Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre (IBioIC), the specialist body set up to stimulate growth in the Industrial Biotechnology (IB) sector, has appointed Mark Bustard as Commercial Director. This newly created role will support the delivery of the National Plan for Industrial Biotechnology (IB), which aims to boost industry growth and innovation.
Mark joins IBioIC from CPI where he was Business Development Director for the National Biologics Manufacturing Centre in Darlington. Over the course of his 25-year career, Mark has gained a wealth of experience in developing the growth of bioprocessing by supporting businesses to scale-up, assisting companies to build collaborations, and helping them to access funding opportunities.
During this time Mark has also been a steering group member for the Medicines Manufacturing Industry Partnership and has recently led the secretariat function for the UK Advanced Therapies Manufacturing Taskforce. He has also held senior positions in Innovate UK’s Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN) and bioProcessUK. Early in his career, Mark was the Director of Research for Chemical Engineering and Lecturer in Bioprocessing at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh.
Mark Bustard said: “I am delighted to be working with this high-energy, knowledgeable and expert team at IBioIC. The focus, now that we are in Phase 2 of the National Plan, is to ensure a sustainable business model is in place that supports members to achieve success, linking them with academic research, providing skills development and qualifications, and networking and collaboration opportunities. I am looking forward to building the team to support this.”
Anne Glover, IBioIC Governing Board Chair, said: “We are delighted to welcome Mark as our new Commercial Director. His appointment demonstrates our commitment to delivering the National Plan for Industrial Biotechnology. I am confident that his leadership of the commercial team will help to drive significant growth in the sector by supporting members and academic research partners.”
Anne Glover continues, “We are also delighted to welcome Iain Hunter as our new interim CEO. Iain joins us from the Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences where he is Research Professor in Molecular Microbiology. Involved with IBioIC since 2013, Iain was one of the team of five who made the bid for our initial funding and has most recently been Chair of our Scientific Advisory Board, a role which he relinquishes to take up this position.”
Since inception in 2014, IBioIC has overseen the doubling of industrial biotech in Scotland to over £350m and supports over 130 companies, over 50 research projects and 18 Scottish universities and research institutes.
