Stelis Biopharma, a vertically integrated biopharma and vaccines company and the biotech arm of Strides Pharma Science Limited, has appointed Mark W. Womack as the new CEO. He is also the managing director designate and will be inducted to the board later subject to necessary statutory clearances and processes.
 
As the new CEO and managing director, Womack will provide leadership to drive an aggressive growth and profitability strategy for Stelis in its business streams that include global contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) services and the development of the company’s biosimilars pipeline, and integrated vaccines play. He will be responsible for the company’s overall strategy and provide the necessary direction and leadership to R&D, manufacturing, business development, and commercial operations.
 
“We are delighted to onboard Mark as the new CEO of Stelis,” said Arun Kumar, founder, Strides Group. “Stelis stands on the cusp of a transition to become a globally recognized biopharmaceutical company while targeting significant growth in the coming years. Mark’s strong background in commercial leadership, rich management consulting experience, and network within the biotech CDMO space make him exceptionally well suited to drive this transition for Stelis. We are confident that together Mark and his leadership team will take Stelis through the next level of growth, profitability and industry-leading reputation.”
 
Before joining Stelis, Womack was the chief business officer for AGC Biologics. In his role at AGC, he led the organization to nearly a three-times increase in new sales in just two years and drove the acquisition of most of the world’s top large pharma companies into their portfolio. Before that, leveraging his management consulting background, Mark led the global integration of three former CDMOs that were merged to create AGC Biologics.
 
Womack has served over 25 years as a management consulting industry leader and C-level client advisor, leading large-scale business transformations and guiding many of the world’s renowned companies to achieve record highs in revenue and profit. During this time, he served as the Chief Operating Officer for two international management consulting companies.
 
Before joining the management consulting industry, Womack led a succession of US Navy units, including serving as a combat center leader on a destroyer class ship. He will be based at the company’s corporate headquarter in Bengaluru, India.