Manus biomanufacturing facility in Augusta, GA
Manus Appoints Zanna McFerson as Chief Operating Officer
Press Release
12:00 p.m. EDT. October 13, 2021
Media Relations Contact
Frederik Bjoerndal, Vice President
Corporate Affairs and Marketing Communications
Manus Inc. (Manus), a biomanufacturing leader of sustainable natural chemicals and ingredients, announced today the appointment of Zanna McFerson as Chief Operating Officer.
Ms. McFerson has over 30 years of business experience spanning business development and operations in the agricultural, synthetic biology and renewable chemistry sectors. She has driven the development, launch and growth of transformative products for alternative fuels, sweeteners, flavors and fragrances, and chemical building blocks. In conjunction with this appointment, Ms. McFerson will step down from her role as an Independent Director at Manus. Jeff Anderson will transition from Chief Operating Officer to Chief Business Officer at Manus.
“Zanna has provided excellent counsel and guidance in her role as a Director for the last 4 years, and we are excited and pleased that she is now joining our team full-time. Zanna has proven leadership in building businesses around pioneering technologies, with extensive experience in product development, scale-up, launch and growth. I am confident that Zanna will make important contributions to Manus as we expand the scale of our operations through new product launches and growth of our existing products,” said Ajikumar Parayil, Chief Executive Officer of Manus.
Zanna McFerson commented, “I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know the Manus team and capabilities in my role as a Director and am thrilled to join the company at this exciting moment with a technology platform that has already been proven through the launch of its first products and is now ready for rapid scale-up and expansion. The Manus team has built a great foundation, and I see an incredible opportunity to grow the company through manufacturing, sales and marketing, and partnerships. The Manus technology platform is highly relevant globally in migrating the world to a more sustainable future across a diverse set of industries.”
Prior to joining Manus, Ms. McFerson was Managing Director of Renewable Chemistries at Avantium, a leading technology company in bio-based materials, where she oversaw the launch of two new technology platforms for second-generation industrial sugars and fossil-free ethylene glycol. Earlier in her career, Zanna worked at Cargill as Vice President and Business Director and led the development and global launch of the natural sweetener Truvia. Zanna also served as Chief Business Officer at Amyris, launching new products including renewable jet fuel and various fragrance compounds. Her career has included establishing significant partnerships and collaborations with leading multinationals in their respective industries.
About Manus
Manus leverages rapid advances in Biology to produce complex natural products used in our daily lives as flavors, fragrances, food ingredients, cosmetics, vitamins, pharmaceuticals and agricultural chemicals. Using its advanced fermentation technology, Manus recreates natural processes for next-generation industrial biomanufacturing and provides sustainable and cost-effective sources of products for health, wellness, and nutrition. To learn more, visit www.manusbio.com.
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