Among the resolutions approved during the AGM were the 2019 financial statements, delegations for the management board to increase the share capital and/or to issue financial instruments, and the appointment, for a three-year term, of two new Supervisory Board members.
Ms. Johanna Willemina Pattenier, MD, PhD, based in Switzerland has a proven track record of more than 25 years in the pharmaceutical industry. She spent most of her career in vaccines leadership roles across commercial, clinical development, medical, market access functions as well as general management. Dr.Pattenier successfully led late stage development and market access programs for new vaccines, including HPV and Meningitis B. Most recently, she served as General Manager of Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics (now a GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) company) in Basel and GSK / Novartis vaccines integration lead. Prior to that, Dr. Pattenier’s international career included commercial and medical roles at GSK, Organon and Byk Gulden.
Ms. Sharon Elizabeth Tetlow, MBA, based in the U.S., has more than three decades of experience specializing in finance within the life sciences industry. Ms. Tetlow founded and serves as Managing Partner of Potrero Hill Advisors (PHA). In her role at PHA and through her career as a serial CFO, she has lead and executed successful financial strategies. Prior to PHA, Ms. Tetlow was managing director of Danforth Advisors, a similar financial advisory firm and held previous CFO/senior finance roles at Cell Genesys, Pathwork Dx, diaDexus, among others. She currently serves as Audit Committee Chair on the Board of Directors of Catalyst Biosciences (NASDAQ:CBIO) and on the board of Katherine Michiels School Project Open Mind, an education-related not-for-profit in San Francisco. Ms. Tetlow earned a B.A. from the University of Delaware and M.B.A. from Stanford University.
Alexander von Gabain, Ms. Lisa Shaw-Marotto and Ms. Sandra Poole have stepped down from Valneva’s Supervisory Board. Alexander Von Gabain will be appointed to Valneva’s Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) and will remain an observer to the Supervisory Board.
Thomas Lingelbach, CEO of Valneva commented, “We welcome Johanna and Sharon to Valneva and are thrilled to have such highly accomplished individuals aboard as our two leading programs against Lyme disease and chikungunya are approaching late stage development. We would like to thank Lisa and Sandra for their great contributions helping to shape the company´s success. Alexander´s new role will create an important link between the Scientific Advisory Board and Supervisory Board.”
Valneva also confirmed at its AGM that it expects to announce first Phase 2 results of its Lyme vaccine candidate in July 2020, initiate Phase 3 clinical studies for its chikungunya vaccine candidate in the U.S. later this year, and that preclinical activity on the SARS-COV-2 vaccine candidate is progressing. Valneva aims to initiate clinical studies for this vaccine candidate before the end of 2020, subject to successful remaining pre-clinical work and receipt of appropriate funding.
The AGM’s voting results will be made available in the “Investors & Media” section of Valneva’s corporate website in the coming days.
About Valneva SE
Valneva is a specialty vaccine company focused on prevention against diseases with major unmet needs. Valneva’s portfolio includes two commercial vaccines for travelers: IXIARO®/JESPECT® indicated for the prevention of Japanese encephalitis and DUKORAL® indicated for the prevention of cholera and, in some countries, prevention of diarrhea caused by ETEC. The Company has various vaccines in development including unique vaccines against Lyme disease and chikungunya. Valneva has operations in Austria, Sweden, the United Kingdom, France, Canada and the U.S. with over 500 employees. For more information, visit www.valneva.com and follow the company on LinkedIn.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements relating to the business of Valneva, including with respect to the progress, timing and completion of research, development and clinical trials for product candidates, the ability to manufacture, market, commercialize and achieve market acceptance for product candidates, the ability to protect intellectual property and operate the business without infringing on the intellectual property rights of others, estimates for future performance and estimates regarding anticipated operating losses, future revenues, capital requirements and needs for additional financing. In addition, even if the actual results or development of Valneva are consistent with the forward-looking statements contained in this press release, those results or developments of Valneva may not be indicative of their in the future. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by words such as “could,” “should,” “may,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “intends,” “estimates,” “aims,” “targets,” or similar words. These forward-looking statements are based largely on the current expectations of Valneva as of the date of this press release and are subject to a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievement expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. In particular, the expectations of Valneva could be affected by, among other things, uncertainties involved in the development and manufacture of vaccines, unexpected clinical trial results, unexpected regulatory actions or delays, competition in general, currency fluctuations, the impact of the global and European credit crisis, and the ability to obtain or maintain patent or other proprietary intellectual property protection. In light of these risks and uncertainties, there can be no assurance that the forward-looking statements made during this presentation will in fact be realized. Valneva is providing the information in these materials as of this press release, and disclaim any intention or obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.