Gaines moves to board chair, Miller to vice chair, Alexander to president of Inorganic Ventures.
IV Labs, a Christiansburg-based specialty chemistry company serving manufacturers and laboratories worldwide, has appointed Justin Yalung as chief executive officer, and restructured its board of directors to reflect this change, effective June 1.
IV Labs is the parent company of Inorganic Ventures and PURE Laboratories. Together, the companies offer more than 2,000 stock elemental mixtures and compounds and more than 60,000 unique custom formulations. IV Labs products are used for critical production applications, research, testing, and calibration across sectors including pharmaceuticals, energy, environmental safety, mining, industrial manufacturing, and food & beverage.
“At IV Labs, we consider ourselves the quiet force for manufacturers across industries to deliver consistent, high-quality products with confidence,” Yalung said.
Yalung steps into the role after nine years serving as the company’s chief financial officer and de facto chief operating officer. He also led an exploratory team that focused on the development of additives for battery applications and led the IV team through the acquisition of PURE Laboratories in 2024.
“Since joining IV Labs, I’ve been amazed at how our work can have such a far-reaching impact on people’s everyday lives,” Yalung said. “For more than 40 years, this organization has helped ensure the products people rely on every day are safe, reliable, and high quality. I am honored to build on the strong foundation that’s been created, strengthen our leadership in the industry, and expand our impact so people everywhere can trust the products they depend on.”
Outgoing CEO Gaines becomes board chair
Yalung succeeds Christopher Gaines, who becomes chairman of the board and will focus more deeply on industry engagement and long-term growth strategy. Erik Miller,
chief strategy officer, and founder of PURE, moves to vice chair, using his 30 years of chemistry expertise to focus on engagement in the technical community while also supporting the long-term growth strategy alongside Gaines.
“There’s a quiet confidence that comes from knowing exactly what you've built and why it matters. IV Labs is at an inflection point — the team, the technology, the timing — it’s all aligned. I’m stepping into this board role knowing that what comes next is going to turn heads, and I couldn't be more excited to watch it unfold,” Gaines said.
“This move is part of our long-term plan to grow IV Labs organically and via expansion into new markets,” he added. “Justin understands our business, our customers, and our culture, and our entire leadership believes he is the right leader to take IV Labs to the next level.”
Yalung is the first company leader outside of the founders’ families. Before joining IV Labs, Yalung served as corporate controller for TechLab, Inc. in Blacksburg and held senior finance roles at bioMérieux, IBM’s mergers and acquisitions team in North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park, and GE Energy in Atlanta. A Virginia Beach native, he earned a finance degree from Virginia Tech, graduating magna cum laude, and completed Oxford’s Executive Leadership Programme.
A Virginia Success Story
IV Labs was recruited to the New River Valley from New Jersey in 2009 and has grown from six relocated employees to more than 100 team members across Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. The move is widely viewed as a success story for Virginia’s economic development efforts and the region’s life sciences and advanced manufacturing sectors.
With Yalung’s appointment as CEO, Brian Alexander, a native of Blacksburg, Virginia will move into the role of president of Inorganic Ventures, and Will Marble, a native of XXX, will continue as president of PURE. The transition further underscores IV Labs’ deep Virginia roots, with a leadership team shaped by long-standing ties to the Commonwealth and the New River Valley.