RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan 13, 2026--
Kincell Bio, a leading contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) in cell therapy, today announced the promotion of three accomplished executives to strengthen its leadership team and advance its mission of delivering life-changing therapies to patients worldwide.
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Bruce Thompson, PhD, has been promoted to President and Chief Technology Officer, driving technology strategy and innovation to provide technical solutions for clients. As Kincell’s founding CEO, he established the company’s technical and operational foundation. His prior leadership roles include VP of Process Sciences at Lyell Immunopharma, technical and operational leadership positions at Resilience and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center where he led GMP manufacturing of cell and gene therapy products. Bruce holds a Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Louisville and he brings over 25 years of experience in cell therapy development and manufacturing.
Melodie Bryce has been promoted to Chief Quality Officer. In this capacity, Melodie will lead the organization’s quality strategy, ensuring best-in class quality systems and robust regulatory compliance across all operations. Melodie has nearly three decades of experience in quality leadership, with deep expertise spanning cell therapy, antibody and aseptic production. Throughout her career, she has successfully designed and implemented comprehensive quality frameworks and led organizations through regulatory inspection readiness including for cell therapy commercial supply. Her professional background includes senior quality leadership roles at KBI Biopharma, Cognate BioServices, Matica Biotechnology and Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies. Melodie earned her B.S. from North Carolina Wesleyan University and is widely recognized for her disciplined, pragmatic, approach to quality excellence in highly regulated environments.
Matt Haines is being promoted to Chief Operations Officer, leading supply of cell therapy products to the clinic, operational excellence and manufacturing scalability . In addition, he will be responsible for driving Kincell Bio’s physical expansion planning through designing, building and maintaining compliant facilities including capacity for cell therapy innovators. Matt brings over 20 years of biotech industry experience, specializing in manufacturing sciences and operations at Biogen, Amgen and Merck. Before joining Kincell, he served as VP of Manufacturing Operations at Inceptor Bio, a cell therapy innovator, and Senior Director at AveXis/Novartis Gene Therapies, contributing to the approval and launch of a leading commercial gene therapy. Matt holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Drexel University.
These leaders played a pivotal role in making 2025 a transformational year for Kincell Bio by delivering on client programs through strengthening the organization with strategic talent acquisition and developing our capabilities at our RTP, NC and Gainesville, FL sites. Their understanding of the CMC and operational challenges that innovators face is key to building a strong relationship that results in trust, open communication, and successful partnerships.
“Bruce, Melodie, and Matt have demonstrated exceptional leadership and expertise, and their expanded roles further strengthen our ability to deliver innovative, high-quality solutions for our clients while accelerating access to transformative therapies for patients. Together with our highly skilled teams, we will continue to expand our clinical development and commercial supply infrastructure, accelerate technology transfer, and strengthen our commitment to delivering life-changing cell therapies efficiently and reliably,” said Larry Pitcher, Chief Executive Officer.
Kincell’s mission is to support innovators from early development through pivotal clinical stages and into commercial launch with tailored CMC development, manufacturing, and analytical services. The organization is also committed to advancing the field of cell therapy with tailored solutions that empower innovators to bring their therapies to market efficiently and effectively.
About Kincell Bio
Kincell Bio engineers cells into therapies. With manufacturing facilities located in Research Triangle Park, NC, and Gainesville, FL, Kincell Bio is a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) with the mission to streamline CMC development, with expertise in analytical and process development and GMP manufacturing, testing and release from early clinical, to pivotal studies, and product launch. Kincell Bio is focused on supporting innovative companies developing immune cell therapies, including autologous and allogeneic CAR-T, TCRs, Tregs, and CAR-NK programs, as well as developing expertise in stem cell products and iPSCs. For more information, visit www.kincellbio.com, and follow us on LinkedIn.
Matt Haines is the Chief Operations Officer at Kincell Bio, where he leads the buildout and operation of Kincell’s manufacturing capabilities. Before joining Kincell, he served as Vice President, Manufacturing Operations, at Inceptor Bio, and as Senior Director of Manufacturing at AveXis/Novartis Gene Therapies, where he played a key role in the successful approval and launch of a commercial gene therapy, as well as in expanding their manufacturing network. In his 20+ years in the biotech industry, he has held various roles within manufacturing, engineering, manufacturing sciences, and quality at companies such as Biogen, Amgen, and Merck. Matt earned his BS in Chemical Engineering from Drexel University.
Melodie Bryce is the Chief Quality Officer at Kincell Bio. Over her 28 years in the biopharma industry, Melodie joined Kincell from KBI Biopharma where she led Quality work in both cell therapy and mAb production. As a Quality leader, she also brings experience in Manufacturing and Supply chain from Bayer/Talecris/Grifols. She has also implemented robust quality systems for Matica Biotechnology and Cognate Biotherapeutics as well as prepping the facilities for regulatory inspection readiness. Melodie earned her BS from North Carolina Wesleyan University.
Bruce Thompson, PhD is the President and Chief Technology Officer of Kincell Bio. Bruce brings more than 28 years of experience to his position as President and Chief Technology Officer. Bruce is the Founding CEO of Kincell where he built the technical and operations team and launched Kincell’s tech-savvy CDMO offerings in the marketplace. Prior to his role with Kincell, Bruce was Vice President and Technical Lead for the Cell Therapy Franchise at Resilience, Inc., where he helped to build the development and GMP manufacturing capabilities and served as a technical advisor. Bruce has over 18 years of CMC strategy, product development and cell therapy manufacturing experience. Bruce received his B.A. in Biology, an M.S. in Biochemistry from The Ohio State University and Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Louisville.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Federal officers dropped tear gas and sprayed eye irritant at activists Tuesday during another day of confrontations in Minneapolis, while students miles away walked out of a suburban school to protest the Trump administration's bold immigration sweeps.
Meanwhile, the fallout from the fatal shooting of a Minneapolis woman by an immigration agent reached the local U.S. Attorney's Office: At least five prosecutors have resigned amid controversy over how the U.S. Justice Department is handling the investigation, according to people familiar with the matter.
Separately, a Justice Department official said Wednesday there's no basis for a criminal civil rights investigation. An FBI probe of Renee Good's death is ongoing.
Strife between federal agents and the public continues to boil, six days since Good was shot in the head while driving off in her Honda Pilot. At one scene, gas clouds filled a Minneapolis street near where she died. A man scrubbed his eyes with snow and screamed for help after agents in a Jeep sprayed an orange irritant and drove off.
It’s common for people to boo, taunt and blow orange whistles when they spot heavily armed immigration agents passing through in unmarked vehicles or walking the streets, all part of a grassroots effort to warn the neighborhood and remind the government that they’re watching.
“Who doesn't have a whistle?” a man with a bag of them yelled.
Brita Anderson, who lives nearby and came to support neighborhood friends, said she was “incensed” to see agents in tactical gear and gas masks, and wondered about their purpose.
“It felt like the only reason they’d come here is to harass people,” Anderson said.
In Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, students protesting the immigration enforcement operation walked out of school, as students in other communities have done this week.
Later, a large crowd gathered outside a hotel in Minneapolis banging drums and blowing whistles as officers wearing helmets and carrying batons stood guard just inside. Meanwhile, confrontations erupted between protesters and officers guarding the federal building being used as a base for the Twin Cities crackdown.
The departures in the U.S. Attorney's Office include First Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson, who had been leading the sprawling prosecution of public fraud schemes in the state, according to people who spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters.
With the Department of Homeland Security pledging to send more than 2,000 immigration officers into Minnesota, the state, joined by Minneapolis and St. Paul, sued President Donald Trump’s administration Monday to halt or limit the surge.
The lawsuit says Homeland Security is violating the First Amendment and other constitutional protections by focusing on a progressive state that favors Democrats and welcomes immigrants.
“What we are seeing is thousands — plural — thousands of federal agents coming into our city. And, yeah, they’re having a tremendous impact on day-to-day life,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said.
A judge set a status conference for Wednesday.
Homeland Security says it has made more than 2,000 arrests in the state since early December and is vowing to not back down. Spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin, responding to the lawsuit, accused Minnesota officials of ignoring public safety.
In a different lawsuit, a judge said she would rule by Thursday or Friday on a request to restrict the use of force, such as chemical irritants, on people who are observing and recording agents' activities. Government attorneys argued that officers must protect themselves.
The Trump administration has repeatedly defended the immigration agent who shot Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, saying he acted in self-defense. But that explanation has been widely panned by Frey, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and others based on videos of the confrontation.
State and local authorities are urging the public to share video and any other evidence as they seek to separately investigate Good's death after federal authorities insisted they would approach it alone and not share information.
In Wisconsin, Lt. Gov. Sara Rodriguez is proposing that the state ban civil immigration enforcement around courthouses, hospitals, health clinics, schools, churches and other places. She is hoping to succeed Gov. Tony Evers, a fellow Democrat, who is not running for a third term.
“We can take a look at that, but I think banning things absolutely will ramp up the actions of our folks in Washington, D.C.,” Evers said, referring to the Trump administration. “They don’t tend to approach those things appropriately.”
Associated Press reporters Ed White in Detroit; Steve Karnowski in Minneapolis; and Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, contributed.
Monica Travis shares an embrace while visiting a makeshift memorial for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer last week, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A protester is detained by Federal agents near the scene where Renee Good was fatally shot by an ICE officer last week, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Minneapolis.(AP Photo/Adam Gray)
A protester grabs a tear gas grenade deployed by federal immigration officers near the scene where Renee Good was fatally shot by an ICE officer last week, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A protester is sprayed with pepper spray by a Federal agent Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Minneapolis.(AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Tear gas is deployed amid protesters near the scene where Renee Good was fatally shot by an ICE officer last week, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Minneapolis.(AP Photo/Adam Gray)
EDS NOTE: OBSCENITY - Tear gas is deployed amid protesters near the scene where Renee Good was fatally shot by an ICE officer last week, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A protester is detained by Federal agents near the scene where Renee Good was fatally shot by an ICE officer last week, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Minneapolis.(AP Photo/Adam Gray)(AP Photo/Adam Gray)
A protester grabs a tear gas grenade deployed by federal immigration officers near the scene where Renee Good was fatally shot by an ICE officer last week, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Fireworks are set off by protesters outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)
Federal immigration officers detain a demonstrator outside Bishop Whipple Federal Building after tear gas was deployed Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)
Federal immigration officers are seen outside Bishop Whipple Federal Building after tear gas was deployed Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)
Federal agents drive through smoke from tear gas dispersed during a protest, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026 in Minneapolis (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
A protester's face is doused in water after he was pepper sprayed outside of the Bishop Whipple Federal Building, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Jen Golbeck)
EDS NOTE: OBSCENITY - A man gestures as he walks toward a cloud of tear gas that was deployed by federal immigration officers Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Protesters try to avoid tear gas dispersed by federal agents, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026 in Minneapolis (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Federal agents get ready to disperse tear gas into a crowd at a protest, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026 in Minneapolis (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
