Chris Holt – Bristol Myers Squibb

Chris Holt serves as vice president of Cell Therapy Manufacturing and site head at the Bristol Myers Squibb facility in Bothell, WA, where he oversees cell therapy manufacturing operations to deliver personalized (autologous) therapies to patients globally. In his role, Chris is responsible for leading day-to-day operations of the Bothell site. He also works with the company’s larger cell therapy network to set the strategic direction for the site to maximize the reach of commercially available cell therapies for patients and support the growth of its cell therapy pipeline. 

The focus for Chris and his team is on deploying the technologies and manufacturing platforms used to produce, test and deliver innovative cell therapy medicines for pivotal stage clinical studies as well as for approved cell therapy products. For Chris there is a significant emphasis on creating and nurturing a culture of cross-functional collaboration.  This has been critical in navigating the clinical-to-commercial manufacturing journey, especially for a site that has been front and center for the launch of Bristol Myers Squibb’s first approved chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy. As part of the company’s cell therapy network leadership team, Chris also contributes to the definition and adoption of enhanced manufacturing strategies and processes across the growing Bristol Myers Squibb global cell therapy manufacturing network.

Chris joined Bristol Myers Squibb in 2020. He previously served as the Washington site head and general manager at AGC Biologics, where he was responsible for the operational leadership of a site specializing in the development and manufacturing of monoclonal antibodies in both clinical and commercial phases. Prior to AGC Biologics, Chris served as director of manufacturing at Lonza, where he established a late-stage clinical and commercial cell therapy manufacturing facility and operations and later served as head of manufacturing leading their 4 x 20k Monoclonal Antibody asset team. Prior to leading manufacturing, Chris was site engineering head for a ThermoFisher site. His industry career began with GlaxoSmithKline where he held various engineering positions during his 13-year tenure based in the UK and France.

Chris grew up in England and received his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Nottingham. He later attended South Bank University in London to obtain his master’s in energy engineering.