KGI鈥檚 2025 Alumni Awards (Professional Achievement)
Late last year, KGI launched its inaugural Alumni Awards, recognizing alumni whose accomplishments and service embody the Institute鈥檚 mission to shape the future of healthcare and the life sciences.
One of the honorees for the Professional Achievement Award was Brian Feth 鈥�05 whose work is accelerating the development and manufacturing of cell therapies for cancer.
When Feth co-founded Xcell Biosciences in 2012, he set out to solve a complex challenge: how to make cell therapies more effective, scalable, and accessible. Today, he leads a growing team building next-generation technologies.
A Foundation in Applied Learning
Feth鈥檚 path to biotech leadership began in KGI鈥檚 Masters of Bioscience (now Master of Science and Business in Biotechnology (MBS)) program, where the interdisciplinary curriculum helped him connect scientific inquiry to real-world impact.
鈥淚 feel like my career has reflected the foundation that KGI set, which was really tied into the applied and interdisciplinary approach,鈥� Feth said. 鈥淧rofessors coordinated across lectures to make sure what they were teaching connected to adjacent courses 鈥� and that鈥檚 how the real world works.鈥�
As one of KGI鈥檚 early cohorts, Feth was drawn to the school鈥檚 unique blend of science, business, and engineering.
鈥淭here are a lot of academic centers that train people to become academics,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his was a different model. It showed how things operate in the context of the careers we were stepping into.鈥�
That systems-level perspective proved invaluable after graduation. At L.E.K. Consulting and later at a private-equity firm, Feth advised life-science companies on strategy, product development, and acquisitions. The breadth of his KGI training gave him the confidence to navigate complex environments.
鈥淲hen I started consulting, I was working alongside PhDs who had several more years of research experience,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut I felt just as prepared to understand the technology and the problems we were solving. KGI gave me that combination of scientific depth and industry context that you don鈥檛 find in most programs.鈥�
Building Xcell Biosciences
After earning his MBA at UC Berkeley, Feth combined his business experience with a long-standing interest in improving cancer treatment. Alongside scientific co-founder Dr. James Lim, he launched Xcell Biosciences within the Berkeley innovation ecosystem, collaborating with nearby cancer research centers and universities.
Their early studies focused on growing patient-derived tumor samples to better understand how cancer and immune cells interact. Those experiments led to a pivotal insight: while immune T cells can be remarkably effective at killing cancer cells, they tend to lose potency under harsh conditions 鈥� such as low oxygen and high pressure 鈥� similar to those found inside solid tumors.
Determined to address this challenge, Feth and his team developed the Avatar鈩� family of instruments, which replicate these microenvironments to test and 鈥渢rain鈥� immune cells to perform more effectively.
Since its founding, Xcell Bio has raised more than $50 million and forged partnerships with organizations including Labcorp, ThermoFisher, Cellular Origins, and Elevate Bio. By combining biological insight with automation and scalable design, the company is creating a new framework for cell-therapy manufacturing 鈥� one that could make lifesaving treatments more potent, persistent, and accessible to patients worldwide.
A Culture of Collaboration
Looking back, Feth sees a direct line between KGI鈥檚 culture and the way Xcell Bio operates today. Interdisciplinary collaboration, once a classroom ideal, is now the backbone of his company鈥檚 success.
During his time at KGI, Feth pursued an independent study with founding president Henry E. 鈥淗ank鈥� Riggs, who personally guided him through corporate valuation modeling and introduced him to industry leaders such as Jay Flatley, then CEO of Illumina, as well as investment bankers and finance executives who offered real-world insight into how companies are valued and financed.
鈥淚t was such a great tailored educational experience, and one you can only get at a school of this size where you have real relationships with faculty,鈥� Feth said.
Inspiring Future Innovators
Two decades after earning his MBS, Feth remains deeply connected to KGI鈥檚 mission. When he returned to campus for the Alumni Awards ceremony, he was struck by the caliber of student research on display.
鈥淚 was really impressed by the quality of the students and the work being done,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t was a good flashback to the rigor and focus that make KGI so special.鈥�
For Feth, receiving the Professional Achievement Award is both an honor and a reminder of the shared legacy among KGI alumni.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a unique place,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 thrilled to be part of an alumni community that鈥檚 out trailblazing and hopefully creating new paths for those who come next.鈥�
As he continues to advance cell-therapy innovation, Feth鈥檚 work embodies the very principles that define KGI: collaboration, applied learning, and the courage to build what doesn鈥檛 yet exist.