SutroVax Announces Executive Appointment
Jim Wassil appointed Chief Operating Officer
Foster City, CA, January 30, 2020 – SutroVax, a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to developing best-in-class conjugate vaccines and novel complex antigen-based vaccines designed to prevent serious infectious diseases, today announced the appointment of Jim Wassil, MS, MBA as Chief Operating Officer. In this role, Mr. Wassil will lead clinical development, regulatory affairs, medical affairs, quality assurance and program management activities.
Mr. Wassil brings extensive experience in the development and commercialization of vaccines having spent the past three decades in positions of increasing responsibility in the vaccine divisions of Merck, Novartis, and Pfizer. Most recently, he was responsible for market access, policy, pricing, tender negotiations, epidemiology and health outcomes as the business unit lead for Pfizer Vaccines, where he was responsible for the full vaccine portfolio, including both the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine franchise (Prevnar 13) and the meningococcal conjugate vaccine franchise (Nimenrix, Neisvac-C and Trumemba). Previously, he was responsible for the development and launch of Menveo, a meningococcal conjugate vaccine, Bexsero, and the advancement of the ABCWY vaccine candidate while at Novartis Vaccines. Prior to that, he led international marketing for the pediatric vaccine franchise at Merck Vaccines, where he launched RotaTeq, a vaccine for rotavirus gastroenteritis in infants and children, and held other technical and operational roles of increasing responsibility.
“Jim’s breadth and depth of experience in the vaccine field is exceptional. His track record of successful vaccine development and commercialization will be tremendously valuable as we advance our pneumococcal conjugate vaccine franchise, led by SVX-24, into the clinic. As the company grows and matures, his leadership and long-standing relationships throughout the vaccines industry will help us attract more great talent as we work to deliver a cache of important new vaccines,“ said Grant Pickering, CEO and Founder.
"The SutroVax plaftorm, which among other things allows for site-specific conjugation to enable broader-spectrum conjugates, offers the potential to develop a new class of vaccines to address the most important strains causing disease today, particularly for pneumococcal disease,” said Mr. Wassil. “I am fortunate to be able to join SutroVax at such an exciting time and look forward to helping advance these important public health tools."
About SutroVax
SutroVax is an independent vaccine platform and development company whose mission is to deliver best-in-class conjugate vaccines and novel complex antigen-based vaccines designed to prevent serious infectious diseases. SutroVax conjugate vaccines are developed utilizing the Company’s exclusive rights to Sutro Biopharma’s Xpress CF™ Platform, a cell-free protein synthesis technology. The platform represents a major advancement over conventional conjugate vaccine production methods, by enabling precise and consistent conjugation of antigens to site-specific locations on a protein carrier that do not impede T-cell help resulting in higher-potency conjugates. SutroVax is utilizing these advanced conjugates to develop, among other programs, a broader-spectrum pneumococcal conjugate vaccine. For more information, visit www.sutrovax.com.
Contact:
Julie Rathbun
Rathbun Communications
206-769-9219
[email protected]