John Tomtishen

John Tomtishen is Vice President of Operations at Cellares. He has more than 10 years of experience in cell and gene therapies, biologics, and vaccines, with diverse roles in Business Operations, CMC/Technical Operations, Supply Chain, Engineering/Facilities, and Operational Excellence. Prior to joining Cellares, John served as the Site Managing Director of Legend Biotech’s corporate headquarters, where he was responsible for Legend’s U.S. Manufacturing and Technical Operations teams and the development of robust global CMC strategies for Legend’s cell and gene therapy product portfolio. He also supported the clinical development and BLA filing of Ciltacabtagene autoleucel (Cilta-cel) in collaboration with Janssen Pharmaceuticals.

Prior to joining Legend, John worked for Novartis Pharmaceuticals within Cell and Gene Technical Development & Manufacturing where he drove and oversaw CMC activities for cell and gene therapy products from late-stage clinical development through commercial lifecycle management. John also had an integral role in the filing and approval of the first CAR-T BLA (Kymriah™-tisagenlecleucel). Previous experience included roles at Eurofins Lancaster Laboratories and Fox Chase Cancer Center. John earned a Bachelor of Science degree with Honors in Cell Biology/Biochemistry from Bucknell University.