ProBioGen has named Dr. Simon Johannes Bulling as its new Chief Operating Officer (COO), effective April 15, 2026, strengthening the company’s push to scale its global biomanufacturing operations across advanced biologics.
In his new role, Bulling takes charge of ProBioGen’s operational business and manufacturing strategy, overseeing production across a rapidly expanding portfolio that includes proteins, viral vectors, and cell and gene therapies—key pillars of the company’s growth in the competitive CDMO landscape.
Bulling arrives with deep experience across the global biopharma manufacturing ecosystem. His career spans senior leadership positions in international, multi-site organizations, with a consistent focus on scaling operations, improving performance, and executing strategy in highly regulated GMP environments.
Before joining ProBioGen, he served as Site Head at Celonic and was a member of its Executive Committee. His earlier leadership roles include senior positions at Recipharm, Rentschler Biopharma, Vetter Pharma, and Sandoz, where he led operations, manufacturing, and organizational transformation initiatives.
Most recently, he advised biopharma companies on manufacturing strategy, operational scale-up, and GMP-driven organizational development. He holds a PhD from the Medical University of Vienna.
“ProBioGen has built real differentiation through its science, technology and the standards it brings to execution”, said Dr. Simon Bulling. “I look forward to building on that foundation by further strengthening operations in ways that support quality, delivery, scalable execution, and a strong customer focus across the company’s growing portfolio.”
Welcoming the appointment, ProBioGen CEO Alfred Merz said: “Simon brings a proven track record of scaling complex manufacturing organizations and delivering at both clinical and commercial scale, precisely the experience this next stage of ProBioGen’s development calls for. I am delighted to welcome him and look forward to the contribution he will make to our partners and to ProBioGen.”
The move comes as ProBioGen enters a critical growth phase, expanding its capabilities across biologics, viral vectors, vaccines, and advanced therapies. The company is actively strengthening its operational platform to meet rising global demand for high-quality, flexible CDMO services.
Recent investments underscore that ambition, including expanded manufacturing capacity for proteins and viral vectors to support clinical supply, and the planned establishment of a GMP cell therapy manufacturing facility at the Berlin Center for Gene and Cell Therapy.
