EMERYVILLE, Calif.,
Sept. 24, 2020 /PRNewswire/
-- Dynavax Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: DVAX), a
biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing
novel vaccines, today announced the appointment of Peter R. Paradiso, Ph.D. to its Board of
Directors. Separately, the Company also announced that
Michael Ostrach, Senior Vice
President, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Chief Business Officer
(CBO), has communicated his planned retirement in 2021.
"We are excited to welcome Peter to our Board of Directors.
Peter brings over three decades of vaccine strategic planning and
development expertise. I look forward to his strategic
guidance as Dynavax continues to build a leading vaccine company on
the foundation of HEPLISAV-B, our FDA-approved adult hepatitis B
vaccine, and CpG 1018, our advanced vaccine adjuvant," commented
Ryan Spencer, Chief Executive
Officer of Dynavax. "At the same time, Michael's skills, breadth of
experience, and unwavering commitment to Dynavax have been critical
to the success of our company. He has been an outstanding leader,
an esteemed colleague, and a tremendous mentor. While his
contributions will be missed, we wish him well for retirement and
his next adventures."
"I am thrilled to join Dynavax's Board of Directors at this
exciting time in the company's growth," commented Peter Paradiso, Ph.D. "I am impressed with the
organization's commercial execution for HEPLISAV-B and the
tremendous progress on making their advanced adjuvant, CpG 1018,
available to collaboration partners in the pursuit of protecting
the world against infectious diseases."
"I am grateful for the opportunity to serve Dynavax and work
alongside the dedicated individuals in my groups and across our
organization over the past 14 years to advance our company's
mission to deliver novel vaccines. It is particularly
gratifying that those efforts resulted in the approval and
commercialization of our two-dose adult hepatitis b vaccine,
HEPLISAV-B, as well as clinical trials of multiple COVID-19 vaccine
candidates testing our CpG 1018 adjuvant." said Mr. Ostrach.
Dr. Paradiso has worked in vaccine development for over 30
years. He is currently the sole proprietor of Paradiso
Biologics Consulting, LLC. and serves as a member of the Coalition
for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) R&D and
Manufacturing Investment Committee (RDMIC), which has been
established to make investment decisions for vaccine R&D and
manufacturing under the COVAX pillar of the ACT-Accelerator.
In addition, he is Chairman of a Procurement Reference Group (PRG)
to advise The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and The
GAVI Alliance – formerly the Global Alliance for Vaccines and
Immunisation (GAVI) on the procurement of rotavirus vaccines. Dr.
Paradiso retired in 2012 where he served as Vice President, New
Business and Scientific Affairs for Pfizer Vaccines, a Division of
Pfizer, Inc. In this position, Dr. Paradiso was responsible for
global scientific affairs and strategic planning within the vaccine
research and development group and for commercial oversight of
products in development. Dr. Paradiso received a Doctor of
Philosophy (PhD) degree in biochemistry from the University of Vermont College of Medicine and a BS
in Chemistry from St. Lawrence
University.
As part of the planned transition next year, Dynavax has
retained Russell Reynolds Associates to assist the Company in
recruiting its next CFO. Mr. Ostrach will continue in his role
while the Company identifies a successor. If a new CFO is
appointed before March 31, 2021, Mr. Ostrach has agreed to
remain in an advisory capacity through the completion of the
Company's reporting of 2020 financial results and to remain
available as an advisor to the Company thereafter. The Company does
not intend to fill the CBO position at the time of Mr. Ostrach's
retirement.
About Dynavax
Dynavax is a commercial stage
biopharmaceutical company developing and commercializing novel
vaccines. The Company's first commercial product, HEPLISAV-B®
[Hepatitis B Vaccine (Recombinant), Adjuvanted], is approved in the
U.S. for prevention of infection caused by all known subtypes of
hepatitis B virus in adults age 18 years and older. Dynavax is also
further developing CpG 1018 as an advanced vaccine adjuvant through
research collaborations and partnerships. Current collaborations
are focused on adjuvanted vaccines for COVID-19, pertussis and
universal influenza. For more information, visit
www.dynavax.com and follow the company on LinkedIn.
Contacts:
Nicole Arndt,
Senior Manager, Investor Relations
narndt@dynavax.com
510-665-7264
Derek Cole, President
Investor Relations Advisory Solutions
derek.cole@IRadvisory.com
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SOURCE Dynavax Technologies