Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Announces Executive Changes
March 12, 2019 at 08:00 am
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Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced the appointment of Jacqueline E. Shea, PhD, as Inovio's Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Executive Vice President. Dr. Shea is an experienced life sciences senior executive with an extensive track record of leadership, strategy development, operational management, product development and international corporate development achievements. She most recently served as CEO and COO of Aeras, the leading not-for-profit organization dedicated to developing new tuberculosis vaccines. At Inovio, Dr. Shea will be responsible for Inovio's manufacturing, commercial, business development, and alliance management operations as well as serving as a key member of the executive team along with CFO and CSO in formulating and implementing overall corporate strategy. Dr. Shea replaces Dr. Niranjan Y. Sardesai who now serves as Chief Executive Officer of Geneos Therapeutics, a spin-out of Inovio developing personalized cancer treatments. Across the board, Inovio has taken steps to streamline its management responsibilities to better align comprehensive development strategy from discovery to commercialization. Effective immediately, Inovio's global clinical and R&D functions will report to Dr. Laurent Humeau, Inovio's Chief Scientific Officer and Executive Vice President. As a part of this realignment, Dr. Mark Bagarazzi, formerly Chief Medical Officer, has left the company. In place of the Chief Medical Officer position, Inovio's newly formed Medical Council will oversee all clinical studies and medical-related reporting and monitoring activities and will report to Dr. Humeau. Inovio's Medical Council comprises three of Inovio's current Vice Presidents of Clinical Development: Prakash Bhuyan, MD (HPV program); Jeffrey Skolnik, MD, (cancer); and Scott White, MD (infectious diseases). Prior to her role at Aeras, Dr. Shea held top management positions at two biotechnology companies: Emergent Product Development UK (part of Emergent BioSolutions) and Microscience Ltd; and was general manager of The Oxford-Emergent Tuberculosis Consortium, a global health joint venture formed between Oxford University and Emergent BioSolutions.
Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company. The Company is focused on developing and commercializing deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) medicines to help treat and protect people from diseases associated with human papillomavirus (HPV), cancer, and infectious diseases. Its DNA medicines pipeline include INO-3107 for HPV-related recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP); INO-3112 for the treatment of HPV-related Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma, or OPSCC; VGX-3100 for the treatment of Anal or Perianal HSIL; INO-5401 for the treatment of Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM), and INO-5401 for the Treatment of Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM). Its lead candidate is INO-3107 for the treatment of RRP, a rare and debilitating disease of the respiratory tract caused by HPV infection. Its DNA medicines platform consists of DNA plasmids and its CELLECTRA devices, which are used to deliver the DNA plasmids into the cell. Its CELLECTRA device portfolio consists of two models.