SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — Cellares has appointed industry veteran Ali Soleymannezhad as its new chief commercial officer, bringing on an executive with two decades of experience in cell therapy, bioprocessing and bioanalytics as the company prepares for broad global growth and a future initial public offering.
Soleymannezhad, formerly chief commercial officer at MaxCyte and an executive vice president at Tosoh Bioscience, will direct global commercial strategy as Cellares builds out its network of Integrated Development and Manufacturing Organization (IDMO) Smart Factories in the United States, Europe and Japan. His hiring follows a series of global manufacturing agreements with partners including Bristol Myers Squibb, Kite and leading academic institutions, and comes shortly after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted the company’s Cell Shuttle platform the first Advanced Manufacturing Technology designation for a cell therapy manufacturing system.
At MaxCyte, Soleymannezhad oversaw commercial strategy across sales, business development and licensing, marketing, product management and field applications, expanding adoption across major global markets and securing enterprise agreements with biopharmaceutical companies. Earlier, at Tosoh Bioscience, he led global strategy and P&L, negotiating multi-year supply agreements that embedded the company’s technologies into essential bioprocessing workflows. Cellares said he will now focus on building long-term, multi-program partnerships that anchor sponsors’ cell therapy pipelines on the company’s IDMO Smart Factories.
Manufacturing challenges continue to limit access to cell therapies, which are often personalized treatments produced for individual cancer patients using manual, region-specific processes. Each market requires separate technology transfer and validation, slowing global rollout and increasing costs. Cellares aims to streamline this landscape by offering unified infrastructure and regulatory engagement that can support partners from clinical development through commercial launch.
The company’s Cell Shuttle platform, now recognized by the FDA through its AMT designation, is designed to accelerate regulatory timelines by supporting faster INDs, BLAs and global approvals. According to Cellares, automated workflows reduce risk for developers transitioning from manual manufacturing, and the company’s Biotech Incentive Program covers the cost and technical risk of automating processes on the platform.
“Throughout my career, I’ve worked to bring breakthrough technologies to patients, but Cellares is different,” Soleymannezhad said. “Too many patients miss out on life-changing cell therapies because global manufacturing capacity simply can’t keep pace. With Cellares’ first-of-its-kind Cell Shuttle and global IDMO infrastructure, we finally have the ability to meet total patient demand. I’m honored to join Cellares on this mission, and am committed to ensuring that every therapy capable of transforming lives can actually reach the patients who need it.”
Fabian Gerlinghaus, co-founder and CEO of Cellares, said the company is preparing to support multiple clinical trials in 2026. “Cellares is positioned to fundamentally transform cell therapy manufacturing,” he said. “As we establish a strong cGMP track record supporting multiple clinical trials in 2026, I’m excited for Ali to channel the rapidly expanding customer demand into our expanding commercial-scale manufacturing network in the United States, Europe, and Japan.”
Soleymannezhad will lead enterprise sales, business development and licensing, and global strategic marketing as Cellares works to expand patient access to cell therapies through its international Smart Factory network. He holds an MBA from Rice University and bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemical and biochemical engineering from Western University.
