Anthony Davies, Ph.D.
FOUNDER & CEO
Founded Dark Horse Consulting in 2014. Over 20 years of experience in CMC leadership of cell and gene therapy companies.
About Anthony
Anthony founded Dark Horse Consulting in 2014, bringing his 20+ years of leadership experience in product, process and manufacturing development to cell and gene therapy companies in need. His extensive network within the biotechnology industry allowed him the privilege of hand-picking the exceptional team of consultants working at Dark Horse, chosen for their top-notch performance, broad abilities, and unique expertise. Anthony’s responsibilities as Chief Executive Officer include defining the strategic growth and focus of the practice, team building, liaising with key clients, and developing business for the company. He is a highly sought-after keynote speaker and chair of national and international conferences and seminars, noted for his provocative, thoughtful, and sometimes contrarian presentations.
Prior to the founding of Dark Horse Consulting, Anthony served as a senior executive for multiple publicly traded and privately held companies, building a reputation for innovation, dedication and competency. A certified Six Sigma Champion, Anthony’s recent industry positions were at Capricor Therapeutics, where he served as Chief Technology Officer, and Geron Corporation, where he was Vice President of Product Development.
At Geron, Anthony led the process development, technical operations, pilot plant, analytical development, and cGMP manufacturing functions. He was responsible for all CMC-related regulatory filings, including the first ever IND to secure FDA clearance for initiation of clinical testing of an hESC-derived product.
At Capricor Therapeutics, Anthony was responsible for development and expansion of the company’s cardiovascular therapeutics portfolio, including but not limited to in-house and in-licensed stem cell and peptide products.
At an earlier position at Onyx Pharmaceuticals, after critical contributions to the development of the oncology drugs Nexavar® and Ibrance®, Anthony built manufacturing teams for the adenovirus gene therapy ONYX-015, running a multi-thousand litre, pre-commercial process for this first-in-class product.
EXAMPLES OF RECENT WORK
- Led due diligence team providing strategic counsel to a Fortune 500 company, resulting in the >$800 million acquisition of a privately held US-based CDMO
- Led team providing regulatory guidance and remediation of critical and sensitive cGMP manufacturing activities
- Provided ad hoc bespoke technical and business guidance to VC, PE and other investors considering CGTx assets
- Led due diligence team advising a venture capital firm, evaluating a potential >$100M financing of a privately held US-based company advancing clinical development of a novel cell therapy
- Led due diligence team advising a US-based hedge fund sponsor, evaluating a potential mezzanine financing of a privately held Europe-based gene therapy company
- Was CMC lead on a UK-based trade mission to Asia, building East-West relationships from both a technical and a regulatory perspective
- Currently sits on the Scientific Advisory Boards of multiple companies in the field of cell & gene therapy; provides counsel on process and governance as a non-executive Director of TrakCel Ltd.
INDUSTRY EXPERIENCE
Capricor Therapeutics, Inc.
Chief Technology Officer
Geron Corporation
Vice President — Product Development
Serologicals, Inc. (now EMD Millipore)
Director — Process Development
Zymequest, Inc. (now Velico Medical)
Senior Director — Manufacturing
Syrrx, Inc. (now Takeda Pharmaceuticals)
Associate Director — Process Development
Onyx Pharmaceuticals
Associate Director — Process Sciences
EDUCATION
University of Birmingham
Ph.D. in Biochemical Engineering “Cell Culture Systems for Epstein-Barr Virus Production” (Dudley Docker Scholarship for scholastic excellence, 1988)
University of Cambridge
M.A. (Hons) in Biochemistry (Seraphim Prize for Biochemistry, 1986)