GAITHERSBURG, Md., Feb. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- MedImmune today announced that it has strengthened its leadership in research, human resources (HR) and regulatory affairs with three key promotions and has also hired a new head of vaccine manufacturing. Peter A. Kiener, D. Phil. has been appointed to executive vice president, research; Katy Strei to vice president, people and organization development, HR; and Eileen Valenta to vice president, operations and compliance, regulatory affairs. In addition, Shou-Bai Chao, Ph.D. has recently joined the company as vice president of vaccine manufacturing.
“As MedImmune prepares for the next phase of its corporate growth -- including dramatic acceleration within its product portfolio, it is imperative that we have strong leadership at the helm of all aspects of our business, but particularly within the research, HR and regulatory affairs functions,” said David M. Mott, chief executive officer and president.
“Peter is now driving forward our global research efforts, which span from our core antibody research center in Maryland’s biotech corridor to our discovery and development center in Cambridge, UK to our vaccine research facilities in the San Francisco Bay area of California. Katy is ensuring that we have the right people -- with the right skills -- at the right time, which is critical for us to deliver on the promise of our pipeline. Eileen’s contributions will grow significantly with our maturing product portfolio and its need for regulatory affairs and compliance oversight. And, as we carry forward the potential next-generation of innovative vaccines, Shou-Bai is a welcome addition to the organization,” Mott added.
Management Promotions
Dr. Peter Kiener has been promoted from senior vice president, research to executive vice president, research, overseeing all global research activities for the company. Since joining MedImmune in 2001, Dr. Kiener has made expert and strategic contributions in supervising MedImmune’s rapidly expanding product portfolio, particularly in the areas of cancer and inflammatory disease research as well as translational sciences. Prior to joining MedImmune, Dr. Kiener spent 18 years with Bristol-Myers Squibb’s (BMS) Pharmaceutical Research Division, finally holding the position of director, immunology, inflammation, pulmonary and oncology drug discovery at the BMS facility in Princeton, NJ. Before his employment at Bristol-Myers, Dr. Kiener previously served as assistant professor at the University of North Texas/Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine’s Department of Anatomy; as a research associate at the Department of Biochemistry, University of Massachusetts (Amherst); and as a postdoctoral research assistant, Medical Research Council, Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford. Dr. Kiener holds a bachelor of science degree with honors in chemistry from Lancaster University, Lancaster, UK, and a doctorate of philosophy in biochemistry from the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, Oxford University, Oxford, UK.
Ms. Katy Strei, who has been promoted from senior director, corporate capabilities to vice president, people and organization development within MedImmune’s human resources function, brings nearly 20 years strategic leadership and talent development experience to her role at MedImmune. She is responsible for the strategy and implementation of the company’s key people processes and programs, including performance management, succession planning and leadership development. In addition she oversees training and development initiatives. Prior to joining MedImmune in 2005, Ms. Strei served as director of executive development for Fannie Mae and had served in various training and organization development roles at ManorCare Health Services and Sallie Mae. She holds an undergraduate degree in sociology from Lawrence University; a master’s in organization development from American University; and completed the leadership coaching program at Georgetown University.
Ms. Eileen Valenta has been promoted from senior director, product promotion review, regulatory affairs to vice president, operations and compliance, regulatory affairs. In her expanded role, she is responsible for guiding product promotion review and for ensuring that overall operations of the regulatory affairs group are compliant with federal guidelines and consistent with the company’s global regulatory strategy. Prior to joining MedImmune in 2005, Ms. Valenta served as senior director, global regulatory affairs specializing in advertising and promotion for Baxter Healthcare Corporation, where she developed and managed promotional standards and processes and drove strategy for promotional efforts in the U.S. and Europe. Throughout her career she has served in regulatory affairs roles at Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America, Wellmark International and Schering Plough Animal Health Corporation (formerly Mallinckrodt Veterinary, Inc.). Ms. Valenta earned a bachelor of science degree in biology from Colorado State University and a master of business administration degree from the Lake Forest Graduate School of Management. She is a member of the Drug Information Association, Food and Drug Law Institute and the Regulatory Affairs Professional Society.
New Leadership
As the newest senior addition, Dr. Shou-Bai Chao joins MedImmune as vice president of vaccine manufacturing, responsible for all aspects of global vaccine manufacturing and supply. Dr. Chao will also contribute to MedImmune’s commitments to pandemic preparedness. Prior to joining the company, Dr. Chao most recently served as assistant vice president, technical operations and product supply at Wyeth Biotech, where he gained experience bringing FluMist(R) (Influenza Virus Vaccine Live, Intranasal) through development at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals. He was also responsible for global technical operations for the flagship vaccine, Prevnar(R). He brings comprehensive perspective with more than 15 years experience at Wyeth, Sanofi-Pasteur and Philom Bios in global vaccine and bio/pharmaceutical process and product development, manufacturing operations and quality assurance. Dr. Chao earned his doctorate and completed his postdoctoral fellowship at the Industrial Biotechnology Center, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
About MedImmune
MedImmune strives to provide better medicines to patients, new medical options for physicians and rewarding careers to employees. Dedicated to advancing science and medicine to help people live better lives, the company is focused on the areas of infectious diseases; cancer; inflammatory diseases; cardiovascular and metabolic diseases; pain and central nervous system disorders and gastrointestinal diseases. With approximately 3,000 employees worldwide and headquarters in Maryland, MedImmune is wholly owned by AstraZeneca plc . For more information, visit MedImmune’s website at www.medimmune.com.
CONTACT: Media, Jamie Lacey, +1-301-398-4035, or Investors, Peter Vozzo,
+1-301-398-4358, both of MedImmune
Web site: http://www.medimmune.com/
