By Kenneth Bilenberg, President & CEO
Avid Bioservices is beginning a new chapter with Kenneth Bilenberg as its new Chief Executive Officer. With a wealth of experience across the biopharma and CDMO industries, Bilenberg brings deep expertise and perspective to the role. In this conversation, he shares his thoughts on Avid’s strengths, what excites him about the road ahead, and how he views the opportunities shaping our industry.
Q: You bring significant experience in biopharma and biologics manufacturing and CDMO leadership. How has your background prepared you to lead Avid BioServices into its next chapter?
A: My front-line proximity to patients around the world – in the US, China, and Denmark during my time with Novo Nordisk has given me a strong sense of purpose. Delivering to a person in need is essential, and that commitment to patients, clients, and to each other has become a core value for me. For me, it’s about being decisive: Saying what we intend to do and doing what we say.
Working across different cultures has also shaped my leadership, teaching me to be a better version of myself, to appreciate our differences, and to see how much we can achieve when we come together around a shared purpose.
My executive experience with Fujifilm, where I helped lead one of the industry’s fastest growth journeys, gave me critical insight into how to scale organizations effectively. That means building processes and systems while retaining a strong culture and high performance – all with a focus on people, clients, and patients.
Q: What do you see as the most important capabilities a CDMO should provide to its biopharma partners today?
A: If you can call it a capability, I believe the most important thing a CDMO can provide is trust. Every CDMO has bioreactors, processes, and the ability to deliver batches or development work. But what truly matters is that our clients can trust us – because everything they ask us to do ultimately connects back to patients.
That’s what drew me to Avid. Here, trust means saying what we intend to do and delivering on that promise. It’s not about stainless steel or single use systems – it’s about partnership and a shared commitment to helping patients together.
Q: From your perspective, what are Avid’s greatest strengths today that you want to build on?
A: This really ties back to what I see as the most important capability a CDMO can provide: trust. Avid has built a strong reputation as a company that fulfills its commitments with a track record of delivering.
Having spent 15 years in pharma, I know how often companies worry about whether their CDMO partners will deliver the right results on time, and to the standards required. What I’ve seen at Avid is a culture of reliability – a team that clients can count on.
That’s a tremendous strength, and it’s also the foundation for growth. As we expand our capabilities and footprint, our goal is to build on that reputation so we can support both large pharma and small biotech alike most effectively in the years ahead.
Q: What trends in the biopharma and outsourcing industries are most important for CDMOs to pay attention to right now?
A: One of the biggest trends shaping our industry is a rapid growth in biologics. The market is expected to nearly double over the next several years, which brings with it new molecules, new modalities, and different scales of production. To succeed, CDMOs must be agile – able to move at the pace of their clients, with predictable delivery from DNA to IND through to commercial supply, and the ability to scale to meet demand.
We’re also seeing the rise of precision medicine, with modalities like ADCs gaining traction. At the same time, there are major opportunities in large indications such as Alzheimer’s, inflammatory and pulmonary diseases. The common thread is agility. CDMOs must be ready to adapt quickly to the evolving needs of both emerging biotech and large pharma as the marketplace continues to grow.
Q: Where do you see the biggest opportunities for Avid in the next few years?
A: In the near term, one of the greatest opportunities for Avid is the trend toward reshoring manufacturing to the US. This shift is driven by the need for quality, predictability, and confidence in supply.
Avid is exceptionally well-positioned to meet this demand. We have the people, the performance record, and the capacity to support companies of all sizes. Our culture of reliability and patient-focus directly aligns with what biopharma partners are seeking as they evaluate US-based manufacturing solutions.
As more manufacturing moves into the US, companies need CDMOs that can provide not only immediate capacity but also the ability to scale with them from development through commercial supply. I believe Avid is well positioned to become the partner of choice for this next wave of growth.
Q: What do you see as the most important qualities of a strong CDMO-client relationship?
A: At the core of any successful CDMO relationship is trust. Our partners need to know that when we commit to something, we’ll deliver reliably and predictably and to the highest standards. That trust is the foundation.
But, relationships built on trust are made even stronger by being genuinely collaborative. Being easy to work with means clear communication, flexibility when priorities shift, transparency when challenges arise, and a mindset of solving problems together. Too many CDMO relationships feel transactional. We want ours to be a true partnership.
We believe that means giving clients a key voice in how we operate. It’s their program we’re helping to bring to market and their involvement is welcomed and essential every step of the way. Delivering in this industry is complex and challenges are inevitable. But when transparency, trust, and client involvement are the foundation, it changes what’s possible.
Q: What message would you like to share with employees, clients, and partners as you step into the CEO role at Avid?
A: At the heart of everything we do are patients. With so many new therapies and modalities emerging, the impact of our work has never been greater. Every one of us knows someone who has been affected by cancer or another serious disease. There is a global community of patients who need us and that makes our mission deeply meaningful.
To our employees, my message is simple: Doing what we do is important, people all over the world relies on us for life impacting medicines, keep doing what you do so well and let’s embrace the future thinking bigger, allowing us to serve even more patients in the USA and globally.
To our clients, I want you to know that you have a partner who shares your sense of purpose and urgency. Patients are counting on all of us. Also, you have a partner that can re-shore to or start your programs in US as well as delivering your commercial demand.
As Bilenberg steps into the role of CEO, it’s clear his vision for Avid is rooted in purpose, keeping people and patients at the center of everything the company does. That means building relationships founded on trust, working with agility as the market evolves, and ensuring Avid is known globally for delivering with reliability and impact. It’s a vision that builds on the company’s strong reputation today, while setting the stage for greater reach and influence in the years ahead.
Welcome Kenneth!
