Pfizer veteran Phil Dormitzer will assume the role of Global Head of Vaccines beginning Friday.
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GlaxoSmithKline, one of the world’s largest vaccines makers, tapped a new head for its vaccines business. Pfizer veteran Phil Dormitzer will assume the role of Global Head of Vaccines beginning Friday.
At Pfizer, Dormitzer was chief scientific officer of the company’s RNA and Viral Vaccines business. He joins GSK with significant success under his belt for the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Pfizer and Germany’s BioNTech. He departs that company as it begins to assess the efficacy of the current COVID-19 vaccine against the emerging Omicron variant that first rose its head in Africa and has since spread across the globe.
In addition to his work on the COVID-19 vaccine, Dormitzer was working on Pfizer’s maternal and older adult respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine candidates, which are currently in Phase III trials. He also oversaw the development of an RNA-based influenza vaccine co-developed with BioNTech.
Before Pfizer, Dormitzer held roles of increasing responsibility with Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, including head of U.S. Vaccines Research. At the Swiss pharma giant, Dormitzer led research for that company’s response the H1N1 influenza pandemic. His work in that area led to the development of three licensed vaccines.
Dormitzer joins GSK as the company eagerly awaits results of a potential vaccine against COVID-19 that has been in a longtime development with Sanofi. The vaccine candidate uses Sanofi’s S-protein COVID-19 antigen, which is based on recombinant DNA technology to develop the vaccine candidate. That antigen will be boosted by GSK’s pandemic adjuvant technology. The Phase III study began in May of this year after an efficacy snag in December 2020 caused a delay. The company is also developing an mRNA vaccine candidate with Germany’s CureVac. A Phase I study of the second-generation vaccine candidate is expected to begin later this year.
In addition to the COVID-19 vaccines backed by the company’s adjuvant technology, GSK is also developing vaccines for RSV, a disease for which there is no vaccine. There is significant jostling among companies such as GSK, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson to be the first to market with a RSV vaccine. Last year, the company posted reported positive results from Phase I/II clinical trials of RSV vaccine candidates for both maternal immunization and use in older adults. According to company data, both of the RSV vaccines are made with recombinant subunit pre-fusion RSV antigen (RSVPreF3) that can potentially trigger the required immune response.
Dormitzer steps into a hole left earlier this year by Emmanuel Hanon, who departed GSK in April for Viome, where he assumed the role of Global Head of R&D.
At GSK, Dormitzer will report to Hal Barron, CSO and president of R&D. In a brief statement Barron expressed his excitement at Dormitzer’s future with the company. He touted his experience as a scientific leader and vaccines expert.
“The importance of vaccines has never been clearer, and the pace of technological innovation has rarely been greater. GSK has an industry-leading pipeline of vaccines and Phil’s scientific expertise and significant experience with key innovative technologies, such as mRNA, structure-based antigen design and synthetic biology, will be key to ensuring we remain a leader in this field,” Barron said in a statement.
