Kemwell Biopharma, a global contract development and manufacturing services provider, announced that it has appointed Dr Siddharth J Advant, as president of its biopharmaceutical services.

Anurag Bagaria, CMD, said: “Dr Advant exemplifies Kemwell’s commitment to delivering high performance to its customers. He is a proven leader with over 20 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. His extensive experience in CMC development and commercialization will help Kemwell grow its contract biotech business. As a member of Kemwell’s core committee for strategic growth, he will lead a team of professionals charged with developing and delivering high-quality services in the most efficient manner possible to biopharmaceutical companies globally.

In his 20-year career, Dr Advant has held a wide variety of leadership positions across the biopharmaceutical industry. He is joined with Kemwell from ImClone Systems, a wholly owned subsidiary of Eli Lilly & Co. Prior to this he headed Tunnell Consulting’s West Coast Office. He was also Director for Diosynth Biotechnology and headed three primary areas: Project Management & Business Alliances; Technology Transfer & Clinical Operations; and Pharmaceutical Sciences & Stability. He worked as a scientist, Pharmaceutical Development Division at Protein Design Labs, Inc., and as a Programme Manager for BioReliance, Inc. He supervised the formulation development business.

Dr Advant got his degree in pharmacy from the University of Poona, and doctorate in Pharmaceutics from the University of Connecticut School of Pharmacy. He is a founding member of the CMC Strategy Forum Advisory Committee, and served as chair for the 2008 WCBP Meeting, 2004 AAPS National Biotechnology Conference,  Boston and the 2002 AAPS Biotechnology Section. He has authored  of various peer-reviewed articles, made  presentations at major industry conferences.