CN Bio, a leading Organ-on-a-Chip (OOC) company that designs and manufactures single-and multi-organ microphysiological systems (MPS), today announced the appointment of Dr. Tomasz Kostrzewski as Chief Scientific Officer. Previously Vice President of Science and Technology, Dr. Kostrzewski’s promotion creates a new position in CN Bio’s leadership team, marking another key milestone in the Company’s development as the fourth leadership-level appointment within the past year.
Dr. Kostrzewski has more than 15 years of experience in molecular and cellular biology research. Joining CN Bio in 2015, he was promoted to Director of Biology in 2018 with responsibility for biological assay development and collaborative research projects with academia, pharma, and regulators. In 2021, he was again promoted to Vice President of Science and Technology, assuming responsibility for all technical activities, including new product, technology, and assay development, as well as contract research services. Dr. Kostrzewski has managed multiple grant-funded research projects at CN Bio and is currently the project lead for its long-standing collaboration with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Building on the success of the five-year project, the FDA has expanded the scope of the research twice, most recently in January 20231, and published the first co-publication, peer-reviewed article between an MPS provider and a regulator2, with further publications anticipated. Dr. Kostrzewski has published more than twelve peer-reviewed scientific articles in the last five years and submitted several patent applications.
Prior to joining CN Bio, Dr. Kostrzewski worked at Imperial College London in the Department of Life Sciences studying immune cell development and stem cell differentiation, as well as at GlaxoSmithKline working in biopharmaceutical drug discovery and development. He holds three degrees from the University of Sheffield and Imperial College London in Cell and Molecular Biology.
As Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. Kostrzewski will focus on the strategic initiatives for CN Bio’s technical activities, working closely with key industry stakeholders in pharma, biotech and at regulatory agencies, such as the FDA, to inform and validate the ongoing development of its OOC technology. Harnessing this combined expertise, he will be responsible for ensuring the Company’s portfolio of bioengineered solutions incorporates the latest technological advances and remains appropriate for use across the drug development workflow, enabling users to uniquely mimic key aspects of human biology and understand the mechanistic behaviour of novel drug candidates.
Dr. Tomasz Kostrzewski, Chief Scientific Officer, CN Bio, commented: “Having joined the CN Bio team over eight years ago, I’ve had the great opportunity to be at the cutting-edge of this rapidly-evolving industry and witness research and legislations evolve as the potential of Organ-on-a-Chip technology is realised. As the next stage in my career, it is a privilege to be promoted from within to support the Company as CSO. Our reputation is a testament to the team we have built and its extensive background in bioengineering and drug discovery, and I very much look forward to progressing all the opportunities we have in the pipeline to advance the future of drug development.”
Dr. Paul Brooks, CEO, CN Bio, said: “Tom is an asset to our team, his technical expertise paired with his insight and connections within the industry have been invaluable to CN Bio’s development and solidifying our reputation as leading providers of advanced Organ-on-a-Chip solutions. It has been a pivotal year for the Company’s growth, particularly to build and strengthen our senior leadership team – with Tom as our first CSO we are in a strong position to drive our commercial strategy forward, providing the deep expertise to better understand human physiology, disease and the effectiveness of new drugs.”
1. Press release: The FDA further expands collaboration with CN Bio to evaluate the PhysioMimix Multi-organ microphysiological system (17th January, 2023) https://cn-bio.com/the-fda-further-expands-collaboration-with-cn-bio-to-evaluate-the-physiomimix-multi-organ-microphysiological-system/
2. Rubiano, A., Indapurkar, A., et al., 2021. Characterizing the reproducibility in using a liver microphysiological system for assaying drug toxicity, metabolism, and accumulation. Clinical and Translational Science, 14(3), pp.1049-1061.
CN Bio and LifeNet Health LifeSciences partner to supply validated primary human cells for microphysiological systems