SAN FRANCISCO, May 15, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (Nasdaq: VIR) today announced the appointment of Jeff Calcagno, M.D., as Executive Vice President and Chief Business Officer. Dr. Calcagno will be responsible for leading the Company’s business development efforts, optimizing existing alliances and establishing new strategic industry and public-private partnerships. He reports to Vir’s Chief Executive Officer Marianne De Backer, M.Sc., Ph.D., MBA, and joins Vir’s executive management team.
“I am delighted to have the opportunity to work with Jeff again. He brings decades of international healthcare leadership experience to Vir, as well as a track record of accelerating innovative therapeutics designed to ensure better patient care,” said Dr. De Backer. “His business acumen and scientific grounding as a practicing physician will be critical to this role as we work to expand the impact and influence of Vir.”
Dr. Calcagno joins Vir from Johnson & Johnson (J&J), where he spent more than 12 years holding leadership roles of increasing responsibility within all three divisions of J&J Innovation (JJI), including as Global Transactions Lead for Infectious Diseases & Vaccines and as Head of JLABS Bay Area. He was also instrumental in establishing JJI’s Western North America Innovation Center. Prior to J&J, Dr. Calcagno served as a Principal and Kauffman Fellow at Scale Venture Partners; Chief Business Officer and Chief Financial Officer at a venture-backed therapeutics company; a research analyst at Hambrecht & Quist; and a management consultant at McKinsey & Company.
“I am excited to join a company with such a strong mission and to be working with Marianne again as she leads Vir in its next phase of scientific and commercial growth,” said Dr. Calcagno. “I have evaluated hundreds of life sciences companies throughout my career, and Vir is a clear stand-out for its innovative science, exceptional leadership and a culture that is forward-looking, inclusive and committed to addressing the unmet needs of patients around the world.”
Dr. Calcagno earned an A.B. in biology from Harvard University and an M.D. from Harvard Medical School, where he was a Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholar. He completed an internship, residency, chief residency and clinical pharmacology fellowship at the University of California, Los Angeles, and remains a licensed physician. Throughout his career, he has served on the boards of more than a dozen life sciences companies.
About Vir Biotechnology
Vir Biotechnology is a commercial-stage immunology company focused on combining immunologic insights with cutting-edge technologies to treat and prevent serious infectious diseases. Vir has assembled four technology platforms that are designed to stimulate and enhance the immune system by exploiting critical observations of natural immune processes. Its current development pipeline consists of product candidates targeting COVID-19, hepatitis B and D viruses, influenza A and human immunodeficiency virus. Vir routinely posts information that may be important to investors on its website.
Forward-Looking Statements
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