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Speakers 
 Dr Else Marie Agger,
Project manager, Adjuvant Research, Department of Infectious Disease Immunology,
Statens Serum Institut
Else Marie Agger. The Department of Infectious Disease Immunology, Adjuvant Research, Statens Serum Institut, Denmark. Tel.: +45 32683941/+45 32683480. E-mail: eag@ssi.dk
Dr. Else Marie Agger is project manager of Adjuvant Research in the Department of Infectious Disease Immunology, Statens Serum Institut (SSI). She has worked with pre-clinical assessment of subunit vaccines with a special emphasis on the adjuvant component and has extensive experience within a number of adjuvants, in particularly with adjuvants based on cationic liposomes being developed by SSI. Currently, she is involved in the coordination of a workpackage within an EU-funded project dealing with vaccine optimisation for a subunit vaccine against tuberculosis. In addition, as work-package leader within an EU-funded project focused on improved vaccination strategy against influenza she has experience with adjuvantation of influenza vaccines.
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 Dr Sefik Alkan,
Executive Vice President,
Alba Therapeutics
Dr. Sefik Alkan is an accomplished scientific executive with over twenty-five years of leadership in drug discovery and management with top pharmacuetical companies. His experience ranges from immunology, inflammation, autoimmune diseases, allergy and asthma to oncology. Prior to joining Alba, Dr. Alkan headed the Immunology Department at 3M Corporation’s Pharmaceutical Division, focusing on research efforts in Toll-Like Receptor (TLR) agonists as vaccine adjuvants and in tumor therapy. From 1998 to 2003, Dr. Alkan headed Hoechst Marion Roussel’s (now Sanofi-Aventis) Biochemistry and Immunology department. From 1980 to 1998, Dr. Alkan worked for Novartis Pharma AG (formerly Ciba-Geigy) in Basel, Switzerland leading drug discovery efforts focused on type I/II interferons, monoclonal antibodies and transcriptional regulation of Th1/Th2 cytokines in roles of increasing responsibility. Before joining the pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Alkan spent 3 years at the renowned Basel Institute of Immunology, Switzerland, studying the molecular mechanisms of the interactions between APC, T-helper cells and B cells.
Dr. Alkan was a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Microbiology at the University of California, San Francisco and holds a Ph.D. in Immunology and Microbiology and a B.S. degree in Health Sciences from the University of Hacettepe, Ankara, Turkey. Sefik Alkan has published 75 original research articles, 16 review articles and book chapters, and has been awarded 23 patents. Dr. Alkan is frequently invited as a speaker at international scientific meetings.
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 Professor Jeffrey Almond,
Vice President, Research and External Research and Development,
sanofi pasteur
Jeffrey Almond is Vice President, Discovery Research and External R&D at sanofi pasteur, the largest manufacturer of human vaccines. Prior to joining the Company in 1999, he was Professor of Microbiology at the University of Reading, UK, and held external offices including Chairman of the Virology Division of the International Union of Microbiological Societies, International Secretary for the Society of General Microbiology and Member of the UK Government’s Spongiform Encephalopathies Advisory Committee.
He has published numerous articles in the field of Microbiology especially on influenza and picornaviruses.
In his present role, he leads discovery research at sanofi pasteur and is responsible for identifying and managing external collaborations relevant to vaccine R&D.
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 Dr Eliav Barr,
Head of Biological Clinical Research,
Merck & Co
Dr. Barr is currently an Executive Director in Biologics Clinical Research at Merck Research Laboratories in West Point, PA USA. He received his medical degree from the Jefferson Medical College in 1986 (summa cum laude) and completed an Internal Medicine residency a Cardiology Fellowship at Johns Hopkins in 1990. Thereafter, he pursued a post-doctoral training at the University of Michigan. Dr. Barr joined Merck in 1995. In 1998, Dr. Barr became the head of the HPV vaccine clinical program. He developed the clinical/regulatory strategy for the program; designed and managed 17 clinical studies that have enrolled over 30,000 subjects worldwide; developed a program to evaluate the economic impact and long-term efficacy of the HPV vaccine using the centralized healthcare databases in Northern European countries, and oversaw analyses of key clinical studies. The program resulted in the first demonstration of prophylactic efficacy for a vaccine targeting HPV (Koutsky et al. N Engl J Med 2002;347: 1645-51), and the first demonstration that prophylactic administration of a vaccine targeting HPV 6, 11, 16, and 18 is highly effective in reducing cervical, vulvar, and vaginal cancer risk and genital wart rates caused by these types. The vaccine that was evaluated in these studies (GARDASIL®, Merck & Co., Inc.) has been licensed in over 40 countries, including the United States, the European Union, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Mexico, and Taiwan. His research is now focusing on evaluating the long-term impact of HPV vaccination on the overall population risk for cervical and other genital cancers, and their precursors, as well as the efficacy of the vaccine in men.
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Dr Frank Bedu-Addo,
President and Chief Executive Officer,
PDS Biotechnology
Dr. Bedu-Addo is the President and Chief Executive Officer of PDS Biotechnology Corporation. Prior to PDS Biotechnology Corporation, Dr. Bedu-Addo was on the executive management team KBI BioPharma (Durham, NC) as the Vice President of Drug Development. He was responsible for initiating and overseeing all drug and business development operations. Prior to KBI BioPharma, he also successfully started and headed up Cardinal Health’s (Somerset, NJ & RTP, NC) east coast biotechnology drug development operations. Dr. Bedu-Addo has developed over 15 drug products including leading cancer, antiviral drugs and vaccines at various clinical stages. He has worked on leading products such as Abelcet® and Peg-Intron®. He also performed pioneering work on the Stealth® Liposome Technology. He was involved with drug formulation, scale-up and process development at companies such as Schering-Plough, Elan (Formerly the Liposome Co.) and Akzo-Nobel. He has been invited world-wide to speak on various biotechnology drug development topics and has also acted as a consultant to several drug companies. Dr. Bedu-Addo has a BS and MS in Chemical Engineering, and PhD in Pharmaceutics. He obtained both his MS and PhD from the University of Pittsburgh.
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 Dr Jean-Yves Bonnefoy,
Vice President of Research and Development,
Transgene
Dr. Jean-Yves BONNEFOY was appointed Vice President, Research in February 2005 and Vice President, Research and Development in March 2006 in charge of Research, Clinical Development, Regulatory Affairs and Intellectual Property. Prior to joining Transgene, he was Head of the Canceropôle Lyon Rhônes-Alpes. From 1997 to 2002, he was Director of the Immunology Center of the Pierre Fabre Group in Saint-Julien en Genevois, France. He previously was responsible for the Immunology Department of the Biomedical Research Institute of the Glaxo-Wellcome Group in Geneva, Switzerland. Jean-Yves Bonnefoy holds a PhD in immunology from the Lyons Claude Bernard University and has completed the Senior Management Program of the London Business School.
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 Dr Vincent Brichard,
Vice President, Specific Cancer Immunotherapy,
GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals
Doctor Vincent Brichard is Vice President, Head of Cancer Immunotherapeutics Program at GSK Biologicals in Rixensart, Belgium.
Vincent studied Medicine at the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium. In 1990, he joined the Brussels branch of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research where he studied the immunogenicity of cancer cells and was part of the group that identified the first tumor-specific antigens. He gained his PhD at the Catholic University of Louvain in 1996 and then had clinical trainings in Internal Medicine, Oncology, at the Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc in Brussels, Belgium and at the Oncology Department of the Institute Curie in Paris, France.
After a few years as Medical Oncologist at the Oncology Department of the Institute Curie in Paris, France and at the Oncology Unit of Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc in Brussels, Belgium, Vincent joined GSK Biologicals in 2002 to lead the Cancer Immunotherapeutics research. Thanks to his expertise in clinical oncology and his knowledge of fundamental cancer biology, Vincent is showing the way to a group of ~70 people fully dedicated to the development of new approaches to cancer treatment.
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Mr Denis Cavert,
Vice President, Sales & Marketing, Europe,
Baxter Vaccines
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 Dr Jacques Cholat,
President,
sanofi pasteur International
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 Dr Angus Dalgleish,
Foundation Chair in Clinical Oncology and Research Director,
St. George's Hospital Medical School and Onyvax
Angus Dalgleish was appointed to the Foundation Chair in Oncology at St. George’s Hospital Medical School in 1991. He is the Founding Director of Onyvax, a cancer vaccine company since 1998, where he is currently Research Director.
His main interests include the optimisation of adjuvant and cell-based vaccines for solid tumours, immunostimulatory and anti-angiogenic small molecules and the pathogenesis of AIDs. He is on the Scientific Advisory Board of Progenics, Celgene and Onyvax.
He has edited five books and authored over two hundred and sixty original papers, as well as appearing in, and consulting to, programmes on HIV and cancer for Horizon, Discovery, etc.
He obtained his MB BS with an intercalated BSc and MD from the University of London. He is a Fellow of The Royal College of Physicians of the U.K. and Australia, Royal College of Pathologists and The Academy of Medical Scientists.
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 Dr Peter Dull,
Head of Department, Meningococcal Conjugate Vaccines,
Vaccines & Diagnostics
Peter Dull MD is the Head of Development of Meningococcal Conjugate Vaccines at Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics where he leads clinical development activities and regulatory strategies for the MenACWY and Menjugate vaccine programmes. He is also the Head of Epidemiology, providing epidemiological support for Novartis vaccine development programmes. He joined Chiron Vaccines (now Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics) in 2004 and is currently based in Siena, Italy. He completed his Internal Medicine training at Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland, OR, USA after attending medical school at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. After training as an Epidemic Intelligence Officer in the Meningitis and Special Pathogens Branch at CDC in Atlanta, GA, he trained in his Infectious Diseases Subspecialty at Emory University in Atlanta, GA. His research at CDC has included investigations of the anthrax bioterrorist attacks, immune response to inhalational and cutaneous anthrax and surveillance post-9/11 World Trade Center attacks in 2001. His CDC work also included outbreak investigations of meningococcal meningitis and epizootic anthrax in the USA and Africa, and molecular diagnostics of bacterial meningitis.
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 Dr Ronald Ellis,
Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer,
NasVax
Dr. Ronald Ellis has 25 years of vaccine R&D experience in biotechnology / pharmaceutical companies. He has championed or led R&D efforts on a wide range of viral and bacterial vaccines from discovery or in-licensure through development and to product licensure and launch. These include several licensed vaccines -- those for human papilloma virus, rotavirus, varicella, hepatitis B, and Haemophilus influenzae type b. He is (co)author of over 100 publications and 35 review articles mostly in the field of vaccines, and is editor/coeditor of 7 books on vaccines. He has made over 100 invited presentations, chaired many sessions at international scientific conferences and venues, and served on international committees for vaccine R&D. He is Editor-in-Chief of the peer-reviewed indexed journal Human Vaccines (http://www.landesbioscience.com/journals/vaccines), launched in 2005.
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Dr Niels Emmerich,
Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer,
Immatics Biotechnologies
Niels Emmerich studied molecular biology at Brown University (Providence/Rhode Island) and University of Tuebingen (Tuebingen/Germany), where he got his Ph.D. in Immunology from the Department of Immunology (Prof. Rammensee). During this time, he authored several scientific publications in leading journals of the field. He was particularly interested in the mechanisms underlying protein degradation and antigen processing in human cells.
Following his scientific career, Niels Emmerich worked as a consultant to the pharmaceutical and biotech industry for McKinsey & Company in Europe and the U.S.A.
In 2000, Niels Emmerich co-founded immatics, together with his colleagues Hans-Georg Rammensee, Hansjoerg Schild, Toni Weinschenk and Harpreet Singh. In 2004, immatics secured one of the largest 1st financing rounds for a life science start-up from Germany. In 2007, immatics closed the largest series B financing round (€ 40 m) since the hay-days of early 2001. The company won the 2004 CyberOne Award, was named one of Europe’s Top-100 private companies (Red Herring European Top-100 Private Companies 2005) and was recently selected as the only European life science company among the 2007 “Fierce-15”-companies.
Together with the other managing founder of immatics, Harpreet Singh (CSO), Niels Emmerich today leads the company immatics. As the company’s Chief Operating Officer (COO), Niels Emmerich focuses specifically on all areas relating to intellectual property, licensing and business development.
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Dr Raafat Fahim,
Senior Vice President, Manufacturing Operations,
Nabi Biopharmaceuticals
Dr. Fahim is Senior Vice President, Research, Technical and Manufacturing Operations of Nabi Biopharmaceuticals, serving in this capacity since May 2003. Dr. Fahim served as Vice President of Vaccine Manufacturing Operations upon joining Nabi Biopharmaceuticals in March 2003. He is responsible for research and development, product development, corporate quality, late process development, quality control and the manufacturing operations of the biopharmaceuticals products and vaccines. His career includes 14 years with Aventis Pasteur from 1987 to 2001, where he was instrumental in developing several vaccines from early research to marketed products. During his tenure there, he held the positions of Vice President, Industrial Operations; Vice President, Development, Quality Operations and Manufacturing; Director of Product Development; and head of bacterial vaccines research/research scientist. During the year prior to joining Nabi Biopharmaceuticals, Dr. Fahim was an independent consultant, working with Aventis Pasteur and other companies worldwide on projects that included manufacturing, process improvement, quality operations and regulatory issues. From 2001 to 2002, he served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Lorus Therapeutics, Inc., a Toronto-based biopharmaceutical company focused on the research and development of cancer therapies.
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Dr Bernard Fritzell,
Vice President of International Scientific and Clinical Affairs,
Wyeth Lederle Vaccines
University of Bordeaux, FRA:
*Medical Doctor (1980)
*Diploma in Tropical Diseases (1980)
*Diploma in Health and Development (1980)
University Pierre & Marie Curie, Paris VI, FRA:
*Diploma in Statistics applied to Epidemiology (1982)
*Diploma in Statistics applied to Clinical Research (1983)
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Dr Vera Goossens,
Director Lab Services,
Algonomics
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 Mr Michel Greco,
Independent Vaccine Expert,
Independant Vaccine Expert
Michel Greco has had a long and successful career in the industry, both in pharmaceuticals first, with the former Rhone-Poulenc Group, and in the vaccine area for the last 15 years. From 1988 to 1993, through successive mergers and acquisitions, he had senior management responsibilities at Institut Mérieux, then Pasteur Mérieux Connaught. From 1994 to 1998, he was President and CEO of Pasteur Mérieux MSD (a European joint venture between Pasteur Mérieux and Merck). Since 1998 and until the beginning of 2003, he was President and COO, then Deputy CEO and member of the Board of Aventis Pasteur. Michel Greco is presently member of the Board of a number of biotechnology companies and of non-profit international institutions.
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 Dr Luc Hessel,
Executive Director, Medical and Public Affairs, Europe,
sanofi pasteur MSD
Dr Luc Hessel is Executive Director, Medical and Public Affairs, Europe, at Sanofi Pasteur MSD, the European Joint Venture between sanofi pasteur and Merck & Co., leading companies in vaccines and biotechnology products.
From 1986, he worked at sanofi pasteur in clinical research and development of new vaccines and other biopharmaceuticals. He then served as Director of Medical Affairs and Head of the Pharmacovigilance Department between 1992 and 1996. From 1997 to 2001, Dr. Hessel had responsibility for managing the medical function at Sanofi Pasteur MSD, and coordinating the company’s medical and clinical activities. Since April 2002 he has been in charge of medical and public affairs, covering a broad range of activities, including medical expertise for online, new vaccines and relationship with governments and international institutions.
Dr. Hessel is currently chairman of the Influenza Pandemic Working Group of the European Vaccine Manufacturers (EVM) a specialised group within the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industry Associations (EFPIA), and is member of the Biologicals and Vaccines Committee of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Associations (IFPMA), where he chairs the Influenza Vaccine Supply International Task Force. He has recently been appointed as Chairman of the Human Vaccine Committee of the International Association for Biologicals (IABS).
Dr. Hessel graduated in medicine from the University of Bordeaux in 1976. His professional background includes 13 years of clinical and academic activities in Internal Medicine and Public Health at the University Hospital in Limoges, France.
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Professor Darren Higgins,
Associate Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics and Scientific Co-founder,
Harvard Medical School and Genocea Biosciences
Dr. Higgins is an Associate Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics at Harvard Medical School and the Scientific Co-founder of Genocea Biosciences. Genocea was founded in 2006 to commercialize key breakthroughs in vaccine discovery and development. Dr. Higgins’ laboratory at Harvard is currently focused on understanding fundamental host-pathogen interactions that lead to virulence and the development of protective immunity to intracellular bacterial pathogens. Darren has published in Science, Nature, and Nature Biotechnology. He is also inventor on several patents. Darren serves as a member of Genocea's Scientific Advisory Board, is an Editorial Board Member of the Journal of Bacteriology and Infection and Immunity, and has recently led projects on antigen delivery for the New England Regional Center of Excellence for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases. Darren holds a Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Michigan Medical School and performed his postdoctoral work at the University of California at Berkeley prior to joining the faculty at Harvard Medical School in 1999.
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Didier Hoch,
President, Sanofi Pasteur MSD and President, European Vaccine Manufacturers,
Sanofi pasteur MSD
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David Kaslow,
Vice President, Infectious Diseases and Vaccines Franchise,
Merck Research Laboratories
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 Dr George Kemble,
Vice President of Research & Development,
MedImmune
George Kemble was promoted to vice president of research and development and general manager of MedImmune Vaccines, Inc’s California site in August 2004. After working as a staff scientist and senior scientist, Dr. Kemble was promoted to director of research in 1999, and senior director in 2002. Over the past 11 years at MedImmune, he has led several programs including one aimed at developing a vaccine to prevent mental retardation and hearing loss in newborns caused by cytomegalovirus. As principle investigator, Dr. Kemble obtained approximately $1 million in funding through Small Business Innovation Research grants from the National Institutes of Health to conduct this program. Dr. Kemble also continues to lead the research program aimed at understanding the basic mechanisms of attenuation and immunogenicity for MedImmune’s FluMist® vaccine.
Dr. Kemble received his B.S. in biology from the University of Santa Clara, his doctorate degree from the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Stanford University, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco in virology and the mechanisms that allow influenza virus entry into cells. Dr. Kemble has
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 Dr Markus Mandler,
Head of Neurodegeneration Department,
AFFiRiS
Dr. Markus Mandler did his PhD-Thesis at Boehringer Ingelheim´s Institute of Molecular Pathology in Vienna and received his PhD from the University of Vienna in 2003. As a molecular biologist by training he has extensive experience in academic reasearch and biotechnology industry and his work lead to numerous publications in high impact journals as well as to authorship of several patents and patent applications.
Dr. Mandler joined AFFiRiS in March 2004 and currently heads the Neurodegeneration department of AFFiRiS. He is responsible for the preclinical development and evaluation of immunotherapies for the treatment of Neurogenerative diseases and his main focus is currently set on the development of new vaccination strategies to treat Alzheimer´s disease, the most common form of Dementia in humans.
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 Mr Jacques-Francois Martin,
President and CEO,
Parteurop
Jacques-François Martin has spent the essence of his career in the pharmaceutical, biological and life sciences industries.
From 1970 until 1976, he was the Chief Executive Officer of Rhône-Poulenc Pharma in Hamburg, Germany. Martin then returned to France to join the Institut Mérieux as Vice President of sales and marketing, where he largely contributed to the international expansion of Mérieux. He was named the company’s Chief Executive Officer in 1988, and successfully negotiated with the government of Canada to acquire Connaught Laboratories.
In 1991, Martin set up Parteurop S.A, a biotech consulting company based in Lyon, France. At Parteurop, Martin as Chairman and CEO, helps establish start-up companies by leveraging innovation from French and foreign institutions.
From 1996 to 1998, Martin was the Chief Executive Officer of the Fondation Jean Dausset – Centre d’Etudes du Polymorphisme Humain, a private foundation dedicated to genomics research.
From September 1996 to September 1999, he was a member of the Board of INSERM (Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, the French National Institute of Health).
From 1994 to 1997, Martin served as the Chairman of the Biologicals Committee of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Associations. As such, he was a member of the Scientific Advisory Group of Experts of WHO (SAGE).
From November 1997 to June 2003 he was a member of the Board of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI).
From 2000 to January 2005, Martin held the position of President of The Vaccine Fund. He lead the Fund’s efforts to provide lifesaving vaccines and other immunization program support to low-income countries. In this capacity, he was also a member of the Board of GAVI (Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization).
He is member of the Board of several life sciences companies. Martin holds a Master’s in Business Administration from the Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales.
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 Dr Eduardo Bruno Martins,
Vice President, Clinical Development,
Dynavax Technologies
Dr. Martins joined Dynavax in March 2006 as Vice President, Clinical Development. Eduardo came to us from InterMune, where he was Vice President, Medical Affairs. From 1999 to 2005, Dr. Martins was Vice President, Medical Affairs and Medical Director at SciClone Pharmaceuticals, where he also served as Medical Consultant from 1997 to 1999. Prior to SciClone, he held various positions at the University Hospital, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, including Associate Professor of Internal Medicine and Associate Director of Postgraduate Courses in Gastroenterology from 1995 to 1999. He also served from 1991 to 1995 as Hon. Clinical Assistant in the Department of Gastroenterology, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, United Kingdom. He received a Ph.D. in Medicine - Immunology of Liver Diseases from the University of Oxford in 1995 and an M.D. from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro in 1986.
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Mr. Ajit Nair,
Head - Global Business, Business development,
VINS Bioproducts Ltd
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 Dr Ole Olesen,
Scientific Officer, DG Research,
European Commission
Ole Olesen is scientific officer in the Directorate for Health within the European Commission's Directorate-General for Research. The Directorate for Health works jointly with the 27 EU member states to develop health research strategies for the European Union, while it also provides funding to collaborative research projects within Europe and beyond. His focus is vaccine research for poverty-related and neglected infectious diseases. This includes identification and follow-up on research investments in the area, as well as infrastructure issues related to public-private partnerships, industry involvement, biotech incentives, IPR and capacity building. Coming from a position as assistant professor in academia, he joined the Danish pharmaceutical company Lundbeck A/S in 1993. He subsequently held a post as global project director in Ferring Pharmaceuticals A/S (Copenhagen, DK) with specific responsibilities for vaccine development and peptide-based products. Ole Olesen is a scientist by training with a PhD in Molecular Biology, and also holds an MBA in International Management. He was educated at the Universities of Aarhus, Denmark and Cambridge in the UK, as well as Copenhagen Business School.
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 Dr Helene Pora,
Vaccine Application Development Director,
Pall Life Sciences
Dr Hélène Pora is Vaccine Application Development director with Pall LIfe Sciences , where she has the worldwide responsibility for the development of improved separation and purification solutions for the vaccine and gene therapy market. She is also heavily involved in the development of improved single use technologies and related scale-up aspects. Hélène has more than 20 years of experience working for the pharmaceutical and the separation industries, the last 15 years with Pall Corporation. She holds an Engineering Degree in Biochemistry (with Molecular Biology) from the Institut National Agronomique (France) and a PhD in Biochemistry ( on protein engineering and purification) from the University of Orsay (France). Hélène Speaks regularly at conferences about improved separation technologies for the biotechnology and biopharmaceutical industry.
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Richard Rainey,
Chief Executive Officer,
AVAX Technologies
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 Dr G S Reddy,
Chief General Manager,
Indian Immunologicals
Dr.G.S.Reddy is the General Manager (Manufacturing) of Human Biologicals Institute, a Division of Indian Immunologicals Limited, a major veterinary and human vaccines manufacturer in India. He obtained basic degree in Veterinary medicine in 1981 from Andhra Pradesh Agricultural University, Hyderabad.
He has 22 years of experience in industry, developing veterinary and human biologicals. Experience encompasses Quality, Research and Development, Manufacturing and regulatory affairs. He is heading the team which is involved in manufacturing of recombinant hepatitis B, Measles, DPT, TT, DT and DPTH vaccines. He worked on collaborative vaccine development projects with Georg August University, Gottingen, Germany and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, USA. He is co-author of patent on DNA Rabies vaccine. He has published 40 scientific papers in various journals.
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 Jean-Marc Renard,
Vice President, Corporate Development,
sanofi pasteur
Jean-Marc Renard is Vice President, Corporate Development at sanofi pasteur. He has worked for more than 20 years in the sanofi-aventis group, where he has held positions in different parts of the organization such as scientist at Roussel-Uclaf SA, Finance Director of Roussel-Uclaf Hong-Kong Ltd, Managing Director of Roussel-Uclaf China Ltd, Managing Director of Hoechst-Marion-Roussel Hong-Kong Ltd, Senior Director Strategic Projects for Aventis, Inc., before joining the vaccine side of the business. Prior to joining the sanofi-aventis group he was a scientist at Biogen, SA in Geneva and visiting scientist at MIT in Boston. Jean-Marc Renard holds an MS degree from Institut National Agronomique with specialty in Applied Biochemistry and an MBA from INSEAD.
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 James Robinson,
VP of Technical and Quality Operations,
Novavax
Jim Robinson is Vice President of Technical and Quality Operations at Novavax, Inc. The role includes process development, analytical development, clinical production, manufacturing, and quality operations. Jim joined Novavax after more than 20 years at Sanofi Pasteur, a division of Sanofi Aventis Group, where he served as Vice President of Industrial Operations. In this capacity, Jim was responsible for all aspects of Sanofi's Swiftwater, Pennsylvania site's sterile manufacturing operations including quality control, production planning, engineering, warehousing and strategic planning. Jim oversaw a combined group of 1,000 employees and in eight years at the facility increased production of various products by up to three-fold through improved processes and facility utilization. Jim was involved with the production of approximately ½ billion doses of influenza vaccine.
Jim began his career at G.D. Searle & Co. as a pilot plant manager in the company's NutraSweet Division. He is a graduate of Lehigh University, where he earned with both bachelor's and master's degrees in chemical engineering.
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 Dr Alain Rolland,
Sr. VP, Product Development,
Vical Incorporated
Alain Rolland, Pharm.D., Ph.D.
Senior Vice President, Product Development
Vical Incorporated, San Diego, CA, USA
Alain Rolland is Senior Vice President, Product Development at Vical, Inc. He is responsible for several disciplines including Pharmaceutics, Preclinical Safety and Efficacy, Immunogen Discovery, Assay Development, Quality Control and Quality Assurance, as well as Project Planning and Management. Prior to joining Vical in 2002, he was Senior Vice President, Preclinical Research & Development, and Head of The Woodlands Center at Valentis, Inc., a publicly traded biopharmaceutical delivery company formed in 1999 through the merger of GENEMEDICINE (The Woodlands, Texas), Megabios (Burlingame, California) and PolyMASC (London, UK). At Valentis, he was responsible for the company’s preclinical R&D program to identify and develop gene therapy and PEGylated product candidates. From June 1993 to March 1999 he was first Director of Gene Delivery and then Vice President of Research at GENEMEDICINE. From 1989 to 1993, Dr. Rolland was Head, Formulation Research at the R&D Center of Galderma International (CIRD) in France. From 1987 to 1988, he was a scientist at the Advanced Drug Delivery Research Center of Ciba Geigy Pharmaceuticals in the UK. In these different strategic and operational roles, he has contributed to creating technologies and products that have reached clinical development for the treatment of cancer, cardiovascular and infectious diseases, as well as neuromuscular and pulmonary disorders.
Dr. Rolland received his Pharm.D. (1981) and D.E.A. degree in Pharmacokinetics and Biopharmaceutics (1983) from Rennes University (France). He obtained his Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences in 1987 from Rennes University after inventing, characterizing and developing novel polymeric nanoparticles for targeting anticancer drugs to the liver that were evaluated in a Phase I/II clinical trial for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma. He has published over 60 scientific articles and book chapters, edited three scientific books and he is the recipient of numerous awards. He is a member of several scientific societies, including the American Controlled Release Society, the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists, and the American Society of Gene Therapy. He is also the Editor-in-Chief of Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology and an Editorial Board member of the Journal of Controlled Release. He holds more than 20 patents in the field of advanced drug delivery systems, drug/gene targeting and formulation.
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 Dr John Rothman,
Vice President, Clinical Development,
Advaxis
Dr. John Rothman studied at the Department of Pharmacology at the Tulane University School of Medicine in the laboratory of Dr. Louis Ignarro (Nobel Prize; Medicine, 1998) and did his dissertation work at the New Orleans V.A. Hospital laboratory of Dr. Andrew Schally (Nobel Prize; Medicine, 1977). Dr. Rothman was a member of the first clinical group to develop genetically recombinant pharmaceutical agents and test them in human disease that was conducted by Schering Pharmaceuticals using Biogen’s a-interferon. In this capacity he was responsible for the first clinical trial in the disease which would become called AIDS when he oversaw a research network in Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York investigating the use of interferon in this disease. Dr. Rothman then became a senior scientist at Hoffmann-LaRoche working with recombinant agents provided by Genentech. In this capacity Dr. Rothman’s supervised the clinical submission of the first FDA application and approval for interferon in the treatment of Kaposi’s sarcoma, based upon research he conducted in AIDS for Roche. He has developed many different pharmaceutical agents in many disciplines including infectious disease, gastroenterology, neurology, oncology and virology. After eventually holding positions as Director of a variety of different clinical sections including: Infectious Disease, Gastroenterology, Neurology, then Director of Clinical Drug Development, and Sr. Director of all of Roche’s data collection, analysis, and report writing he has been VP of Health Learning Systems, a medical marketing firm, and recently was awarded a citation from the US Government for purchasing an Ohio hospital moving it to Ibadan Nigeria. He is currently VP of a Advaxis Inc, a biotech company that is using engineered, Listeria monocytogenes as a live vaccine for the treatment of various cancers. In February 2007 R&D Directions listed Dr. Rothman as one of the 20 notable people in R&D.
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 Dr Rahul Singhvi,
Chief Executive Officer,
Novavax
Dr. Rahul Singhvi was appointed President and CEO of Novavax in August, 2005. He joined the Company in April, 2004 as Vice President, Pharmaceutical Development and Manufacturing Operations and was appointed Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer in April, 2005. He is charged with restructuring the company to focus on its core competency of new product development and innovation and drive shareholder value. Prior to joining Novavax, Dr. Singhvi spent 10 years with Merck & Co, most recently serving as Director of Vaccine and Sterile Operations in the Merck Manufacturing Division. In this position Dr. Singhvi was responsible for operating a manufacturing unit producing a new biological product and initiating the start up of a second biological product manufacturing unit. In addition to his functional expertise within process development and manufacturing, Dr. Singhvi was a recognized leader within Merck & Co., Inc. for the depth and breadth of his expertise, and led several cross-functional teams responsible for technology transfer and development of new products
Dr. Singhvi holds several patents in the area of cell culturing systems and has co-authored numerous publications, book chapters, and abstracts on biochemical engineering and cell physiology.
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 Dr Justin Stebbing,
Consultant Medical Oncologist / Senior Lecturer,
The Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust
Dr Justin Stebbing is a member of the Royal College of Physicians, American Board of Internal Medicine and the Royal College of Pathologists. Originally Justin trained in medicine at Trinity College Oxford, obtaining a triple first class degree. After completion of junior doctor posts in Oxford, he undertook a residency (junior doctor) training at The Johns Hopkins Hospital (he is board certified in the US), before returning to London to continue his training in oncology at The Royal Marsden. Justin then undertook a PhD, funded by the medical research council, investigating the interplay between the immune system and cancer. Specifically, the role of heat shock proteins in tumorigenesis was examined helping in the development of a cancer vaccine that is currently in clinical trials. Justin has published over 200 papers and book chapters, in journals such as the Lancet, New England Journal, Blood, the Journal of Clinical Oncology and Annals of Internal Medicine, the majority as first or last author. They mainly focus on early and late stage trials of new drugs, mechanisms of disease, and prognostic indicators. He is on the editorial board of a number of journals and regularly serves as a referee. Justin's main focus is now in breast cancer, and helping patients with early and late stage disease get better.
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 Dr Erich Tauber,
Vice President, Product Development and Medical Affairs,
Intercell
Erich Tauber is responsible for Product Development and Medical Affairs for Intercell. In his role he oversees functions including clinical development, Project Management and Regulatory Affairs. Before joining Intercell he had various responsibilities with Baxter and AstraZeneca. Erich Tauber have been trained as pediatrician at the Universities of Vienna and Southampton.
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 Mr Marcel Thalen,
Strategic Officer,
Synco Bio Partners BV
Marcel Thalen, is currently employed by SynCo Bio Partners as Scientific Officer since 2004, working in Business Development. Currently at SynCo, Marcel is responsible for managing a number of key client projects as well as advising on new production technologies. Marcel's main area of expertise is in upstream processing, focusing on the production of a wide range of bacteria for use in clinical trials. This requires an in-depth knowledge of the special metabolic requirements of a range of micro organisms and the ability to apply this knowledge to a GMP production environment.
SynCo offers process development, GMP production as well as fill finish & lyophilisation capabilities. Prior to SynCo, Marcel worked for the Netherlands Vaccine Institute for 14 years in several positions, the last position being head of the Process Development department.
Presentation topic: Production of live, lyophilized bacteria.
An increasing number of biotechnological products consist of attenuated, recombinant or wild type bacteria. SynCo has developed processes for the cultivation, harvest and lyophilization of live bacteria. The market for live attenuated bacteria is expanding, but the production of live, lyophilized bacteria requires a specific multidisciplinary set of knowledge in order to operate in this market. The presentation addresses some of the typical problems encountered during the fermentation, harvest and lyophilization of the organism of interest.
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 Dr. Frederic Triebel,
Scientific and Medical Director,
Immutep S.A.
Pr. Frédéric TRIEBEL is a founder and the Scientific and Medical Director of Immutep S.A.. He received his M.D. degree in 1981, was trained as a clinical haematologist and obtained his Ph.D. in Immunology in 1986. He was nominated Professor in Immunology in 1990 at the Paris-Sud University and worked for 16 years at Institut Gustave Roussy (IGR) where he conducted basic science and clinical research. He discovered the LAG-3 gene in 1990 and continued working on this research program since then, identifying the functions and medical usefulness of this molecule in the field of therapeutic vaccines. He was Director of an INSERM Unit from 1991 to 1996 at IGR and successfully developed several research programs in immunogenetics, leading to 125 publications.
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 Dr David Urdal,
Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer,
Dendreon Corporation
Dr. Urdal has been Chief Scientific Officer and a Director of Dendreon Corporation since he joined the company in July of 1995. Dendreon (Nasdaq: DNDN) has been dedicated to targeting cancer and transforming lives through the discovery and development of novel products like Provenge®, an active immunotherapy for prostate cancer that has shown promise in Phase III clinical trials.
From 1982 to 1995, he held various positions with Immunex Corporation, including President of Immunex Manufacturing Corporation, Vice President and Director of Development, and Head of the Departments of Biochemistry and Membrane Biochemistry. At Immunex he participated in the discovery, development and commercialization of hematopoietic growth factors, cytokines and cytokine receptor drugs, like Leukine® and Enbrel®. Dr. Urdal received an M.S. in Public Health and a Ph.D. in Biochemical Oncology from the University of Washington. He is inventor on 16 patents and author on 79 publications.
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 Dr Frans van den Boom,
European Director,
The International AIDS Vaccine Inititative
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Dr Pierre Vandepapelière,
Director, Early Clinical Research and Development,
GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals
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 Dr Simonetta Viviani,
Head Vaccine Development - Meningitis Vaccine Project (MVP),
PATH Europe
Simonetta Viviani, MD, is native of Italy. Since March 2005, she is in charge of the vaccine development activities of the Meningitis Vaccine Project (MVP). The Meningitis Vaccine Project (MVP) is a partnership between the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH). Created in 2001 with core funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, its goal is to eliminate epidemic meningitis as a public health problem in Sub-Saharan Africa, Dr Viviani has experience in teaching on topics such as epidemiology, public health, infectious disease and vaccine development with particular focus in developing countries. She is also interested in the quality of the research performed within and outside the classical university circle. She serves as advisor for the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), Lyon, France and, occasionally, for the Initiative for Vaccine Research Department at WHO, Geneva. She is a member of the International Association of Epidemiology and the New York Academy of Science. She has published several articles in the field of epidemiology, public health and vaccinology.
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 Dr Florence Wu,
Director of Operations, Frederick Site,
Invitrogen
Dr. Wu is currently a Director of Process Development where she oversees cell line development, upstream and downstream development, and scale-up and technology transfer of cell culture products including antibodies, recombinant proteins, and viral vector and vaccine products. Dr. Wu received her PhD in chemical engineering from the University of Minnesota, with a focus on bioreactor design and development for applications in cell culture and tissue engineering.
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James Young,
President of Research and Development,
MedImmune
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