Currently serving as president and CEO of Dutch biopharmaceutical company Batavia Biosciences, Menzo Havenga has a great deal of experience in the bioscience industry. Prior to his C-suite position at Batavia Biosciences, Havenga worked as a senior scientist and then director of research at IntroGene, which now operates as Janssen. In 2001, he was promoted to vice president of research and development, a position he remained in until 2007. His next move found him serving as managing director of the biosciences unit at the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research. In this role, he was responsible for strategy and the day-to-day management of a large research and development department, a skill set that he has made use of at Batavia.

The company aims to ease human suffering from disease by improving the success rate of medical treatment. Batavia uses its cutting-edge technologies and in-depth knowledge to help its partners complete preclinical phases in biopharmaceutical product development at a higher speed, reduced cost and with greater success. The company focuses on the early stages of product development, including mammalian cell line generation, purification development and clinical manufacturing. Headquartered in Leiden, the Netherlands, with a US facility in Massachusetts and offices in Hong Kong, Batavia benefits from strong strategic partners worldwide.

The company has experienced a great deal of success under Havenga, prompting it to expand its viral vector process development facilities in the US and its good manufacturing practice cleanroom facilities in the Netherlands to accommodate the increasing market demand. Havenga said in a press release: “At Batavia Biosciences we are very much aware of the fact that the patient is waiting. With the completion of this investment, the company is now better positioned to maintain the speed and quality of bringing candidate biopharmaceuticals from bench to clinic.”