Home Industry Bert Bruce Joins 3D Systems’ Medical Advisory Board

Bert Bruce Joins 3D Systems’ Medical Advisory Board

3D printer manufacturer 3D Systems has appointed Bert Bruce to the company’s Medical Advisory Board. The advisory board, established in May 2022, now consists of six members.

The Board’s primary mission is to provide strategic input, guidance, and recommendations for the company’s expanding efforts in regenerative medicine. These development efforts center on the 3D printing of vascularized tissue for use in the manufacture of human organs and a host of other non-organ applications in the human body. In addition, these custom tissue constructs are targeted for use by pharmaceutical companies for the development of new drug therapies, offering the potential for shortening development cycle times and ultimately reducing or even eliminating the need for animal trials. Last year, 3D Systems announced the formation of a new, wholly-owned subsidiary called Systemic Bio, whose sole mission is to bring these new drug development technologies to the pharmaceutical market.

Mr. Bruce currently leads the U.S. Rare Disease Business Unit at Pfizer, Inc., one of the world’s premier biopharmaceutical companies. Mr. Bruce is responsible for the Pfizer Rare Disease treatment portfolio in the United States, including oversight of major pharmaceutical products, as well as for the company’s Rare Disease gene therapy development pipeline. At Pfizer, Mr. Bruce has distinguished himself as a champion for patients living with rare diseases. While referred to as “rare” due to the smaller size of individual patient populations, there are over 7,000 known rare diseases that affect approximately 400 million people worldwide – approximately half of which are children. People living with a rare disease represent one of the largest underserved patient communities in the world, with only 5% of known rare diseases having one or more approved treatments.

Prior to his current position, Mr. Bruce served as Pfizer’s Vice President, Global Commercial Development, Rare Disease. In this role, Mr. Bruce led work by global teams spanning the entire breadth of the drug development cycle — from investigation and screening of early stage compounds through late-stage commercial development of successful new drugs, and also directed business development efforts to acquire new medicines and grow the company’s development pipeline portfolio. Mr. Bruce possesses over 30 years of broad pharmaceutical industry experience. In addition to his 17-year career with Pfizer, Mr. Bruce’s experience includes previous business leadership and strategy roles at Janssen Pharmaceutica, part of Johnson & Johnson. Mr. Bruce is also actively involved in a variety of social and educational causes. He is the chair of the Pfizer Global Black Community, is a member of the President’s Leadership Council at Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health, and is a board member for Life Sciences PA, and also for Bold Hope, Inc.

Commenting on the appointment of Mr. Bruce, Dr. Jeffrey Graves, president and CEO of 3D Systems stated, “We are honored and delighted to welcome Mr. Bruce to our Medical Advisory Board. He has distinguished himself over a long career in the pharmaceutical industry, as a leader in the development and commercialization of innovative drug therapies and life-saving compounds, as well as for his commitment to applying scientific research and advanced technology to the cause of improving patient outcomes. Given his deep expertise across the entire cycle of drug discovery and development, from early stage research all the way to regulatory approval and marketing of new products, Mr. Bruce is ideally positioned to advise 3D Systems as we accelerate our work to build a world-class regenerative medicine business. His insights and advice will be particularly valuable to our recently formed Systemic Bio business, given its mission of utilizing its proprietary h-VIOS™ organ on a chip 3D printing technology to enable pharmaceutical companies to greatly reduce the time and cost of preclinical drug testing.”

In recognition of his appointment, Mr. Bruce stated, “I am honored and excited to become a member of 3D Systems’ Medical Advisory Board at a time when the company has clearly established itself as a market leader in the use of advanced additive manufacturing techniques to drive healthcare innovation. I look forward to advising the company in its efforts to develop and commercialize pathbreaking new medical products and drug discovery tools as part of its emerging regenerative medicine business.”

Find out more about 3D Systems at 3dsystems.com.


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