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SCbio revamps leadership structure, names new board members

Christina Lee Knauss //March 30, 2023//

SCbio revamps leadership structure, names new board members

Christina Lee Knauss //March 30, 2023//

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SCbio, South Carolina’s official life sciences organization, recently named 11 life science leaders from around the state to its board of directors.

The organization recently revamped its leadership structure to create an executive-led fiduciary and operations division of the board according to a news release. Leaders appointed to that division are David Stefanich, founder and CEO of Rymedi in Greenville; Lou Kennedy, CEO and owner of Nephron Pharmaceuticals in West Columbia; Christopher Hanson of Nelson Mullins in Greenville; Dan Nodes, COO of Vikor Scientific in Charleston and Matthew Cannon, dean for Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine-Carolinas, based in Spartanburg.

Other new members named to the board are Greg Marshall, COO and vice president of Charles River Labs; Thornton Kirby, CEO of the South Carolina Hospital Association; Cynthia Young, dean of Clemson University’s College of Science; Ashley Teasdel, deputy secretary of the South Carolina Department of Commerce; Herbert Drayton, managing partner of HI Mark Capital and Scott Pancoast, CEO and founder of Zylo Therapeutics. James Chappell, president and CEO of SCbio, also serves on the board.

“In a state well known for building BMWs, Boeing Dreamliners and Michelin tires, South Carolina’s life sciences story is booming as well, creating exciting opportunities to diversify and accelerate growth of our knowledge economy,” Chappell said.

Chappell cited several examples of the state’s rapid growth in the life sciences, including Nephron Pharmaceuticals, Arthrex, GE Health, Thermo Fisher, Abbott, AVX and Charles River. Currently, the life sciences industry in South Carolina includes more than 1,030 companies in 42 counties and employs more than 87,700 people directly and indirectly.

The organization also has a strategic advisory board with four working groups for workforce, economic development, innovation and patient outcomes and policy legislative. Twenty-five additional leaders from around the state serve on the advisory board.

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