ILiAD Biotechnologies, Inc. (ILiAD), an advanced clinical stage biotech company focused on the prevention and treatment of disease caused by Bordetella pertussis, today announced the appointments of Jim Wassil, currently Chief Operating Officer at Vaxcyte; Suha Jhaveri, former Strategic Advisor at Cidara before its acquisition by Merck; and Bill Warren, former Global Head of Antigen Design at Sanofi Vaccines, as independent members of ILiAD’s Board of Directors. The Company also announced the appointment of Antony Blanc, former VP, Head of Global Marketing and Global Strategic Pricing at GSK Vaccines, as Chief Business Officer.
“Our recently appointed colleagues bring an extraordinary depth of experience in vaccine development, global commercialization, and strategic growth,” said Keith Rubin, MD, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of ILiAD. “As we advance BPZE1 to the next pivotal phase of ILiAD’s growth, the insights and leadership of Antony, Bill, Jim and Suha will be invaluable in helping us execute on our mission to eradicate disease due to Bordetella pertussis.”
Board of Directors Appointments
Bill Warren PhD, offers decades of leadership experience, including at Sanofi Vaccines, where he led teams developing precision antigen strategies and integrating emerging technologies into vaccine development. Earlier in his career, Dr. Warren was the CEO and co‑founder of VaxDesign, a vaccine technology company that was acquired by Sanofi in 2010.
Jim Wassil MS MBA, brings extensive experience in vaccine development, program leadership, and operational execution across multiple stages of clinical development. At Vaxcyte, he has played a key role in advancing next-generation vaccine programs designed to address significant unmet medical needs. Prior to joining Vaxcyte, Mr. Wassil held senior leadership positions within the vaccine organizations at Pfizer, Novartis, and Merck, where he was instrumental in the development and commercialization of multiple vaccines designed to prevent infectious diseases.
Suha Jhaveri MS MBA, brings more than 30 years of biotechnology industry experience, including senior leadership roles spanning commercialization, business development, and corporate strategy. Most recently, she served as commercial advisor supporting the development of Cidara’s Phase 2 and Phase 3 influenza program. Previously she held executive positions at Leyden Labs and VIR Biotechnology where she led the commercialization of innovative therapeutics and vaccines. Earlier in her career, she held leadership roles at Genentech and Chiron/Novartis and co-founded a medical device company that was later acquired by Philips.
Chief Business Officer Appointment
Antony Blanc PhD, recently appointed Chief Business Officer, is a seasoned biopharmaceutical executive with extensive experience in corporate strategy, vaccine development and commercialization, business development and partnering. Prior to ILiAD, Dr. Blanc served as Chief Business and Commercial Officer at CureVac as well as various global commercial leadership positions at GSK Vaccines and in McKinsey’s European biotech practice. He brings a strong track record of building and executing growth strategies across clinical-stage and commercial organizations and will oversee ILiAD’s business development, commercial and long-term value creation initiatives.
“ILiAD has built a compelling platform with BPZE1 that has the potential to redefine pertussis vaccination and deliver meaningful public health benefit,” said Dr. Blanc. “I’m excited to join the team at this pivotal moment and help guide the Company’s strategic growth as it advances toward late-stage development and beyond.”
About ILiAD Biotechnologies
ILiAD Biotechnologies (http://www.iliadbio.com) is a privately held, advanced clinical stage biotechnology company dedicated to the prevention and treatment of human disease caused by Bordetella pertussis. The company is developing and exploring key technologies, working with leading scientists to overcome the limitations of current vaccines, investigating the impact of B. pertussis in a range of human disease, and is focused on validating its proprietary vaccines in human clinical trials.
About Institut Pasteur de Lille
The Institut Pasteur de Lille (www.pasteur-lille.fr) is a non-profit private foundation. It was created 120 years ago, was the birthplace of the BCG vaccine at the turn of the twentieth century and now hosts approximately 700 persons devoted to people’s health for “a better and longer life”. Since its creation, the mission of Institut Pasteur de Lille is to prevent major contemporary diseases by understanding them and their underlying mechanisms, acting directly on their environment and advancing the evolution of human behavior. Today, in the medical research department, 32 research teams focus on a range of human disease including infectious diseases and immunopathologies, cardio-vascular diseases, diabetes and metabolic diseases, cancer, and neuro-degenerative diseases.
About Inserm
Founded in 1964, Inserm (www.inserm.fr) is a public scientific and technological institute which operates under the joint authority of the French Ministries of Health and Research. The institute is dedicated to biomedical research and human health and is involved in the entire range of activities from the laboratory to the patient’s bedside. It also partners with the most prestigious research institutions in the world that are committed to scientific challenges and progress in these fields.
“Safe Harbor” Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
In addition to historical facts or statements of current, this press release may contain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements provide ILiAD’s current expectations or forecasts of future events. These may include statements regarding anticipated development of potential products, interpretation of clinical results, prospects for regulatory approval, outsourcing trends in the pharmaceutical industry, levels of industry research and development spending, rapid technological change, risks associated with acquisitions and investments, risks associated directly with BPZE technologies including but not limited to uncertainties of product development, and uncertainties of clinical development, dependence on third parties, competition, protection of patents and proprietary technology, potential for infringement and other statements regarding matters that are not historical fact. Some of these forward looking statements may be identified by use of words in the statements such as “estimate,” “intend,” or other words and terms of similar meaning. Statements in this release are not guarantees of future performance and involve certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions, which are difficult to predict. Therefore actual outcomes and results may differ materially from what is expressed in such forward-looking statements. ILiAD cautions investors not to place reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. These statements speak only as of the date of this release and ILiAD undertakes no obligations to update or review these statements, except as may be required by law.
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