iXCells Biotechnologies has appointed Steve Smith as chief executive officer, strengthening the company’s leadership team as it expands its portfolio of custom-tailored iPSC products and preclinical services.

Based in San Diego, iXCells provides human cell-based solutions and custom iPSC services for biotech, pharmaceutical, academic and contract research organisation partners. Smith previously served as chief commercial officer and brings over 25 years of leadership experience across global life science tools and service companies, including Thermo Fisher and Abcam.

As CEO, Smith will oversee execution and delivery of iXCells’ bespoke human-derived iPSC preclinical services, supporting larger, more complex preclinical programmes and multi-study collaborations. During his tenure as chief commercial officer, he led the launch of iPSCore, a discovery support platform for precision drug development in rare diseases, and Project Mosaic1, a pilot initiative developing patient-specific models of sporadic ALS using methods adapted from cancer research.

Alex Gulotta, principal at Great Point Partners, said: “Steve’s appointment marks a pivotal moment for iXCells. His strategic vision and deep expertise in iPSC technologies and human cell-based research are exactly what we need to accelerate our mission. With initiatives like iPSCore and Project Mosaic already gaining traction under his leadership, I’m confident that Steve will guide iXCells to new heights of scientific innovation and impact.”

Smith added: “iXCells’ mission is to empower scientists with high-quality, human-relevant disease models and tools to support personalised solutions that enable breakthrough discoveries. I am excited to lead iXCells through this next stage of growth, expanding our iPSCore end-to-end services, delivering actionable results in ongoing scientific partnerships, and providing customers with the consistency, scale, and collaboration required to advance complex discovery programmes to enable the development of novel therapeutics for rare and complex diseases.”

The appointment marks a strategic step for iXCells as the company scales its operations to meet increasing demand for scalable, high-quality, human-relevant preclinical models.