Darragh Heaslip, Ph.D., will lead Colorado State University’s Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing and Academic Resource Center (BioMARC) as its new director.
Heaslip previously served as associate director of technical operations for BioMARC, a nonprofit contract development and manufacturing operation owned and operated by CSU to produce vaccines, therapeutics, diagnostics and other biopharmaceutical products.
BioMARC is part of the Infectious Disease Research Center administered through the Office of the Vice President for Research at CSU.
In his previous role, Heaslip led the production team on early-stage projects and served as BioMARC’s bio-safety liaison with CSU.
With more than 15 years of experience in high containment BSL-2 and BSL-3 and select agent handling, he also served as BioMARC’s bio-safety liaison with CSU, providing training and oversight of BioMARC’s BSL-2 and BSL-3 areas.
Heaslip has extensive experience leading technology transfer and/or development of assays, ranging from cell culture and molecular biology techniques to chromatography and protein characterization and purification methods including whole virions. He also has experience working with the VEE VRP vaccine platform.
In his new role, Heaslip will lead the BioMARC manufacturing operation at CSU, where testing and development for vaccine production can be piloted. He will continue the work of developing the strategic partnerships needed to accelerate manufacturing and commercialization of biologic products.
Established in 2006, BioMARC has extensive expertise in developing and optimizing product manufacturing processes and related tests. To date, BioMARC has brought a diagnostic parenteral product through clinical trial and commercial production, manufactured a virus vaccine for a Phase I clinical study, established several master and working cell banks, developed and qualified cell-based and analytical assays for product testing and release and established a controlled process for manufacturing a therapeutic product for preclinical studies.
