A Strong Leadership Team

Martin Meeson is a seasoned executive who brings extensive global experience to the Biotech and Pharmaceutical markets.

Martin has served as Chief Executive Officer of FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies since April 2020. Prior to this appointment he served in various executive leadership positions including Chief Operating Officer and President of the company’s United States operations in North Carolina and Texas and Chief Financial Officer. Before joining FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies he was Finance Director at Oxford Chemicals where he was responsible for all aspects of Finance, IT, and Purchasing. He also held leadership positions at Hibernia Foods, ICI/Dupont and KPMG.

In January 2022 Martin was appointed to serve in the United Kingdom’s Government New Business Council, a cross-sector network of global business leaders who will work with the Government on infrastructure, innovation and skills in the United Kingdom.

Paul is responsible for all delivery operations at the Billingham site. He is a chartered chemical engineer and a lean six sigma Black Belt with over 25 years’ experience in chemical, pharmaceutical and biologics manufacturing.

Since joining Avecia Biologics in 2003 as senior process engineer, he has held various positions in engineering, business planning and project management until taking on his current role. Prior to joining the company he held various engineering positions with Monsanto Chemicals and GlaxoSmithKline.

Lars has 25+ years of experience in Life Science working in Site Management, Operations, Manufacturing and Engineering with the companies Biogen, Genentech, Novo Nordisk, Novozymes and NNE. He has worked and executed projects in Europe, China and the US. Focus has been on Leadership and development, Project Management, Strategic Projects, Organizational Design, Automation and Conceptual Design.

He has made significant contributions to Modular and Fast Track Concepts resulting in unparallelled project schedule. Through 2017-2019 he was the Site Head of Large Scale Biologics and Finished goods of the Biogen (Denmark) Manufacturing site in Hillerod and responsible for 800 employees with excellent result in Safety, Quality and reliability. The site has three doubled in output over this period.

Lars holds a Master’s degree from the Technical University of Denmark.

Christine Vannais is a seasoned professional with over twenty years of experience working in a variety of industries including contract biopharmaceutical development and manufacturing, USDA biological vaccine manufacturing and research, FDA and EU small molecule manufacturing, primary and secondary packaging operations, API potent compound manufacturing, Department of Defense sites, among others.

Christine was announced as Chief Operating Officer of FDB’s North Carolina site on April 1, 2020. Christine joined FDB in 2012 and led the North Carolina Manufacturing Operations team starting in 2014 as part of the Site Leadership Team. In this role she was responsible for the site’s 24/7 manufacturing operations, which include cGMP production in both microbial and mammalian systems. Prior to joining FDB Christine help positions at MERCK Animal Health and Schering Plough Corporation. Christine was a Certified Safety Professional and is a graduate from Colorado State University.

Gerry is responsible for the operation of the College Station, TX site. He has over 20 years’ experience in contract manufacturing and has been a part of the Diosynth team for the past 14 years holding roles in project management, development and manufacturing.

Most recently was the head of Process and Analytical Development and Process Sciences groups at the RTP site.  Gerry has broad experience in the tech transfer, development, and manufacturing of customer programs from clinical supply through process validation up to and including commercial manufacturing.

Andy is a seasoned professional in the biopharmaceutical industry with a career that spans over 25 years. As CSO, Andy brings in the depth and breadth of knowledge built over tenure at Fujifilm Diosynth where he has served a variety of scientific roles. In his most recent position as Director of Development his focus has been on working with customers to develop innovative and scientifically sound solutions to programs. Dr. Topping also oversees all of the Innovation Initiatives at Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Wales at Cardiff.

Gill has the responsibility for all Legal and Corporate Compliance activities for FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies, working closely with the Fujifilm regional headquarters around the globe to ensure the continued support and involvement that we benefit from as part of the FUJIFILM Corporation.

She joined FDB as Regional Counsel for the European entities in 1996 and, prior to joining FDB, worked at top tier law firms, including AVIVA and Vocalink (a Mastercard company).

Gill gained a Joint Honours degree in English and Classical Literature at Leeds University before completing a law conversion qualification (Common Professional Examination) and the Legal Practice Course at the UK’s College of Law.

As the Chief Information Officer, Ravi is responsible for the technology vision, roadmap and operations across all sites globally.  Ravi has over 20 years of experience with a track record of building effective global teams, leading technology transformation, digital business, insights and business integration for Fortune 500 corporations across multiple compliance heavy industries – Biotechnology, Pharmaceuticals and Financial Services.
Prior to joining FUJIFILM Dioysnth Biotechnologies, he was CIO at Bioverativ and held divisional CIO roles at Pfizer.  In addition, he delivered global strategic platforms in ERP, Digital, Infrastructure,Security to financial services companies as a principal at PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Deloitte Consulting.  He has a BS in accounting, Masters degrees in Finance, Operations Management & Information Science and an MBA in Marketing. 

David is responsible for directing the development, implementation and maintenance of quality control, quality assurance and regulatory systems and activities across the FDB sites. He has 40+ years of experience in the pharmaceutical and medical device business, operating in the United States and Europe for various companies.

During his tenure at these positions he has been responsible for the compliance and regulatory approval of several facility expansions and successful Preapproval and routine inspections by the US FDA, Canadian, European, Japanese and several South American regulatory agencies. Dave is an ASQ certified Quality Engineer and Quality Auditor.

Michael Lyons was named Chief Financial Officer at FDB on April 1, 2020. Mike joined FDB in 2008 in the role of Financial Controller at our Billingham, U.K. site. During his tenure with the organization he served as Head of Finance at FDBK and CFO for FDB Europe.  He is an accredited Lean Six Sigma Green Belt. Previous to joining our organization Mike held positions at Armstrong World Industries, Inc. and Caterpillar UK Ltd. Mike graduated with a BA (Hons) Business Studies and Finance from the University of Teesside and is currently a Fellow Chartered Management Accountant.

Andy is responsible for all of the commercial, planning and program mangement functions at FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies. Andy has over 15 years experience in Biotechnology, having held roles in Manufacturing, Technology Transfer, Planning, Program Management and more recently as interim Head of Marketing and Sales. Andy has fulfilled these roles in both the UK and US sites.

As Chief Transformation Officer, Christie Williams is responsible for the identification and delivery of a portfolio of strategic initiatives spanning process, organizational, and cultural excellence objectives aimed at improvements in quality, efficiency, and value. Christie has direct line management responsibility for the global ePMO and the Operational and Business Excellence functions and, in collaboration with the rest of the Global Leadership Team, ensures that global process excellence goals are aligned with business strategy and the One FDB operating principal.

Most recently, Christie Williams served as Compliance Officer for FDB locations in North Carolina and Texas, USA. She joined the company in 1998 as a downstream process development scientist at the North Carolina, U.S. site. In 2010, Christie led the deployment of Lean Six Sigma at the North Carolina site, achieved black belt certification, established the tier process, and led the delivery of a portfolio of improvement projects. During her tenure at the North Carolina site, she led the manufacturing sciences, program design, operational excellence, supply chain, program management, and cell culture manufacturing teams. In 2014, Christie joined the Texas site as part of the due diligence team and later the post-merger integration team.

Keita Hirabayashi is responsible for FUJIFILM Corporation’s 80% interest in FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies and supporting the executive management team. He joined FDB in 2011 at RTP, North Carolina. Following this appointment, he moved to the company’s College Station, Texas site in 2014. In September 2019 Keita transferred to the company’s Hillerød, Denmark site.

Prior to moving from Tokyo to RTP in September 2011, he was responsible for the procurement, cost accounting, strategical planning and business development at FUJIFILM Corporation for more than 15 years.