser has published over 50 papers and patents on biologics and vaccine development, manufacturing, and characterization.
