Akadeum Life Sciences Appoints Jeff Williams and Brett Williams to Their Board of Directors

Updated on Nov 4, 2024 Share

The additions of Jeff Williams and Brett Williams will reinforce Akadeum’s strategic expansion and drive commercial growth in the cell separation and life sciences industry.

Ann Arbor, MI, February 14, 2024 – Akadeum Life Sciences, the global leader in buoyancy-based cell separation, has today announced the appointment of Jeff Williams as Executive Chairman of the board and Brett Williams as a Director of the board. Jeff and Brett will play key roles in the board’s strategic direction as Akadeum strengthens its growth trajectory with continued product commercialization in products for the cell and gene therapy market.

Akadeum is leading the way in pioneering new separation products for applications like cell therapy manufacturing, diagnostics, and life science research. Akadeum’s groundbreaking technology and market potential have contributed to its rapid momentum in the cell therapy sector. The company completed a $17.5 million Series B funding round in 2021 and has launched multiple products used in cell therapy workflows. Jeff and Brett’s 50+ years combined experience in biotechnology will help Akadeum bolster its market-leading position in a life sciences sector.

Throughout his career, Jeff Williams has held leadership positions at life science companies such as NeuMoDx, Accuri Cytometers, and HandyLab, where he served as CEO. He was the founding CEO at NeuMoDx, a fully automated PCR testing solution for today’s modern lab, until its sale to Qiagen in 2020. Jeff has led the commercial growth and venture fundraising that has led to acquisitions from Becton Dickinson and Qiagen that totaled over $1B in transactional value. He was also President and CEO of Genomic Solutions Inc., a life science products company he co-founded that culminated in an IPO on NASDAQ.

During his appointment, Jeff commented, “Akadeum’s innovative technology addresses an urgent market need for more optimized and cost-effective cell therapy treatments. I am proud to support Brandon and the entire Akadeum leadership team in cultivating external partnerships, facilitating financial growth, and bringing cutting-edge technology to millions worldwide in desperate need of efficacious treatment.”

Brett Williams also joins the Akadeum Board with significant commercial leadership experience. Brett is a seasoned life science leader with global experience working at Private Equity and Venture capital-funded companies and large multinational public companies. Brett was the CEO at Verogen until the sale to Qiagen and previously was the CEO at Essen BioScience until a successful sale to Sartorius. Before these roles, he was vice president and general manager of Thermo Fisher Scientific’s cellular analysis business in the LSG group (formerly Life Technologies).

Brandon McNaughton, CEO and founder of Akadeum, added: “We are pleased to have Jeff and Brett join the Akadeum Board. As we grow commercially, their demonstrated track record of innovation and commercial leadership will support Akadeum as the company grows its product line and revenue. Their breadth of experience will add to our outstanding leadership team as our products continue to disrupt an industry in need of next-generation technologies that improve workflow and performance.”

Jeff and Brett join Akadeum’s existing members of the board, including George Dunbar, Dan Kidle of Arborteum Ventures, and John Gavenonis of Agilent Technologies.

About Akadeum Life Sciences, Inc.

Akadeum Life Sciences was formed to solve long-standing sample preparation problems in research, diagnostics, and cell therapy markets with a novel flotation-based target isolation platform technology. Without the critical step of separation (isolating biological targets like DNA, proteins, or cells from biological samples), many diagnostics and therapies would not be possible.

More than a solution to a single problem, this elegantly simple platform technology is disrupting the separation market—from nucleic acid extraction to cell isolation. Akadeum was the first to commercialize BACS™ (buoyancy activated cell sorting) Microbubble kits for cell isolation applications. In parallel, Akadeum is also establishing industry partnerships. Akadeum’s kits are for research use only.

Inquiries into Akadeum’s products, technology, or partnership opportunities can be made at info@akadeum.com.