Boston & Brisbane, Australia — AdvanCell, a clinical-stage radiopharmaceutical company developing targeted alpha therapies for cancer, said it has appointed Justyna Kelly as Chief Technology Officer and François Gaudet as Chief Scientific Officer as it expands its U.S.-based leadership team.
The company said the appointments support its continued investment in pipeline development, global scale-up, manufacturing readiness and isotope capabilities. Simon Puttick, PhD, has transitioned from Chief Scientific Officer to Chief Isotope Development Officer and will continue to lead isotope innovation efforts from Australia.
Kelly will lead AdvanCell’s global technical operations strategy, including CMC, GMP production and clinical supply, the company’s global manufacturing network, supply chain and commercial readiness planning. Her focus will include further developing U.S. manufacturing capabilities to support the next phase of development for ADVC001.
Kelly brings 16 years of radiopharmaceutical manufacturing and operations experience. She most recently served as Vice President and Site Head of Eli Lilly and Company’s Indianapolis radioligand therapy manufacturing site. She previously served as Chief Operating Officer at POINT Biopharma before its acquisition by Lilly and held leadership roles, including Chief Executive Officer, at the Centre for Probe Development and Commercialization. She holds an MSc in Biochemistry from McMaster University.
“AdvanCell has built a differentiated Lead-212 platform with the potential to meaningfully impact patients with cancer,” said Justyna Kelly, CTO of AdvanCell. “I am excited to join the team and help execute a holistic strategy to scale our Lead-212 manufacturing infrastructure for Phase 3 and commercial readiness, while ensuring the quality, reliability, and operational excellence needed to deliver these therapies to patients.”
Gaudet will lead AdvanCell’s discovery and preclinical efforts, with a focus on advancing new Lead-212 targeted alpha therapies into clinical development. He brings 25 years of experience across pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, including leadership roles at Novartis, Johnson & Johnson and Mnemo Therapeutics, where he served as Chief Scientific Officer.
AdvanCell said Gaudet has led research teams responsible for the discovery and development of therapeutic assets through commercialization, including TECVAYLI and TALVEY. He conducted graduate work in cancer epigenetics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and holds a PhD in Biology from Ludwig Maximilians Universität.
“AdvanCell has built an innovative platform of Lead-212 targeted alpha therapies based on its commitment to advance new treatment options for patients in oncology. Lead-212 alpha therapy is a nascent field and ADVC001 represents a validation of the modality,” said François Gaudet, CSO at AdvanCell. “I’m excited to have joined the team to continue driving forward the pipeline development and help realize the full potential of the company’s differentiated approach.”
Puttick, who helped establish AdvanCell’s targeted alpha therapy platform, will focus on next-generation isotope production technologies in his new role. The company said he will lead radioisotope process development from concept through scalable manufacturing, strengthen supply chain security and support platform expansion. He will remain based at AdvanCell’s Australian headquarters in Brisbane.
“These leadership appointments strengthen AdvanCell’s ability to build a category-defining targeted alpha therapy company, accelerating our U.S. expansion and scaling our targeted alpha therapy platform globally,” said Philina Lee, CEO of AdvanCell. “Justyna brings deep radiopharmaceutical manufacturing and operations expertise, François brings a proven track record of discovering and advancing innovative oncology therapeutics, and Simon’s dedicated focus on innovative methods for next-generation isotope production reinforces a core strategic advantage for AdvanCell: secure, scalable isotope supply and manufacturing.”
