Medicago forms scientific council for VLP development
Medicago Inc (C:MDG)
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Tuesday March 17 2009 - News Release
Mr. Andy Sheldon reports
MEDICAGO FORMS NEW SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY COUNCIL WITH HIGHLY REGARDED EXPERTS
Medicago Inc. has formed a new scientific advisory council (SAC) to provide the company with scientific guidance on its continuing research and development of VLP vaccines. The members of Medicago's SAC are:
- Dr. Cecil Czerkinsky;
- Dr. Ronald Ellis;
- Dr. Myron Levine;
- Dr. Alf A. Lindberg;
- Dr. Eric Quemeneur;
- Dr. Pierre Tambourin;
- Dr. Louis P. Vezina;
- Dr. Brian Ward.
"We are privileged to have this accomplished group of thought leaders in the fields of immunology and vaccines join our Scientific Advisory Council," said Louis P. Vezina, Chief Scientific Officer and Vice-President of R&D of Medicago. "These advisors will provide valuable expertise and guide us in our strategic initiatives to improve and adapt our proprietary technology platforms for additional applications, such as for the production of antibodies, biosimilars and enzymes for biofuels."
Dr. Cecil Czerkinsky has served as Deputy Director-General for Laboratory Sciences at the International Vaccine Institute since 2005. He was previously Director of the Division of Mucosal Immunology and Vaccinology at INSERM (France). Dr. Czerkinsky invented the ELISPOT, a method for monitoring immune responses in humans and animals which is now used in laboratories worldwide, and has more than 130 scientific peer-reviewed publications in immunology and vaccinology. He is a co-founder of several biotechnology companies, including Maxim Pharmaceuticals Inc., a U.S. biopharmaceutical firm devoted to the development of vaccines and therapeutic drugs.
Dr. Ronald Ellis is Senior Vice President and Chief Technological Officer of NasVax. He has over 25 years of scientific and executive R&D experience for vaccines and biological products in biotechnology/pharmaceutical companies, including Merck, Astra BioChem Pharma, Shire, ID Biomedical and AVANT. He has championed or led R&D efforts on a wide range of viral and bacterial vaccines from discovery or in-licensure through development and on to product launch. These include several licensed vaccines -- those for human papilloma virus, rotavirus, varicella, hepatitis B, and Haemophilus influenzae type b. He has (co) authored over 100 publications and 35 review articles mostly in the field of vaccines, and is editor/coeditor of seven books on vaccines. He made over 100 invited presentations, chaired many sessions at international scientific conferences and served on international committees for vaccine R&D. He is founding Editor-in-Chief of the peer-reviewed indexed journal Human Vaccines launched in 2005.
Dr. Myron Levine is the Director of the Center for Vaccine Development at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. He has been a pioneer in mucosal immunization and vaccine trials in developing countries. Dr. Levine sits on the editorial board of several major research journals, is a consultant to many organizations including the World Health Organization, NIH and the U.S. Department of Defense among others. He is the recipient of many honours, including the Albert B. Sabin Gold Medal Award for lifetime achievement in the area of vaccine development and implementation, and membership in the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, USA. Dr. Levine has authored and co-authored 482 scientific articles and is senior editor of New Generation Vaccines.
Dr. Alf A. Lindberg has substantial experience in vaccines, immunotherapy and immunology. He was Chief Scientific Officer and Head of R&D at Wyeth Lederle Vaccines (USA) and Executive Vice-President of R&D at Aventis Pasteur (France). Dr. Lindberg has authored more than 300 scientific articles in microbiology, immunology and vaccines. From 1985 to 1993 he was a member of the Nobel Committee. Today he is CEO of Nobel Web AB, the official website of the Nobel Foundation, and a member of the board of Catella Health Care AB, Eurocine AB and IscoNova AB in Sweden, Lytix Biopharma AS in Norway, Pharmexa AS in Denmark and Proteome Sciences Ltd in the UK.
Dr. Eric Quemeneur is the Research Director and Head of the Biochemistry and Nuclear Toxicology Research Unit at CEA - a French government-funded technological research organisation, and Deputy-director of the Institute of Biotechnology & Environmental Biology. Dr. Quemeneur is an expert in protein research and engineering, chemistry for toxicology, radiobiology, diagnostics and biotechnologies. Dr. Quemeneur has over 70 papers in international peer-reviewed journals.
Dr. Pierre Tambourin has been Chief Executive of Genopole(R) in Evry since 1998 and is Vice-President of the world class competitiveness cluster Medicen Paris Region. He also chaired the Executive board of the Ecole Normale Superieure of Cachan. From 1993 to 1997, Pierre Tambourin managed the Life Sciences Department of the CNRS and from 1989 to 1992, the Research Department of the Institut Curie. Mr. Tambourin has also presided the Council on Education for Public Health (2003-2005) and the Scientific Council of the institute National de la Recherche (1998-2003). Over the past 20 years he has been a board member of over 25 scientific associations.
Dr. Louis P. Vezina will act as Chair of the SAC. He is a co-founder, Chief Scientific Officer of Medicago and has led the development of the Company's technological platforms since its inception. Dr Vezina has an international reputation of pioneer in the development of production systems for recombinant therapeutic and vaccinal proteins. Prior to co-founding Medicago, Dr. Vezina was a researcher at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (Sainte-Foy, Canada) for 15 years, where he gained management experience by leading research teams and serving as Departmental Head.
Dr. Brian Ward is a Professor of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology at McGill University. He is the past-Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases and currently serves as the Associate Director of the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Center (Fundamental Science). He is also Associate Directory of the McGill Center for Tropical Diseases and Director of the National Reference Center for Parasitology, an external laboratory of the National Microbiology Laboratory. Dr. Ward has served or continues to serve on a number of national and international advisory committees in the areas of vaccine development, parasitology and international health
