Renaissance BioScience Corp., a global yeast technology company, appointed Dr. Cormac O’Cleirigh as the company’s Chief Business Development Officer. A native of Ireland with a Ph.D in Bioprocess Engineering, Dr. O’Cleirigh has extensive experience and expertise at the senior executive level in the global yeast and bakery ingredient industry. He will be based at the Renaissance head office in Vancouver, Canada.

“Cormac is an important addition to our senior management team as we expand the number and range of our business partnerships and collaborations to match the potential we have in developing yeast technologies for the global food, beverage, alcohol, biofuel and pharmaceutical industries,” said Dr. John Husnik, Renaissance CEO. He added, “This appointment not only significantly increases our yeast industry expertise but also ensures we incorporate end-use industry and consumer insights into our innovation agenda. We are extremely pleased Cormac has joined us.”

“Renaissance brings step-change technological innovation to the global yeast industry, which, through its supply of large volumes of a critical ingredient, underpins multiple other global industries,” commented Dr. O’Cleirigh. “With the yeast industry becoming increasingly competitive, technologies developed by Renaissance can provide efficiency improvements, increased functional performance and, ultimately, increased value propositions for our global yeast partners and their customers. This model of in-licensing technology innovation to large-volume manufacturing has been proven to add value in other industries, similar to the way biotech has driven growth in adjacent industries such as functional foods and pharmaceuticals.”

Prior to joining Renaissance, Dr. O’Cleirigh was Head of Business Development & Innovation for AB Mauri Global Bakery Ingredients, a division of FTSE 100 listed Associated British Foods plc. In this role, his primary responsibilities included overseeing the division’s strategic business development, with a focus on developing consumer insights, evaluating competitor intelligence and identifying acquisition targets. Other key responsibilities included coordinating the company’s global innovation team and managing the business’s innovation systems and processes.