Athenesia Faggins, Ph.D. has moved into the role of Director of Quality Assurance and Regulatory Compliance at Minaris Advanced Testing, effective October 2026. She previously served as the company’s Director of Analytical Sciences. She brings nearly two decades of experience in analytical development, material risk control and GMP compliance for cell and gene therapies, along with a strong record of turning scientific rigor into operational excellence.
Faggins said she’s looking forward to contributing to the organization in a new way. BioBuzz readers may remember her from our recent 5 Questions With Athenesia Faggins feature. There she shared the mindset that has carried her through every stage of her career: “keep learning, keep showing up, and trust that persistence will open doors.”
About Athenesia Faggins
Faggins joined Minaris in May 2025 as Director of Analytical Sciences. In that role she oversaw the testing and technical services that help ensure advanced therapies are safe and effective, including assay development, validation, GMP testing, viral clearance, and biological safety and molecular testing.
Before Minaris, she spent more than eight years at WuXi Advanced Therapies in the Philadelphia area, rising from Senior Scientist, Raw Materials to Director of Analytical Development. She built the company’s material qualification program to meet U.S. and EU guidelines and developed IND- and BLA-enabling material risk control strategies. She also chaired the Material Review Board and helped establish a Technical Compliance Review Board to support site-wide regulatory compliance. In later roles, she guided late-phase clients toward commercialization and led a team of technical specialists.
Earlier, Faggins supported Janssen Diagnostics as a Scientist and later as a Project Manager and Independent Consultant. In that work she led the technology transfer of three hybridoma cell lines from development to manufacturing readiness in under a year. She began her industry career as a Manufacturing Scientist at Immunicon Corporation.
Faggins earned her Ph.D. in Biology from Temple University, where her research uncovered how the microRNA miR-184 regulates glial development in the fruit fly nervous system, and she received the Mark A. Nathanson Award for Excellence in Developmental Biology Research. She holds a B.S. in Molecular Biology/Life Science from Penn State University.
About Minaris Advanced Testing
Minaris Advanced Testing is a biologics-focused, ISO-certified testing organization based at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. The company provides the testing and technical services that developers of advanced therapies rely on for regulatory submissions, including assay development and validation, GMP testing, viral clearance, and biological safety and molecular testing.
