PBS Biotech^®, Inc., the leading supplier of novel single-use bioreactors for the biopharmaceutical industry, announced today that Robert F. Baltera, Jr., former CEO of Amira Pharmaceuticals, has joined its Advisory Board.

“Bob is a seasoned executive with a wealth of experience from the biopharmaceutical industry that will strongly benefit PBS Biotech as we bring our innovative single-use bioreactor technology to the market,” said Brian Lee, Ph.D., CEO and co-founder of PBS Biotech.

Baltera was the CEO of Amira Pharmaceuticals from July 2007 to September 2011 when the company was sold to Bristol-Myers Squibb for $325 million and an additional $150 million in earn-out milestones. At Amira Pharmaceuticals, a small-molecule pharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and early development of new drugs to treat inflammatory and fibrotic diseases, Baltera was instrumental in focusing product development efforts, building its pipeline, leading efforts to establish key collaborations with partners such as GlaxoSmithKline, and successfully managing the sale of the company.

Prior to his role at Amira, Baltera acquired a wealth of business and product management experience during 17 years with biotech pioneer Amgen. At Amgen, Baltera held a number of senior management positions, including his last role as vice president of corporate and contract manufacturing. A scientist by training, Baltera joined Amgen at the beginning of his career as a research associate, and quickly moved to the operations side of the business, working in finance, product development and commercial operations.

“I look forward to helping the PBS Biotech team advance their enabling technology in single-use bioreactors which has a strong opportunity to influence broad adoption in the industry,” Baltera said.

Baltera has a master’s of business administration from the Anderson School at UCLA. He earned his bachelor’s degree in microbiology and a master’s degree in genetics from The Pennsylvania State University.

About PBS Biotech

PBS Biotech, Inc. is a US corporation that designs and manufactures fully scalable and easy to use single-use bioreactors used by global biotechnology organizations. The company has patented innovative industrial designs and advanced software driven control systems that produce low shear cell culture solutions improving operational flexibility and process efficiency, reducing operating costs and accelerating time to market for biotechnology customers. With headquarters in Camarillo, CA, PBS Biotech is a member of the BioProcess Systems Alliance (BPSA).