SpyBiotech Appoints Dr. Prakash Bhuyan as Chief Medical Officer
August 12 2024 - 6:00AM
Business Wire
SpyBiotech, a biotechnology company with a novel vaccine
platform technology that can target infectious diseases, cancer,
and chronic diseases, has appointed Dr. Prakash Bhuyan as Chief
Medical Officer.
Dr. Bhuyan is an infectious disease specialist with over 20
years of experience in academia and industry. Most recently,
Prakash was Chief Medical Officer at Aerium. Before Aerium, he
served as the Head of Clinical Development for Vaccines and Immune
Therapies at AstraZeneca, organizing and managing the teams that
developed COVID solutions (Vaxzevria™ and Evusheld™), as well as
RSV and influenza-focused products. Previously, he was the Senior
Vice President, Clinical Development, at Inovio Pharmaceuticals
leading the product development of a novel HPV therapeutic into
Phase 3, achieving pivotal trial success.
Prakash held vaccines and biologics leadership roles at Pfizer
and Merck which resulted, respectively, in Trumenba™ becoming the
first vaccine licensed in the US for the prevention of
Meningococcal B disease and Vaxelis™, a pediatric hexavalent
vaccine that makes complete childhood vaccination achievable,
moving into Phase 3 development with subsequent US and EU
licensures. Prakash earned an MD and PhD in Immunology from the
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, a Specialization
in Internal Medicine from Emory University, and a
Sub-specialization in Infectious Disease from the University of
Pennsylvania.
“This is a pivotal time to join the talented team at
SpyBiotech,” said Dr. Prakash Bhuyan. “The research collaboration
with the University of Oxford, the fundamental progress of the
Phase I HCMV vaccine trial, and the growth of the company have
positioned SpyBiotech to take on the most challenging unmet medical
needs.”
“We are delighted to welcome Prakash to the SpyBiotech team. He
brings an incredible depth of expertise in infectious diseases to
our leadership team, and his success in helping to bring multiple
products to market will serve SpyBiotech well as we move further
into the clinic,” said Mark Leuchtenberger, Chief Executive
Officer.
About SpyBiotech
SpyBiotech is a clinical stage biotechnology company with novel
vaccine platform technologies to target infectious diseases, cancer
and chronic diseases. The company was spun out of the University of
Oxford in 2017 by Oxford Science Enterprises (OSE) and Google
Ventures (GV). The company raised $32.5 million in a Series A
equity financing in 2021. Based on science developed at the
University of Oxford, SpyBiotech’s novel vaccine platform is based
on a proprietary protein “superglue” technology which binds
antigens to vaccine delivery platforms in a way which minimizes
delivery risk and enhances immunogenicity and efficacy. This makes
it ideal for use against infectious diseases in challenging
environments, such as in the developing world, but also with
potential application in non-infectious disease settings such as
cancer. SpyBiotech has the exclusive rights from the University of
Oxford to apply, commercialize and sub-license the
SpyTag/SpyCatcher and related “superglue” technologies in vaccine
development.
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