Munich (Germany), October 28, 2015: ImevaX GmbH, a specialist in developing vaccines against pathogens of chronic infectious diseases, especially H. pylori infections, announced today the appointment of Dr Marie Roskrow as Chief Executive Officer and Staph Leavenworth Bakali as Chairman of the Supervisory Board.
Dr Roskrow has extensive international management experience in the healthcare and financial sectors. Most recently, she served as CEO and Managing Director of Patrys Ltd, an Australian public biotechnology company specializing in the development of novel antibody therapies for the treatment of cancer. At Patrys, she successfully advanced the company’s lead product into the clinic. Previously, Dr Roskrow worked in the Life Sciences Group at the investment bank Lazard in the USA, successfully executing many transactions and financings for both large and small biotechnology companies in the USA and in Europe. She is a trained clinical haematologist and immunologist and was awarded a medical degree and a Ph.D. in Immunology from the University of London.
“I am honoured to have been elected as the new CEO of ImevaX”, Dr Roskrow commented. “It is a privilege to join a team of such highly qualified and motivated scientists. Exciting challenges lie ahead of us, most importantly to advance our lead candidate IMX101 into the clinic and towards proof of concept. I am looking forward to supporting ImevaX and driving development of our infectious diseases treatments.”
Dr Roskrow succeeds Volker Wedershoven, who had acted as CEO since September 2014 and who will remain part of ImevaX management team as Chief Financial Officer.
The Company has further strengthened its executive leadership team by appointing Staph Leavenworth Bakali as Chairman of the Supervisory Board. Mr Leavenworth Bakali has over 25 years of board and executive experience in globally leading and managing public and private companies in the pharmaceutical industry. Among others, he served as President and CEO of Genocea Biosciences and Chief Operating Officer of both PowderJect Pharmaceuticals Plc, and ID Biomedical Corporation. He is currently the President and COO of the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI). Mr Leavenworth Bakali holds a Msc. in Management from the University of London (London Business School).
“I am pleased to welcome Staph Leavenworth Bakali to the Supervisory Board. He knows how to build successful businesses. His considerable leadership experience combined with his proven track record in driving and managing the rapid growth of international pharmaceutical companies will support us in further developing ImevaX”, said Professor Erich Schlick, General Partner at Wellington Partners and a member of the ImevaX Supervisory Board. “I am also delighted that we have been able to appoint Dr Roskrow as our new CEO who will strengthen the ImevaX management team and continue to advance the development of our pipeline.”
About ImevaX:
ImevaX is a biopharmaceutical company founded in 2014 based in Munich, Germany. The focus is to combat chronic and nosocomial infections by creating specific vaccines. The company’s lead candidate IMX101 is a vaccine against Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), which colonizes the stomach and is the cause of ulcer disease and gastric cancer in humans. Founder Markus Gerhard and his team discovered that the colonization ability (and hence, the infectiousness) of H. pylori depends on a secreted bacterial factor that down-regulates the host immune system. Many other highly infectious pathogens have evolved similar immune evasion mechanisms, which are the focus of the ImevaX screening program. For more information please visit: www.imevax.com
For further information, please contact:
Dr Marie Roskrow
Chief Executive Officer
ImevaX GmbH
Tel: +49 (0) 89 41 424 55 0
Email: marie.roskrow@imevax.com
Katja Arnold (CIRO)
Executive Director
MC Services AG
Tel: +49 (0) 89 210 228 40
Email: katja.arnold@mc-services.eu
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