Rochester, NY January 12, 2009 – Vaccinex announced today that John Leonard, Ph.D. will join the company as Senior Vice President, Development and elected Officer.
Dr. Leonard will be responsible for the strategic planning and execution of the company's therapeutic antibody development programs.
"John brings tremendous experience and capability in antibody drug development to Vaccinex. We are extremely fortunate that he will provide both an executive and a functional leadership role in advancing our drug pipeline through IND-directed development and into the clinic," said Raymond E. Watkins, Senior Vice President & Chief Operating Officer.
John has over 20 years of experience at Idec and Biogen-Idec, having held Senior Director-level positions in Regulatory Affairs, Quality, Project Management and Product Development, and Vice President-level positions in Quality, Product Development and Program Management. While at Idec, John was a key executive leader in the development of Rituxan, Zevalin and Tysabri, all highly successful therapeutic antibodies with combined global sales of over $7 billion. John is considered a distinguished authority on therapeutic antibody development, having extensive experience across numerous development programs encompassing all stages of development - from lead selection and IND-directed non-clinical studies, through clinical studies and, ultimately, FDA approval and commercialization.
About Vaccinex, Inc.
Vaccinex, Inc. is a biotechnology company engaged in the discovery and development of novel therapeutic antibodies. Utilizing its patented ActivMAb® antibody discovery technology, Vaccinex has developed the only library-based antibody discovery technology capable of directly expressing bivalent, fully human antibodies in mammalian cells. The company is building an impressive pipeline of therapeutic antibodies with the potential for effectively treating various autoimmune diseases and cancers. For additional information, please visit the company's website at www.vaccinex.com.