There’s a new face in the corner office at BioAesthetics Corporation. 

The company has appointed Juliana Blum, Ph.D., as its new CEO. “This is an important milestone for BioAesthetics. During the development of every successful biotech company, there comes a time when the founding CEO transitions to a different role and a new CEO with different skill sets is needed for product advancement and commercialization,” BioAesthetics Director and Toragen Inc. CEO Sandra Coufal, M.D., said. “Dr. Blum’s experience with novel products as co-founder of Humacyte will help guide further progress at BioAesthetics.”
 
Dr. Blum joins BioAesthetics after spending 20 years as co-founder and executive vice president of corporate development at Humacyte. During that time, she led the development, management, and execution of the company’s commercial scale vascular bioengineering platform, eventually transitioning the startup to a public company. Her experiences and leadership focuses on a broad range of R&D activities through pre-commercialization functions, including global regulatory affairs, CMC development and manufacturing scale up, corporate development activities, integration of key partnerships and alliances, and building a corporate brand and presence around a disruptive technology. Since transitioning from Humacyte in late 2022, she has served as an executive strategist for entrepreneurial biotechnology organizations as an Entrepreneur in Residence at the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, advancing innovations, setting strategic visions and translating research concepts into viable commercial product opportunities in the regenerative medicine and biotherapeutics space.
 
“I am thrilled to join the BioAesthetics team at this stage of the company, working to advance its next gen drug-eluting graft technology for soft tissue reconstruction towards the clinic,” Dr. Blum stated. “The team has done a phenomenal job generating robust pre-clinical data on its drug-eluting graft platform across several indications and continues to evaluate its acellular nipple graft for breast reconstruction, the NACgraft, in the clinic. There is a strong foundation for future growth and innovation around this platform that I look forward to leading.”
 
“Dr. Blum has a proven reputation for developing and managing partnerships and key business relationships critical for organizational growth and portfolio development. She has direct experience leading a company from early-stage discovery through planning a commercial launch for an approved product. This experience is critical for the future growth of BioAesthetics,” BioAesthetics Director and Locus Biosciences Inc. Chief Financial Officer Joseph Nixon commented.
 
BioAesthetics Corporation is a biotechnology company developing advancements in biomaterials. Its first product is an acellular tissue graft for regenerating the nipple (NACgraft biologic matrix) for breast cancer patients undergoing breast reconstruction. NACgraft is registered with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and is currently being investigated in clinical studies. In addition, it has a product pipeline focused on acellular regenerative grafts for advanced wound and reconstructive care. BioAesthetics was founded as a spin-out of Tulane University in New Orleans, and is now located in Durham, N.C.