Hirak Desai

As a biochemical engineer, Hirak brings 16+ years of expertise in the biotech industry. He specializes in cell culture process development and GMP manufacturing, with a proven track record of successful collaborations with global CDMOs.

Prior to joining Navigator Medicines, Hirak served as Director of Upstream Development and Manufacturing at ADC Therapeutics, where he successfully advanced several clinical-stage programs and led cell line development, cell banking strategy, upstream process development, and clinical supply manufacturing. Prior to that, he held key technical roles in upstream process development and bioproduction departments at Vaxart, Aragen Bioscience, and MedImmune Vaccines, where he developed and optimized upstream production platforms and ensured scalability for large-scale manufacturing.

Hirak holds an MS in Chemical Engineering from San Jose State University and a BS in Bioengineering: Biotechnology from UC San Diego.