Axion BioSystems Welcomes Biotech Industry Leader Julien Bradley as New CEO

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--#Biotech--Axion BioSystems, a leading life science tools company focused on advanced live-cell assay platforms, today announced the appointment of Julien Bradley as the company’s new Chief Executive Officer. With nearly 20 years of experience in biotechnology development, commercialization, and leadership, Bradley will build on Axion’s growth in the fields of stem cell research, immuno-oncology, cell-based therapies, and drug discovery.

Bradley has held executive and senior leadership roles for nearly twenty years at leading life science companies. Most recently he held the role of CEO at RedShift BioAnalytics for the last four years. During his tenure there, Bradley helped launch and rapidly grow sales of the company’s proprietary MMS protein characterization technology and drove the acquisition of a novel chromatography platform to expand the company’s footprint into bioprocessing. Prior to that, Julien held several executive leadership roles for nearly eight years at Quanterix where he was responsible for Sales, Marketing, Product Management, and Strategy; taking the company from $0 to over $50M in revenues and helping lay the foundation for a successful IPO in 2017. Bradley has also worked for Thermo Fisher Scientific, Ahura Scientific, and Boston Scientific. He holds a BS from Amherst College and an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.

According to Axion co-founder and current acting CEO Jim Ross, Bradley’s impressive track record of leading life science companies with novel technologies through rapid growth make him a natural fit to lead Axion’s global team, build on the company’s strong foundation, and accelerate its commercial momentum. “After an extensive search, Julien immediately stood out as someone with a passion for driving scientific discovery forward and a hands-on leadership style that will help guide Axion to the next level. We look forward to having him lead the team at this exciting time in our company’s evolution.” Ross will remain with the company in his roles as President and Chief Technology Officer.

“Axion has already established itself as an industry leader thanks to its high-quality, innovative, and easy-to-use Maestro and Omni live-cell analysis tools. The future potential for growth at Axion is incredibly exciting,” said Bradley. “Demand for more powerful live-cell analysis tools to help researchers around the world make important discoveries and develop better cell therapies and drugs continues to grow, and Axion has the innovation engine and customer focus needed to capitalize on this growth.” Bradley’s arrival comes at an important inflection point for the company. After launching its flagship Maestro multielectrode array system in 2008 and establishing it as an indispensable tool in life science labs, Axion was acquired by Stockholm-based Summa Equity in 2021, allowing the company to accelerate its assay technologies, scale up its commercial capacity and market awareness, and acquire UK-based printed electronics manufacturer M-Solv Manufacturing Limited and the Netherlands-based imaging company CytoSMART Technologies. With innovative benchtop systems that monitor complex cellular activity without disturbing the underlying biology, Axion’s live-cell platforms offer pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology firms, and academic researchers the next-generation platforms for advancing in vitro disease modeling and drug discovery.

About Axion BioSystems

Axion BioSystems is a leading life sciences tools company focused on innovative live-cell assays used to study the function of cells in vitro for drug discovery and disease modeling. The team at Axion BioSystems is dedicated to continuing the advancement of new technologies that accelerate research and further the understanding of biological complexity outside of the body. Axion BioSystems is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, and has offices worldwide. Axion has nearly 200 employees around the world. www.axionbiosystems.com

About Summa Equity

Summa Equity invests in companies that are solving global challenges and creating positive Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) outcomes for society.

Summa’s purpose is to co-create win-win for investors, portfolio companies, and society through aligning its vision and outcomes to the Sustainable Development Goals, ensuring a net-positive impact against ESG challenges, and the potential for long-term, sustainable outperformance.

Investments are focused on industries and companies that have tailwind from megatrends within three sustainability themes: Resource Efficiency, Changing Demographics, and Tech-Enabled Transformation. Across these themes, Summa’s portfolio companies are supporting a world in transition and showing that business can be part of the solution. www.summaequity.com

Mike Clements
+1-678-469-3439
mclements@axionbio.com