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A Bucks County life sciences company has a new leader.
John Witkowski was named CEO of Telford-based Solesis, which develops and manufactures biomaterials for medical device and biopharmaceutical developers. He succeeds Karen West, who left late last year after two decades with the company, including the final two and a half years as CEO.
Witkowski joins Solesis from Exton's DSM Biomedical, the global biomaterials division of Netherlands-headquartered DSM-Firmenich, where he held the title of president. He previously worked in senior management roles at Bemis Manufacturing Co., Nypro Healthcare and Knee Creations.
“John brings nearly 30 years of experience across the medical device and biopharmaceutical industries,” said George Aitken-Davies, chairman of the board of Solesis. “He brings a strong track record of building high-quality businesses, both organically and through M&A.”
Witkowski told the Business Journal his initial goal is to spend "significant" time meeting with the company's staff in Pennsylvania and North Carolina to better understand how he can support them.
"There is a tremendous amount of personal learning to be done to understand the full breadth of Solesis’ portfolio," he said.
Founded in 2002, Solesis is the parent company for four subsidiaries:
- Charter Medical, which specializes in designing and manufacturing standard and custom single-use technologies for the cell and gene therapy, bioprocessing, and blood management industries;
- Polyzen, a developer and manufacturer of customized polymer-based materials, films, components, and assemblies for medical device companies;
- SanaVita Medical, a contract manufacturing and medical device processing services company;
- Secant Group, which designs and develops custom-engineered textiles for implantable medical devices with cardiovascular, general surgery, neurovascular, and orthopedic applications.
The company has 450 employees across its operations in the two states. Secant Group and SanaVita Medical are based in Telford with Solesis. Secant Group has operations in Quakertown and Perkasie. Charter Medical is located in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and Polyzen is in Apex, North Carolina.
In February, the company announced plans to build a manufacturing site in Costa Rica. The 45,000-square-foot plant, which will have the capacity to expand to 70,000 square feet, is expected to open in the spring of 2025 in the Greenpark Free Trade Zone industrial park.
“Expanding into Costa Rica will significantly increase our global capacity," said Jeff Robertson, the company's chief operating officer, adding the additional site will also help mitigate supply chain risks. “Costa Rica is a global medical device hub. Many of our customers already have established manufacturing operations in this region, and we look forward to continued collaboration with them.”
Witkowski said his long-term goals include further developing plans to "aggressively" grow the company.
Altaris Capital Partners, a New York City-based investment firm that focuses exclusively on the health care industry, holds a majority 51% equity stake in Solesis. The Michelin Group, the French company best known for its tire manufacturing, holds the remaining 49%.
