SEATTLE, Jan. 05, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Icosavax, a biopharmaceutical company leveraging its innovative virus-like particle platform technology to develop vaccines against infectious diseases, today announced the appointment of John Shiver, Ph.D., to its Board of Directors. Dr. Shiver has more than 30 years of experience in vaccine and pharmaceutical research and development, including at two of the most prominent vaccine companies in the world, Sanofi Pasteur and Merck & Co., Inc. He has guided scientific teams to create novel vaccine and monoclonal antibody candidates to prevent or treat more than 40 infectious and non-infectious diseases, including RSV, influenza, pneumococcus, CMV, HIV, HPV, cancer, and asthma, and contributed to the licensure of 14 products.
“I am pleased to welcome John to our Board during an important time in Icosavax’s continued growth as we work to advance clinical development of our RSV and SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidates based on our VLP platform technology,” said Adam Simpson, Chief Executive Officer of Icosavax. “John’s extensive experience in successfully advancing products to market from novel platform technologies as well as his deep understanding of infectious diseases will be invaluable as Icosavax works to progress its vision of a multivalent VLP vaccine targeting the viral causes of pneumonia in older adults.”
“Naturally occurring virus-like particles have been successfully harnessed for effective vaccines, but constructing and manufacturing VLPs displaying complex antigens has been a major hurdle,” said Dr. Shiver. “That’s why Icosavax’s VLP platform technology is so interesting as it enables the creation of precision-designed VLP vaccine candidates for complex antigens, like RSV, as well as multivalent vaccine candidates with the potential to protect against two or more respiratory diseases and streamline vaccine regimens. I look forward to providing my expertise and working closely with Icosavax’s leadership team and Board to advance the company’s VLP technology against life-threatening respiratory diseases.”
Currently, Dr. Shiver is Chief Strategy Officer, leader of the scientific advisory board, and member of the Board of Directors at IGM ID, a wholly owned subsidiary of IGM Biosciences. Prior to IGM ID, he was the Global Head of Vaccines R&D and a member of the Executive Leadership team at Sanofi Pasteur, the largest company in the world devoted entirely to vaccines. While at Sanofi, Dr. Shiver championed three major collaborations and an acquisition, including Sanofi’s collaboration with Translate Bio for access to the company’s mRNA platform, its alliance with MedImmune (now AstraZeneca) for nirsevimab, a monoclonal antibody being developed for the prevention of RSV in infants, and its acquisition of Protein Sciences Corporation, which developed and commercialized a recombinant protein-based influenza vaccine. Prior to Sanofi, Dr. Shiver led vaccine research at Merck and served in the experimental immunology branch of the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Shiver is a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology and the International Society for Vaccines. He is the author of more than 150 articles in top-tier journals and is a co-author of 68 awarded patents.
About Icosavax
Icosavax is a biopharmaceutical company leveraging its innovative VLP platform technology to develop vaccines against infectious diseases, with an initial focus on life-threatening respiratory diseases. Icosavax’s VLP platform technology is designed to enable multivalent, particle-based display of complex viral antigens, which it believes will induce broad, robust, and durable protection against the specific viruses targeted. Icosavax’s pipeline includes vaccine candidates targeting respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), human metapneumovirus (hMPV), and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Icosavax was formed in 2017 to advance the breakthrough VLP technology from the Institute for Protein Design at the University of Washington with the goal to discover, develop, and commercialize vaccines against infectious diseases. Icosavax exclusively licensed the VLP technology for use in several fields, including RSV and hMPV, from the University of Washington. For SARS-CoV-2, Icosavax has a non-exclusive, worldwide (excluding South Korea) license from the University of Washington that will convert to an exclusive license in North America and Europe in 2025. Icosavax is located in Seattle. For more information, visit www.icosavax.com.