Novavax Appoints Gregory F. Covino as Chief Financial Officer and Announces Leadership Updates
November 09 2020 - 3:02PM
Novavax, Inc. (Nasdaq: NVAX), a late-stage biotechnology company
developing next-generation vaccines for serious infectious
diseases, today announced updates to its leadership team, including
the appointment of Gregory F. Covino as Executive Vice
President and Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Executive Vice
President John Trizzino, who previously served as CFO, will now
become the Chief Commercial Officer while continuing in his role as
Chief Business Officer.
“We welcome Greg’s multifaceted and extensive
global financial experience at a pivotal time as Novavax transforms
into a commercial stage company,” said Stanley C. Erck,
President and Chief Executive Officer of Novavax. “His
expertise will be of significant value as we advance both our
COVID-19 vaccine candidate, NVXCoV2373, and our NanoFlu influenza
vaccine toward commercialization.”
Prior to joining Novavax, Mr. Covino was Group
CFO at GlaxoSmithKline’s TESARO Oncology Division, where he also
served as Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer. He
previously served as Chief Accounting Officer at leading
biopharmaceutical company Biogen Inc. He held earlier positions as
Vice President, Corporate Internal Audit, and Vice President,
International Finance for Boston Scientific. Earlier in his career,
Mr. Covino spent 10 years at international accounting and
consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.
“I look forward to contributing to Novavax’
positive impact on reducing the global burden of serious infectious
diseases around the world, including COVID-19 and influenza,” said
Mr. Covino. “This is a very exciting time to join Novavax and
play a role in the company’s rapid strategic growth.”
Executive
Updates
Since re-joining Novavax in 2014, John Trizzino
has held roles of increasing responsibility across Finance,
Commercial and executive management. With his newly created role of
Chief Commercial Officer, Mr. Trizzino will focus on advancing
NVX-CoV2373, the Company’s protein-based vaccine candidate for the
prevention of COVID-19, and NanoFlu™ toward commercialization,
applying his broad vaccine industry experience in previous roles
overseeing commercialization, vaccine policy, strategic
development, business development, financing, investor relations
and public relations as the company prepares to enter global
markets.
Chief Medical Officer, Filip Dubovsky, M.D. was
promoted to Executive Vice President. Since joining Novavax in June
2020, Dr. Dubovsky has played a key role in leading global clinical
development planning and trial execution for NVX-CoV2373 in
multiple trials in various global locations.
Biegie Lee was promoted to Senior Vice President
and Chief Information Officer. Since joining the Company in 2017,
he has led the Information Technology (IT) function’s
modernization, encompassing technology operations and network
operations, enterprise applications and project management. He is
also leading the transformation of Novavax’ state-of-the-art
cybersecurity programs.
“I congratulate John on his expanded
responsibilities, and Filip and Biegie on their promotions, as
Novavax grows quickly into a global vaccine leader,” continued Mr.
Erck. “Their continued leadership will help the Company
successfully navigate this crucial time.”
About NVX-CoV2373NVX-CoV2373 is
a vaccine candidate engineered from the genetic sequence of
SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 disease. NVX-CoV2373 was
created using Novavax’ recombinant nanoparticle technology to
generate antigen derived from the coronavirus spike (S) protein and
contains Novavax’ patented saponin-based Matrix-M™ adjuvant to
enhance the immune response and stimulate high levels of
neutralizing antibodies. NVX-CoV2373 contains purified protein
antigen and cannot replicate, nor can it cause COVID-19. In
preclinical trials, NVX-CoV2373 demonstrated induction of
antibodies that block binding of spike protein to receptors
targeted by the virus, a critical aspect for effective vaccine
protection. In the Phase 1 portion of its Phase 1/2 clinical trial,
NVX-CoV2373 was generally well-tolerated and elicited robust
antibody responses numerically superior to that seen in human
convalescent sera. NVX-CoV2373 is also being evaluated in a Phase 3
trial in the UK and two ongoing Phase 2 studies that began in
August: a Phase 2b trial in South Africa, and a Phase 1/2
continuation in the U.S. and Australia. Novavax has secured $2
billion in funding for its global coronavirus vaccine program,
including up to $399 million in funding from the Coalition for
Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and almost $1.7 billion
from the U.S. government.
About NanoFluNanoFlu™ is a
recombinant hemagglutinin (HA) protein nanoparticle influenza
vaccine produced by Novavax in its SF9 insect cell
baculovirus system. NanoFlu uses HA amino acid protein sequences
that are the same as the recommended wild-type circulating virus HA
sequences. NanoFlu contains Novavax’ patented saponin-based
Matrix-M™ adjuvant.
About Novavax
Novavax, Inc. (Nasdaq: NVAX) is a late-stage
biotechnology company that promotes improved health globally
through the discovery, development, and commercialization of
innovative vaccines to prevent serious infectious diseases.
Novavax is currently conducting multiple clinical trials for
NVX-CoV2373, its vaccine candidate against the virus that causes
COVID-19, including a pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial in the United
Kingdom to evaluate the efficacy, safety and immunogenicity in
individuals aged 18-84 years of age. NanoFlu™, its
quadrivalent influenza nanoparticle vaccine, met all primary
objectives in its pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial in older adults.
Both candidate vaccines incorporate Novavax’ proprietary
saponin-based Matrix-M™ adjuvant to enhance the immune response and
stimulate high levels of neutralizing antibodies. Novavax is a
leading innovator of recombinant vaccines; its proprietary
recombinant technology platform combines the power and speed of
genetic engineering to efficiently produce highly immunogenic
nanoparticles in order to address urgent global health needs.
For more information, visit www.novavax.com and
connect with us on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Contacts:
Investors
Erika Trahan
ir@novavax.com
240-268-2022
Media
Brandzone/KOGS Communication
Edna Kaplan
kaplan@kogspr.com
617-974-8659
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