Enquirer Consulting Group
Abdulkader Rahmo | SMSbiotech | October 2026
As of 14 Oct 2026
This page maps partners, not buyers. SMSbiotech is at the clinical stage, and on the podcast you said that scaling SMS cells needs bio-manufacturing capacity, a network to distribute the cells and serious business partners.
Your site points the same way, naming licensing, royalty deals and partnerships with major players as the route forward. Below are the groups those partners sit in, who usually signs at each, and where we would start.
US firms by industry code, banded on purpose. A group with no clean code says so.
| Group | Organizations in the US | Under 20 staff | 20 to 99 | 100 to 499 | 500 or more |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Biological product manufacturers, where contract cell makers sit | about 290 | about 150 | about 51 | about 32 | about 61 |
| Biotech research and development firms | about 4,900 | about 4,000 | about 600 | about 240 | about 130 |
| Pharmaceutical drug makers | about 1,200 | about 660 | about 220 | about 170 | about 130 |
| Drug wholesalers and specialty distributors | about 7,000 | about 5,700 | about 800 | about 270 | about 210 |
| Refrigerated warehousing and cold storage | about 680 | about 380 | about 180 | about 66 | about 62 |
| Hospitals and pulmonary centers that run expanded access | no clean public count |
US firm counts by industry code, banded deliberately.
Who signs when a company adds cell production capacity or takes on a tech transfer.
Your site describes an in-house cGMP facility in San Diego County, with more sites planned outside the US. A contract partner adds capacity alongside that, and the decision sits with a small group.
| Role | What they weigh |
|---|---|
| VP or Head of Business Development | Fit with their platform, the size of the program and how long the partnership could run |
| Head of Cell Therapy Manufacturing or Site Head | Tech transfer, process fit for allogeneic cells and open cleanroom slots |
| Head of Quality | cGMP readiness, release testing and the regulatory file behind the process |
Who signs at drug makers and larger biotechs when an outside asset comes in.
Licensing and co-development deals usually start with a search and evaluation team, who screen outside assets against the therapy areas their company has chosen. Respiratory, orthopedic and regenerative portfolios are the natural fit for a platform that leads in COPD.
| Role | What they weigh |
|---|---|
| Chief Business Officer or Head of Business Development | Deal shape, the size of the opportunity and fit with the company's strategy |
| Head of Search and Evaluation | Stage of the clinical data, the mechanism, the patent position and the competition |
| Head of the Respiratory or Regenerative Medicine franchise | Whether the asset fills a gap in their pipeline and how it would reach patients |
Who signs when a wholesaler or logistics group takes on a new therapy.
Your site says SMS cells keep at standard refrigeration temperature for weeks, with no freezing and thawing step. For a distributor that is a different conversation from a cryogenic cell therapy, and it is worth leading with.
| Role | What they weigh |
|---|---|
| VP of Specialty Distribution or Specialty Pharmacy | Handling needs, expected volume and how the therapy fits their network |
| Head of Cell and Gene Therapy Services | Chain of custody, temperature control and the sites they would ship to |
| Business Development Director, Life Sciences Logistics | Lanes, storage capacity and the timeline to a first shipment |
Who signs when a hospital or specialty center takes part in compassionate use or expanded access.
Your site names compassionate use and expanded access as an early route to patients, in the US and abroad. Each treating site needs a lead physician and an institution willing to run the protocol.
| Role | What they weigh |
|---|---|
| Chief of Pulmonary Medicine | Patient need, the safety data and the load on their team |
| Director of Clinical Research | The protocol, consent, the review board route and staffing |
| Service Line Leader or Hospital Administrator | Cost to the institution, liability and fit with their programs |
The people who usually sign at the groups above, one a company. Work emails and phone numbers checked on Oct 14, 2026.
| Name | Role | Company | Where | Phone | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jacob Rosenfeld | Head of Business Development | BroadRange Logistics | New York | jacob.rosenfeld@broadrangelogistics.com | +1 845 659 3463 |
| Chinnappa Reddy | Head of Business Development | Aurobindo Pharma USA, Inc. | Princeton, NJ | creddy@aurobindousa.com | +1 919 819 9920 |
| Amy Jia Wang | VP, Head of Business Development and Alliance Management | Vera Therapeutics, Inc. | San Francisco | amy.wang@veratx.com | +1 845 978 3555 |
| Peder Seglund | GLOBAL HEAD OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT | 4C Pharma Solutions | Waterford, MI | peder@4cpharma.com | +1 248 210 8703 |
| Srinivas Pai | Head of Business Development | Power | Carmel, IN | srinivas@withpower.com | +1 347 601 0135 |
| Aleksandra Jovanovic Poole | Head of Business Development & Strategy | Capricor Therapeutics, Inc. | San Diego, TX | +1 949 302 9979 | |
| Joe Armstrong | Chief Operating Officer | TCG GreenChem Inc. | New York | joseph.armstrong@tcggreenchem.com | +1 860 417 7642 |
| Robert Bloder | Chief Business Officer & Board Member | Ascendia Pharmaceutical Solutions | North Brunswick, NJ | rbloder@ascendiacdmo.com | +1 954 871 1261 |
| Savant Ahmed | Chief Business Officer | Exela Pharma Sciences LLC | Washington, DC | +1 202 751 6719 | |
| Weiyong Sun | Chief Business Officer | Hansoh Bio | Rockville, MD | +1 240 447 4209 |
Built from public federal registries and SMSbiotech's own website, counts banded deliberately.
If a walk-through is useful, pick a time at cal.com/ecg.
Prepared by Dan Reeves, dan@enquirerconsulting.com.