Univercells S.A. (“Univercells”) and Unizima S.A. (“the Company”), announce today the appointment of Hala Audi as Chief Executive Officer of Unizima, a Univercells Company dedicated to delivering facilities, services and expertise to meet local demand for biologics in low-to-middle-income countries. Hala’s appointment will bring the Company to its next level, driven by its mission of delivering life-changing biologics to the people who don’t have access to them.

Hala started her career as a legal expert focusing on commercial litigation and arbitration. Later on, she gained experience in financial management and the governance and funding of public private partnerships, working for the UK Treasury for several years. During her time in the UK Government, she led several teams, working on global health topics with pharmaceutical companies and governments. She delivered difficult and complex system changes and innovations in the construction and public infrastructure sectors, improving staff morale, funding and performance. Over the last year, she was the Chief Executive Officer of The Trinity Challenge, a global charity based in England, launched at the end of 2020.

Hala holds a Masters in Law from the Pantheon-Assas University (Paris), a Master of Laws (LLM) degree from Columbia University Law School (New York), and a Master in Public Administration from the London School of Economics.

Hugues Bultot, CEO of Univercells Group, commented: “Univercells has become an incubator for talent, of which the appointment of Hala as the CEO of our newest affiliate, Unizima, is another wonderful example. The Board and I are confident that Hala’s international background of more than 20 years, her cultural sensitivity and expertise, will enable her to lead the expansion of Unizima in 2022 with several exciting projects to come.”

Hala Audi, addressing her new role as CEO of Unizima, added: “I am thrilled to join the brilliant team at Univercells Group and Unizima. Local manufacturing and regional supply are essential to solve the challenges of healthcare access. With Unizima and its partners, we have a chance to bring real change on the ground in the next few years and I look forward to working with old and new colleagues across public health, governments and industry to bring the best advances in biologics where they are most needed.”