Combining state-of-the-art production, purification and analytics to optimize AAV manufacturing for clinical and commercial gene therapies

Brandon Pence has more than 20 years of experience in the life sciences industry leading teams in R&D, product management, marketing and business strategy. Brandon began his career at Thermo Fisher Scientific in R&D and spent more than 15 years in a variety of technical and business management roles with increasing degrees of responsibility.

Following four years with GE Healthcare leading their bioprocessing marketing and strategy teams at their headquarters in Sweden, Brandon returned to Thermo Fisher as the Vice President of Market Development and Strategy for the BioProduction division. In 2019, Brandon took on the role of VP and General Manager of the Purification and Pharma Analytics business. Brandon is a graduate of Utah State University where he studied Cell Biology. He and his family currently reside in Utah.

Richard O. Snyder, PhD is the Vice President for Science and Technology, Pharma Services, Viral Vector Services at Thermo Fisher Scientific. Dr. Snyder has been investigating virus biology, vector development, cGMP vector manufacturing and analytical technologies, and viral vector-mediated gene transfer for over 33 years, and was a member of teams who developed novel viral vector-based human gene therapies.

Dr. Snyder was an Associate Professor of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, and Director of Biotherapeutic Programs at the University of Florida; an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School; and was previously employed by Cell Genesys, Somatix, Merlin, and Avigen where he was engaged in the development of gene transfer vector and vaccine technology, along with therapeutic applications. Dr. Snyder was a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, received his doctoral degree in Microbiology from The State University of New York at Stony Brook, and obtained his B.A. in Biology from Washington University in St. Louis.