Laura Alquist

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

SKILLS

ABOUT LAURA ALQUIST

Laura Alquist is Senior Vice President and Global Head of Technical Operations for Kite, a Gilead Company, where she leads Kite\'s key functions responsible for planning, producing and delivering Kite’s innovative cell therapies to patients around the world in industry-leading turnaround times.The Technical Operations (Tech Ops) employees at Kite include the multi-site network of T-cell therapy and viral vector facilities responsible for manufacturing Kite’s vector and cell therapy products as well as other global Tech Ops functions such as Process Development, Quality and Supply Chain. The team works collaboratively with Kite organizations such as Clinical Development, Commercial, Medical Affairs and Research to anticipate, develop and meet patient demand for Kite’s cell therapy products.Laura joined Kite in 2016, serving in a variety of positions where she helped design and optimize end-to-end operations and processes. She then was instrumental in shaping and scaling Kite’s global operations as the company’s reach and network expanded, and as the number of regulatory geographies and demand for commercial products grew. Laura led the Global Supply Chain organization at Kite in managing logistics, labeling, and packaging engineering, inventory management, sourcing and procurement, supply and operations planning, master data governance, sales and operations, and business systems. Most recently, Laura led the Global Manufacturing team, overseeing the four-site commercial network that achieved shortened turnaround times for the company’s leading product, received regulatory approvals from multiple jurisdictions, and launched clinical trial production for a promising new asset. Prior to joining Kite, Laura spent 20 years at Amgen in a range of global and operational roles of increasing responsibility across Supply Chain, Manufacturing, Quality, and IT. Some key contributions while at Amgen included serving as Global Network Leadership for Commercial Planning & Sourcing and leading the Global Business Center of Excellence responsible for Amgen’s Global Enterprise Business Process. Laura holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Management from California Lutheran University and is APICS certified in Supply Chain operations.