FOSTER CITY, Calif., Sept. 20, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vaxcyte, Inc. (Nasdaq: PCVX), a next-generation vaccine company seeking to improve global health by developing superior and novel vaccines designed to prevent or treat some of the most common and deadly infectious diseases worldwide, today announced it has appointed Annie Drapeau and Teri Loxam to its board of directors. In connection with these appointments, longtime board members Patrick Heron and Rob Hopfner have stepped down from the board.
“We are pleased to welcome Annie and Teri, two accomplished leaders with broad experience in the biopharmaceutical and technology industries, to our board of directors,” said Grant Pickering, Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder of Vaxcyte. “As Vaxcyte continues to advance our lead program, VAX-24, a 24-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine candidate, toward clinical proof-of-concept, we will benefit from the additional skills and expertise that Annie and Teri will bring to our board.”
Mr. Pickering added, “I also would like to thank Patrick and Rob of Frazier Healthcare Partners and Pivotal bioVenture Partners, respectively, for their support and service on our board. Both have made significant contributions that extend far beyond co-leading one of our early financings that helped put Vaxcyte on track to where it is today.”
“This is an exciting time for Vaxcyte as the organization continues to scale and advance its vaccine pipeline,” said Ms. Drapeau. “Having spent my career scaling high-growth organizations, such as Moderna and Toast, I am pleased to join the Vaxcyte board and contribute my experience to this transformative vaccine company.”
Ms. Loxam added, “At a time when vaccines have never been more important, I am delighted to join the Vaxcyte board to help the company achieve its mission to deliver the next generation of vaccines for some of the most common and deadly infectious disease worldwide.”
About Ms. Drapeau
Ms. Drapeau is the Chief People Officer at Toast, the end-to-end platform built for restaurants. With over 25 years of human resources, strategy and finance experience, she was previously the Chief People Officer at Moderna, helping to scale the business as it expanded into multiple clinical-stage programs across a range of modalities. Ms. Drapeau also served as an Operating Partner at Bain Capital, helping to drive talent strategies across the private equity portfolio. She also served as Chief People Officer at Iron Mountain, VistaPrint and Digitas, and started her career in finance roles at JP Morgan and PepsiCo. Ms. Drapeau has a B.A. from Bucknell University, where she serves on the Board of Trustees, and an MBA from the Tuck School at Dartmouth College.
About Ms. Loxam
Ms. Loxam is currently SQZ Biotechnologies’ Chief Financial Officer, overseeing the company’s financial operations including financial strategy, accounting, financial planning and analysis, risk management, tax and treasury as well as overseeing the investor relations and communications/public relations functions. Since joining SQZ Biotechnologies in August 2019, she has helped raise over $200 million for the company, including the company’s initial public offering in November 2020. Before joining SQZ Biotechnologies, Ms. Loxam served as Senior Vice President of Investor Relations and Global Communications at Merck. In this role, she led internal and external communications efforts globally, which included Merck’s portfolio of therapeutics and vaccines. Previously, she was Vice President, Investor Relations for IMAX Corporation, where she helped lead the company’s IPO on the Hong Kong Exchange. Ms. Loxam also spent over a decade at Bristol-Myers Squibb in a variety of roles of increasing responsibility across strategy, treasury and investor relations. She has a B.S. in Biology from the University of Victoria, B.C. Canada and an MBA from the University of California, Irvine.
About Vaxcyte
Vaxcyte is a next-generation vaccine company seeking to improve global health by developing superior and novel vaccines designed to prevent or treat some of the most common and deadly infectious diseases worldwide. The Company’s cell-free protein synthesis platform, comprising the XpressCF™ platform, exclusively licensed from Sutro Biopharma, Inc., together with Vaxcyte’s proprietary know-how, enables the design and production of protein carriers and antigens, the critical building blocks of vaccines, in ways that the Company believes conventional vaccine technologies currently cannot. Vaxcyte’s lead vaccine candidate, VAX-24, is a preclinical, 24-valent broad-spectrum pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) being developed for the prevention of invasive pneumococcal disease. Vaxcyte’s pipeline also includes VAX-XP, a PCV with an expanded breadth of coverage of at least 30 strains; VAX-A1, a prophylactic vaccine candidate designed to prevent Group A Strep infections; and VAX-PG, a therapeutic vaccine candidate designed to slow or stop the progression of periodontal disease by targeting the keystone pathogen responsible for this chronic, oral inflammatory disease. For more information, visit www.vaxcyte.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements related to the benefit of Vaxcyte’s vaccine candidates; the process and timing of anticipated future development of Vaxcyte’s vaccine candidates; and other statements that are not historical fact. The words “believe,” “could,” “expect,” “may,” “potential,” “should,” “would” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. These forward-looking statements are based on Vaxcyte’s current expectations and actual results and timing of events could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements as a result of risks and uncertainties, including, without limitation, risks related to Vaxcyte’s product development programs, including development timelines, success and timing of chemistry, manufacturing and controls and related manufacturing activities, potential delays or inability to obtain and maintain required regulatory approvals for its vaccine candidates, and the risks and uncertainties inherent with preclinical and clinical development processes; the success, cost and timing of all development activities and clinical trials; and sufficiency of cash and other funding to support Vaxcyte’s development programs and other operating expenses. These and other risks are described more fully in Vaxcyte’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the SEC on August 11, 2021 or in other documents Vaxcyte subsequently files with or furnishes to the SEC. Vaxcyte undertakes no duty or obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this release as a result of new information, future events or changes in its expectations. Readers should not rely upon the information in this press release as current or accurate after its publication date.
Contacts:
Andrew Guggenhime, President and Chief Financial Officer
Vaxcyte, Inc.
650-837-0111
investors@vaxcyte.com
Janet Graesser, Vice President, Corporate Communications and Investor Relations
Vaxcyte, Inc.
917-685-8799
media@vaxcyte.com
