Danilo Casimiro | Chief Science Officer, Vaccine R&D
Sanofi

As Chief Science Officer and Global Head, External Scientific Affairs for Sanofi Vaccines, Dr. Casimiro is responsible for several external-facing functions of the Vaccines R&D unit, including teams for search-and-evaluation of vaccine candidates and vaccine innovations, scientific network development & partnerships, and external financing.  More recently, he contributed to several business development projects including the acquisitions of Translate Bio/USA and ORIGIMM/Austria.  He has over 25 years of experience in research and development of vaccines and biologics in both pharmaceutical and non-profit sectors.  Prior to joining Sanofi in November 2017, he was the Chief Scientific Officer at Aeras, a non-profit tuberculosis vaccine R&D organization funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. During his 19 years at the Merck Research Laboratories, Danilo contributed to the licensure of Merck’s human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines, and the development of novel vaccine candidates and antibodies against multiple viral pathogens and novel immunotherapeutic approaches against cancer and neurodegenerative diseases.  He also served on several advisory committees such as BMGF-NIH Clinical AIDS Vaccine Development Program, USAID Malaria Vaccine Development Program, and the WHO/MPP mRNA Scientific Advisory Board. He received his B.S. in chemistry from the University of the Philippines, and his Ph.D. degree in chemistry/biochemistry and post-doctoral training from the California Institute of Technology and the Scripps Research Institute-La Jolla, respectively.