Newcastle upon Tyne-based Newcells Biotech, a drug discovery company focused on the development of in vitro models and assay services to improve the prediction of in vivo human outcomes, has appointed Emile Shaffu as director of sales.

Shaffu has more than 20 years’ international sales and management experience in the life sciences sector and has commercial and technical knowledge of molecular biology and genomic technologies. Most recently he was UK regional business manager at Californian-based Bionano Genomics. During a five-year tenure at Horizon Discovery (now Revvity), Shaffu held various positions responsible for customer networks for its portfolio of drug discovery products and screening services in the UK, continental Europe and the US. He also gained experience within the Nordic market through his role at epigenetics company, Diagenode.

Shaffu said: “Throughout my career, I have focused on opportunities in areas of high innovation. Newcells puts this at the forefront of its capabilities; combining unique expertise with cutting-edge technology to offer targeted solution to researchers’ complex problems. I am eager to join the company, collaborate with the team, and apply my expertise to enhance access to these industry-leading in vitro models – in this way, we can take the guesswork out of drug development and accelerate clinical translation across more programmes globally.”

Dr Mike Nicholds, co-founder and chief executive of Newcells Biotech, commented: “Emile’s successful track record and proven leadership in the life sciences sector will play a pivotal role as we expand our global footprint and deliver on our mission to improve the translation from preclinical studies to first-in-human trials.”