Xcellon Biologics, a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) specializing in complex biologics including antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), bispecific antibodies, and T-cell engagers, has welcomed Curtis D. Gallagher as Principal Scientist. The addition brings a bioprocessing veteran with deep upstream and downstream protein production expertise to Xcellon as the company expands its manufacturing footprint.
About Curtis Gallagher
Gallagher comes on board at Xcellon Biologics, a company built to serve developers working on multispecific antibodies, targeted payloads, and other high-complexity biologics, bringing more than a decade of downstream purification and protein processing experience directly relevant to that mission. His combination of upstream and downstream bioprocessing expertise spans scales from lab flasks to 1,000L GMP manufacturing, positioning him to support Xcellon’s process development and manufacturing work for ADCs and other complex biologic modalities.
Gallagher joins Xcellon from NextCure, Inc., where he spent roughly six years across multiple roles, most recently as Associate Director, Downstream Development & Reagent Production, from April 2024 to July 2026. In that role, he served as downstream lead for process development across four monoclonal antibody programs while coordinating research reagent production and purification. Earlier in his NextCure tenure, he worked as Principal Scientist and Senior Scientist in Development, and as Downstream PD Lead for the company’s interdisciplinary reagent core, collaborating across upstream process development, discovery, research, analytical development, and quality control functions. Between his two NextCure stints, he spent eight months as Manager, Process Development, at Miltenyi Biotec.
Before his industry career, Gallagher spent nearly four years at the University of Maryland’s A. James Clark School of Engineering, serving as Cell Culture Manager and Principal Investigator at the Mtech BREP Biopharmaceutical Advancement Facility, a mock-GMP laboratory focused on cell culture-based biopharmaceutical product development. He also taught as a lecturer and teaching assistant in the university’s bioengineering program, developing coursework on biopharmaceutical engineering applications and entrepreneurship in chemical and life sciences. His research background includes six and a half years as a graduate research assistant studying schizophrenia-linked hERG potassium channels using whole-cell patch-clamp electrophysiology and FRET techniques, and he founded SOLAR, a resource-exchange software program for research laboratories at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, that grew to more than 200 registered users across the university’s Schools of Medicine, Pharmacy, Nursing, and Dentistry. He holds a Master of Science in Cellular and Molecular Biomedical Sciences from the University of Maryland, Baltimore, and a Bachelor of Science in Biology from York College of Pennsylvania.
About Xcellon Biologics
Xcellon Biologics is a CDMO specializing in complex biologics, including ADCs, bispecific antibodies, and T-cell engagers. Founded by industry veterans Abhishake Chhibber and Yuk Chun Chiu and operating as a subsidiary of Linden Lake Labs, a life sciences platform, Xcellon officially launched in January 2025 and secured its first client within two weeks, supporting 14 programs, including multiple repeat clients, within its first year. The company’s services span early research, process development, and analytical and formulation development, with GMP manufacturing capabilities underway as it expands its footprint. Its leadership team collectively brings more than 40 years of biologics experience, eight commercial product launches, and more than 20 IND filings, drawing on backgrounds at companies including Lonza, Abzena, Amgen, MedImmune, AstraZeneca, BioNTech, Seattle Genetics, and Immunomedics. Strategically located near the FDA, NIH, and USP, Xcellon positions itself at the center of the region’s growing biomanufacturing ecosystem.
