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Katy Spink PhD
COO & Managing Partner
Dark Horse Consulting
USA
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Katy brings her deep experience as a corporate officer of publicly traded cell therapy companies for the past 10+ years
to Dark Horse Consulting clients and partners. At Dark Horse she leads practice operations and business development
as well as providing strategic and operational leadership for a wide range of client engagements.
Katy started her career at McKinsey & Company, where she consulted for an array of biotechnology, medical device
and pharmaceutical companies on topics ranging from R&D strategy to business development. She then moved on to
Geron Corporation, initially in a business development role, and quickly rising to SVP of Cell Therapy Program
Operations and Alliance Management. At Geron, Katy led the team to FDA clearance to initiate the first-ever clinical
trial of a pluripotent stem cell-derived therapy, among many other accomplishments.
After leaving Geron, as an independent consultant, she served as interim COO for an ophthalmology cell therapy
company, negotiated partnership terms between small and large biotechnology companies, wrote two successful
translational medicine grant applications, and established a project workplan and investment stage-gating plan for a
complex multiparty collaborative research project.
Most recently, Katy served as EVP and COO at Asterias Biotherapeutics. She was a founding member of the company’s executive team and designed and led the portfolio prioritization process to establish a corporate strategy and operating plan at the company’s founding. She also led the design, build and validation of an in-house cGMP
manufacturing facility for one of Asterias’s programs, and the selection and oversight of a CMO for a second program.
Katy was integral in the growth of the company, which grew to over 60 employees after only four years. Her
responsibilities at Asterias ranged from corporate strategy, business development, IP and investor relations to process
development, research, program management, manufacturing, quality and facilities.
to Dark Horse Consulting clients and partners. At Dark Horse she leads practice operations and business development
as well as providing strategic and operational leadership for a wide range of client engagements.
Katy started her career at McKinsey & Company, where she consulted for an array of biotechnology, medical device
and pharmaceutical companies on topics ranging from R&D strategy to business development. She then moved on to
Geron Corporation, initially in a business development role, and quickly rising to SVP of Cell Therapy Program
Operations and Alliance Management. At Geron, Katy led the team to FDA clearance to initiate the first-ever clinical
trial of a pluripotent stem cell-derived therapy, among many other accomplishments.
After leaving Geron, as an independent consultant, she served as interim COO for an ophthalmology cell therapy
company, negotiated partnership terms between small and large biotechnology companies, wrote two successful
translational medicine grant applications, and established a project workplan and investment stage-gating plan for a
complex multiparty collaborative research project.
Most recently, Katy served as EVP and COO at Asterias Biotherapeutics. She was a founding member of the company’s executive team and designed and led the portfolio prioritization process to establish a corporate strategy and operating plan at the company’s founding. She also led the design, build and validation of an in-house cGMP
manufacturing facility for one of Asterias’s programs, and the selection and oversight of a CMO for a second program.
Katy was integral in the growth of the company, which grew to over 60 employees after only four years. Her
responsibilities at Asterias ranged from corporate strategy, business development, IP and investor relations to process
development, research, program management, manufacturing, quality and facilities.