Vaxart Appoints David Wheadon, M.D., to its Board of Directors

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., April 23, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Vaxart, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing oral recombinant vaccines that are administered by tablet rather than by injection, today announced the appointment of David Wheadon, M.D., to its Board of Directors. Dr. Wheadon is a health policy leader and physician with more than three decades of global experience in the pharmaceutical industry coordinating the interests of public companies, trade groups and regulators.

“We welcome Dr. Wheadon to our Board of Directors,” said Andrei Floroiu, chief executive officer of Vaxart. “His significant experience working in multi-national regulatory environments and global health policy will be an asset as we advance our portfolio of oral tablet vaccines, including our COVID-19 candidate that is poised to enter Phase 2 clinical trials. Our approach represents the ideal long-term global solution to the pandemic as well as to a range of other vaccine-preventable diseases.”

Dr. Wheadon commented, “It is my pleasure to join the Board of Directors of an innovative company such as Vaxart. Its disruptive approach to the design and development of vaccines has the potential to offer a convenient, simple solution to the challenges hindering mass vaccination efforts. I look forward to providing guidance as the Company advances an innovative approach to address the COVID-19 pandemic both in the United States and abroad.”

Most recently Dr. Wheadon served as Senior Vice President, Global Regulatory Affairs, Patient Safety and Quality Assurance at AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals. Prior to AstraZeneca, he held senior regulatory and clinical development leadership positions at Abbott, GlaxoSmithKline, Eli Lilly, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA). Dr. Wheadon is a board member of Mount Sinai Health System, ConnectiveRx, Inc., and Karuna Therapeutics, Inc. He holds an A.B. in biology from Harvard College and an M.D. from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He completed his fellowship training in psychiatry at Tufts New England Medical Center.

About Vaxart

Vaxart is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing a range of oral recombinant vaccines based on its proprietary delivery platform. Vaxart vaccines are designed to be administered using tablets that can be stored and shipped without refrigeration and eliminate the risk of needle-stick injury. Vaxart believes that its proprietary tablet vaccine delivery platform is suitable to deliver recombinant vaccines, positioning the company to develop oral versions of currently marketed vaccines and to design recombinant vaccines for new indications. Its development programs currently include tablet vaccines designed to protect against coronavirus, Norovirus, seasonal influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), as well as a therapeutic vaccine for human papillomavirus (HPV), Vaxart’s first immuno-oncology indication. Vaxart has filed broad domestic and international patent applications covering its proprietary technology and creations for oral vaccination using adenovirus and TLR3 agonists.