Leadership

GBI’s senior operational staff members have decades of experience in biologics and cGMP manufacturing, including holding senior positions at numerous leading biopharmaceutical companies.

Darrin T. Schellin Chief Executive Officer

Muctarr Sesay, Ph.D. Chief Science Officer & Vice President of Bioconjugation Development

Steven Vorgity Vice President of Finance & Company Secretary

Paul Mutolo Vice President of Operations

Cynthia Parrilla Vice President of Human Resources

Prema Rathinavelu, MSc Associate Vice President of Quality Control

Amita Quadros, Ph.D. Vice President of Commercial Operations

Andrew Majdoch, MSc Associate Vice President of Technical Operations

Catherine Uitz, PhD Director of Process Development

Joscar Guivas Senior Director of Manufacturing and Supply Chain

Sandra Isaacs Director of Quality Assurance

Chris Benjamin IT Manager

Darrin T. Schellin Chief Executive Officer

Darrin is a very experienced senior executive with a distinguished career spanning several decades internationally in the life sciences and CDMO industries at organizations including Bausch & Lomb, Alliance Medical Products, and Siegfried Holding AG among others. Darrin was integral to the leadership team at Alliance Medical Products as COO and then CEO, growing the company rapidly over a decade until it was sold to Swiss CDMO Siegfried Holding AG. Darrin then ran Siegfried’s global drug products business for six years, managing five sites across the US and Europe. He has strong leadership skills and experience and is passionate about building organizations and integrating complex service offerings and technologies with business operations to ensure efficiencies, scalability, and a high degree of customer satisfaction.

Muctarr Sesay, Ph.D. Chief Science Officer & Vice President of Bioconjugation Development

Dr. Sesay has over 25 years of biotechnology experience in biologics process development and manufacturing, bioconjugation and modification of biological molecules (including monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies, enzymes, toxins, and others) and small molecules. He also has over 17 years of experience in the Contract Development and Manufacturing (CDMO) sectors. Prior to joining GBI in 2002, Dr. Sesay supervised many projects in R&D, process development, and biologics manufacturing at Life Technologies Inc. (now Thermo Fischer), Kirkegaard and Perry Laboratories (KPL), and Elusys Therapeutics. After receiving his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of London (Queen Mary College), England, Dr. Sesay worked for three years as a postdoctoral candidate at the University of Maryland, College Park in protein purification and characterization. In addition to his responsibilities at GBI, Dr. Sesay is also a member of the advisory committee for the Professional Science Master’s Degree in Medical Biotechnology offered by the College of Health Sciences at Barry University.

Steven Vorgity Vice President of Finance & Company Secretary

Mr. Vorgity is responsible for providing strategic direction, leadership and oversight to GBI by directing and overseeing all financial, legal, and IT activities. He reports to the CEO and serves as a member of the Executive Management Team.

He joined GBI in 2022 to provide his diverse professional experience across various industries ranging from Pharmaceutical Brand Marketing, Construction Materials, Body Art products, Life Science Medical Devices and Life Science Reagents.

Steven holds an MBA from University of Massachusetts, and a BS in Pharmaceutical Marketing from St. Joseph’s University.

Paul Mutolo Vice President of Operations

Cynthia Parrilla Vice President of Human Resources

Cynthia Parrilla is a Human Resources Executive with more than 16 years of expertise in all aspects of Human Resources. Currently, she holds the position of Vice President of Human Resources at GBI Biomanufacturing, Inc. As the Vice President of Human Resources, she is a trusted member and advisor to the Executive Leadership Team. Cynthia is responsible for setting, enforcing, and evaluating legal compliance with human resource policies, procedures, and best practices and providing executive-level leadership and guidance to the organization’s HR operations. Her expertise spans various areas, including Strategic Planning, Compensation and Benefits, Talent Acquisition, Employee Relations, Learning & Development, Organizational Re-design, and more.

In 2022, Cynthia joined GBI Biomanufacturing, Inc. after serving for four years as Head of Human Resources for a Women’s Pharmaceutical Company, followed by a prestigious law firm, where she oversaw a department of HR Generalists, Talent Acquisition Specialists, Benefits and Payroll Employees, and HR Coordinators throughout the nation.

Cynthia Parrilla is a New York native who has a Master’s Degree in HR Management with a concentration in Business Administration. She is a highly skilled and experienced leader with extensive experience establishing HR departments and providing strategic business advice to C-level executives; her ability to anticipate potential issues has proved invaluable throughout her career.

Cynthia’s achievements were recognized by her peers when she was nominated earlier this year as an honoree for the 8th Annual Lifetime Achievement Excellence Award in Human Resources.

Prema Rathinavelu, MSc Associate Vice President of Quality Control

With over 17 years of experience in managing quality assurance and quality control departments, Prema has leveraged a solid scientific background with technical experience in biochemistry, microbiology, and chemistry, working on all aspects of early-stage drug development including analytical method development and validation as well as establishing product specifications. She has a deep understanding of USP and EP methodologies, which enables her to provide guidance and oversight for the release and testing of API, finished products, and raw materials. Prema attended the University of Madras, where she earned a Master’s degree in biochemistry and an undergraduate degree in chemistry, and has published several research papers in reputable, peer-reviewed biological journals.

Amita Quadros, Ph.D. Vice President of Commercial Operations

Dr. Quadros is well-versed as a client advocate at GBI, having worked for over 15 years in pre-clinical research and phase I-III/BE clinical trials in a variety of therapeutic indications such as Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, and diabetes. Her attention to detail and management skills were honed by supervising over 30 employees, and she has authored and co-authored over 20 peer-reviewed articles and presented her work at international conferences via various poster and platform presentations. Dr. Quadros was also the lead author in a chapter of a seminal text in COX-2 inhibitor research and is an editor and reviewer for Scientific Journals International (SJI). In addition to her full-time position as Project Manager at GBI, Dr. Quadros contributes her scientific knowledge as a Professor of Biology at Broward College. She completed her undergraduate work in biochemistry at the University of Bombay and received her Ph.D. at Florida International University.

Andrew Majdoch, MSc Associate Vice President of Technical Operations

Andrew has over 20 years of experience in manufacturing biologics and biopharmaceuticals. Prior to joining GBI, Andrew was the Senior Manager – Clinical Manufacturing and Process Development at Alkermes plc, where he worked for 13 years in manufacturing (commercial and clinical) and process development.

Andrew has experience developing drug candidates in the large molecule design space focusing on recombinant therapeutic proteins. Andrew began his career with Abbott Laboratories where he worked for 7 years moving up through the ranks to become the Rare Reagents Manufacturing Supervisor overseeing the mAb production suite.

Andrew earned his Masters of Science degree in engineering and technology management from Oklahoma State University and a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from the University of Wisconsin.

Catherine Uitz, PhD Director of Process Development

Catherine Uitz, PhD, was most recently the consultant of USAID Global Health Supply Chain Program-Procurement and Supply Management and was previously the Associate Director at Novavax, where she was accountable for process development and attribute characterization to defend the integrated control strategy of flu VLP. She has worked in US FDA and WHO approved drugs, Process Development, and Manufacturing Sciences on a variety of product types (ACTs, RDTs, LLINs, ARVs, NuThrax™, PreviThrax™, NicVax, NEISVAC-C® , novel semi-synthetic conjugate vaccines) and at small and large companies (Emergent, Nabi Biopharmaceuticals and Baxter Bioscience). Catherine possesses numerous patents, publications, and corporate technical team awards.

Catherine has a BSc and PhD in Organic Chemistry from University Paris XI – Institute Curie, Paris, France.

Joscar Guivas Senior Director of Manufacturing and Supply Chain

Joscar Guivas Fabery is our Senior Manufacturing and Supply Chain Director. Joscar is an strategic and results-driven leader with 10+ years of experience in biologics commercial manufacturing. As a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt and Hoshin Kanri Certified professional, Joscar has led and coached continuous improvement and strategic planning implementations and has a proven track record of executing supply chain and manufacturing process improvement projects.

At GBI, Joscar is responsible for all manufacturing operations including GMP and non-GMP upstream, downstream, and fill finish as well as associated support activities such as materials management and facilities.

Joscar started his career at Amgen Puerto Rico, where he supported commercial startup operations in the formulation and drug product facility. In addition to Amgen, Joscar worked at Mylan and Emergent BioSolutions to drive and improve commercial manufacturing.

Sandra Isaacs Director of Quality Assurance

Sandra Isaacs is a Quality Professional with over two decades of experience in developing, monitoring, and spearheading continuous improvement measures to attain a sustainable and compliant Quality Management System framework. She has broad industry experience in the Biologics, Drugs, Medical Devices, Human Cells, Tissues and Cellular and Tissue -Based Products (HCT/P) industry.

She attended the University of South Florida where she obtained a post-graduate diploma in Total Quality Management. She also holds a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in Chemistry and minors in Physics and Biochemistry from the University of the West Indies. In 2004 she satisfactorily fulfilled the requirements established by ASQ and attained her professional certification as a Certified Quality Auditor (CQA).

Sandra joined the Goodwin Biotechnology Inc. (GBI) team in 2009. During her tenure, she works closely with global Quality partners to ensure that clinical phase therapeutic biologics manufactured by GBI meet the requisite national and international quality standards. She is adept to client’s needs and prides herself in establishing a working collaboration with the client’s quality representatives to build mutual trust and transparency.

Sandra is currently the Quality Director for manufacturing operations. In this capacity she oversees operational activities and works to establish strategic Quality Operational plans to support GBI’s commercialization activities. She is driving a ‘Quality First’ culture and is reinforcing the company’s Quality Organization based on quality risk management principles. It is her objective to continue to build and expand the company’s Quality Management System to ensure that it is designed optimally and compliant for a seamless transition to commercial manufacturing.

Chris Benjamin IT Manager

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