Axio BioPharma Appoints Dave Watrous as Chief Commercial Officer to Drive AI-Enabled Biomanufacturing Growth
“Dave’s experience driving growth for global life science organizations will be pivotal as Axio scales both its service platform and AI model,” said Justin Byers, Founder and CEO of Axio BioPharma. “His deep understanding of SaaS, CDMO operations, and bioprocess automation aligns perfectly with our mission to redefine how biologics move from concept to clinic.”
Watrous has spent more than two decades building commercial organizations and driving operational excellence for global and private-equity-backed companies, including Danaher (Cytiva, IDBS), Covance, Cell Culture Company, and Cenevo (formerly Titian Software/Labguru). His leadership spans enterprise SaaS, contract manufacturing, and advanced automation, with a track record of scaling go-to-market systems and integrating data-driven decision frameworks across commercial and technical teams.
Recognized for bridging biotechnology and digital transformation, Watrous has led organizations through M&A integrations, Lean and Danaher Business System (DBS)–driven process improvements, and digital maturity initiatives. In both executive and advisory capacities, he has helped innovators, technology providers, and investors craft growth strategies, enable AI readiness, and strengthen data integrity and process alignment through ISA-88 and ISA-95 automation standards, and data management principles including FAIR and ALCOA+.
“Axio is transforming how biologics are developed, making process design faster, more predictable, and more accessible,” said Watrous. “I’m excited to help expand Axio’s commercial footprint and bring these capabilities to more partners working on next-generation biologics and advanced therapies.”
Watrous holds degrees in Cancer Biology (M.S., University of Wisconsin) and Genetics, Cell Biology, and Biochemistry (B.S., University of Minnesota) and completed executive education at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He has been active in BIO, BioPhorum, and SLAS, and has served on the boards of BioForward Wisconsin and the Laboratory Robotics Interest Group (LRIG).
Watrous joins Axio as the company expands its commercial operations following rapid progress in 2025, including new strategic partnerships, growing demand for small-scale antibody manufacturing, and the continued build-out of its predictive AI platform.
About Axio BioPharma:
Axio BioPharma is an AI-driven biomanufacturing company revolutionizing how monoclonal antibodies are developed and produced. Headquartered in Madison, WI, Axio combines high-throughput production with proprietary machine learning to predict optimal scalable manufacturing processes in hours - not years. By accelerating development timelines and reducing costs, Axio enables biopharma innovators to bring life-saving therapies to market faster and more efficiently. With deep expertise in antibody manufacturing, protein purification, and bioinformatics, Axio supports a wide range of partners across research, diagnostics, and therapeutics with scalable, U.S.-based production and data-enhanced process design.
For more information, visit www.axiobiopharma.com or follow Axio BioPharma on LinkedIn.
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Madelyn De Los Santos
Putnam Insights LLC
madelyn@putnaminsights.com
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