Jean Stéphenne Elected as New Chairman of the Supervisory Board of CureVac
TÜBINGEN, Germany and BOSTON, April 02, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CureVac AG, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company pioneering the field of mRNA-based drugs, today announced that Jean Stéphenne, former deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board, has been appointed as the new Chairman with immediate effect. Jean Stéphenne has been a member of the Board since September 2015.
Jean Stéphenne, MSc, MBA, is former Chairman and President of GSK Biologicals. He began his career with SmithKline-Rit where he became Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. He served as the President of Union Wallonne des Entreprises (UWE) from 1997 to 2000. Furthermore, Jean Stéphenne has been Chairman of BESIX Group S.A./N.V. and TiGenix N.V. Currently he serves on the Board of various life sciences companies including Bone Therapeutics, Vaxxilon, and Bepharbel. He also heads the board of Nanocyl, a company specialized in carbon nanotubes for batteries and polymers.
Dietmar Hopp, the main shareholder of CureVac through his investment company dievini Hopp Biotech holding GmbH & Co. KG, says: “We have been strongly investing into CureVac since 2005 because we are convinced that the versatility of mRNA allows us to develop vaccines and medications against many severe diseases. In today’s pandemia we see the urgency to develop a vaccine against Corona to help and protect people worldwide as soon as possible. Jean has known the company for many years. With his long experience in healthcare and his strong expertise with vaccines he is the right Chairman for CureVac.”
Jean Stéphenne adds: “For me, it is a great honour to be elected as Chairman of the Supervisory Board, especially at times when mRNA technology can provide the solution for situations like the COVID-19 crisis. CureVac is a leading biotechnology company with broad and diversified expertise in the field of mRNA technology. We all are convinced that we can develop a potent mRNA vaccine against Corona as well as strong therapeutics against many other diseases to help people worldwide.”
About CureVac AG
CureVac is a leading clinical stage biotechnology company in the field of messenger RNA (mRNA) technology with 20 years of expertise in developing and optimizing this versatile molecule for medical purposes. The principle of CureVac's proprietary technology is the use of mRNA as a data carrier to instruct the human body to produce its own proteins capable of fighting a wide range of diseases. The company applies its technologies for the development of cancer therapies, antibody therapies, the treatment of rare diseases, and prophylactic vaccines. CureVac has received significant investments, amongst others from dievini Hopp BioTech holding and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. CureVac has also entered into collaborations with multinational corporations and organizations, including Boehringer Ingelheim, Eli Lilly & Co, Genmab, CRISPR Therapeutics, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, CEPI and others. CureVac is headquartered in Tübingen, Germany with sites in Frankfurt and Boston, USA.
For more information, please visit www.curevac.com or follow us on Twitter at @CureVacAG.
CureVac Media Contact
Thorsten Schüller, Corporate Communications
CureVac AG, Tübingen, Germany
T: +49 7071 9883-1577
thorsten.schueller@curevac.com
