TAAV Biomanufacturing Solutions, S.L. (TAAV), an independently operated wholly-owned subsidiary of Asklepios BioPharmaceutical, Inc. (AskBio), and a member of the Bayer worldwide group of companies, announced the appointment of Dolores Baksh, Ph.D. as Chief Executive Officer. Baksh brings a successful 20-year track record of biotechnology R&D, product development and cGMP manufacturing leadership to TAAV, a world-leading synthetic DNA manufacturer.
“Dolores’ diverse biotech experience and therapeutic production expertise will immediately contribute to growing TAAV’s worldwide synthetic DNA manufacturing business,” said Sheila Mikhail, TAAV Board Chair and AskBio Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer. “The Board values her strategic vision and long history of operational execution, which are critical to building product leadership for TAAV-produced doggybone DNA (dbDNA) as a safe and highly effective alternative to plasmid DNA.”
TAAV’s modern facility in San Sebastian, Spain, is specifically designed for the manufacture of high quality dbDNA™ for research, preclinical and clinical grade AAV therapeutics. We believe TAAV’s synthetic process will lead to high yields at small scales and shorter manufacturing timelines, facilitating quicker production of AAV and increasing safety by eliminating residual bacterial sequences of plasmid DNA.
“This is an exciting time for TAAV and AAV therapeutics. I look forward to working alongside our exceptional and growing team, to establish TAAV as the global standard for synthetic biotechnology,” added Baksh. “I believe TAAV will play a transformative role in increasing the safety and accessibility of AAV therapeutics for those in need around the world.”
Baksh joins TAAV from Akron Biomanufacturing where she served as the company’s Business Unit Head and Vice President of Commercial Biomanufacturing, leading its growth strategy for the production of cGMP plasmids and gene editing nucleases. She also held various leadership positions at GE Healthcare Life Sciences; GE Venture start-up, Vineti, Inc.; Organogenesis; and others. In these roles, Baksh established innovative cell and gene therapy product development strategies through organic and inorganic approaches, brought to market software to scale and digitize cell manufacturing systems and played a leading role in the approval of the first FDA approved allogeneic cell-based product.
Baksh received her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at the University of Toronto. She will split her time between Boston, Massachusetts, and TAAV’s manufacturing facility in San Sebastian, Spain.
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