• Heads of Commercial, CHO Expression Technologies, Cell and Gene Therapy Expression Technologies, and Bioinformatics and Data Science appointed to support commercial scale-up
  • Strengthens alignment between customer needs, product development, scientific positioning, and external engagement

Sheffield, UK, 22 July 2026: SynGenSys, a biotechnology company designing synthetic gene promoter systems to address critical bottlenecks in biopharma manufacturing and enhance cell and gene therapy development, today announced the expansion of its senior commercial and scientific teams with the appointments of several heads of departments. These roles have been created as part of the Company’s continued growth, to support commercial scale-up and strengthen the alignment between customer needs, product development, scientific positioning, and external engagement.

Appointments include:

  • Dr Thilo Pohle, Head of Commercial

o   Thilo will lead SynGenSys’ commercial team, driving the commercialisation and industry adoption of the Company’s synthetic promoter and signal peptide technologies. He will play a central role in external engagement, customer relationships, and product licensing. Thilo has extensive expertise in recombinant AAV and protein manufacturing, and in promoter engineering. He is a named author on multiple related publications, and is named on several international patent applications. Following completion of his PhD at the University of Sheffield, he joined SynGenSys as a DNA Engineer and has since expanded his responsibilities to play an increasingly prominent role in shaping the company’s commercial, partnering, and market-positioning activities.

  • Dr Molly Smith, Head of CHO Expression Technologies

o   Molly will lead the development and expansion of the Company’s CHO.SET® synthetic promoter offering, building on her expertise in mammalian expression systems, cell line engineering, and synthetic promoter design. She holds a PhD in Biological Engineering from the University of Sheffield, with a focus on vector engineering strategies to improve transient CHO expression systems.

  • Dr Abayomi Johnson, Head of Cell and Gene Therapy Expression Technologies

o   Abayomi will lead the development of commercially viable expression technologies for cell and gene therapy applications. He has over a decade of experience in biopharmaceuticals, cell and gene therapy, and biotechnology, and completed his MSc and PhD at the University of Sheffield, where he also spent three years as a postdoctoral research associate developing synthetic mammalian promoters for gene therapy applications.

  • Dr Cristina Alexandru-Crivac, Head of Bioinformatics and Data Science

o   Cristina will lead the development and expansion of the SynGenSys’ computational platform and bioinformatics capabilities, driving the delivery of application-specific in silico solutions to support technology development and customer programmes. With a BSc in Genetics and Microbiology, a PhD in Chemistry, and years of postdoctoral research experience in Bioinformatics, she brings extensive expertise in computational genomics and cross-functional project delivery across the biopharma and cell and gene therapy sectors.

Dr Andrew Racher, Co-CEO, SynGenSys, commented: “These appointments come at a pivotal point for the Company, and I am delighted to announce these new roles as we continue to grow and refine our offering. Our CHO.SET Promoter Library® is market-ready, while our cell and gene therapy pipeline, including tissue- and cell-type-specific promoters and signal-peptide opportunities for CAR-based approaches, continues to mature. Strengthening our commercial and technical teams ensures these capabilities are effectively matched with the right customers and partners. At SynGenSys, we actively support growth from within the team, offering genuine career development opportunities. Congratulations to Thilo, Yomi, Cristina and Molly on their well-deserved appointments.”