SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.,
Sept. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/
-- Vaxart, Inc. (NASDAQ: VXRT), today announced the
appointment of James F. Cummings,
M.D., as the Company's Chief Medical Officer (CMO). Dr. Cummings is
a Board-Certified Infectious Diseases Physician with extensive
experience in vaccine, drug and diagnostics development. He joins
Vaxart as the Company prepares to begin its Phase II clinical
trials for COVID-19 with an oral tablet formulation.
"We are excited to have a professional of Dr. Cummings' caliber
join Vaxart at this pivotal time to advance our COVID-19 and
norovirus vaccine late-stage clinical programs and guide our
growing portfolio of oral vaccine candidates," said Vaxart Chief
Executive Officer, Andrei Floroiu.
"As we develop innovative solutions to benefit global public health
through oral tablet vaccines, his clinical trial experience,
expertise in vaccine development, and robust industry network will
help Vaxart achieve our strategic objectives."
"Vaxart's oral vaccine tablet could transform preventative
medicine and allow us to protect more people," said Dr. Cummings.
"Bringing Vaxart's potentially game-changing tablet vaccine to
market will make it easier to vaccinate the global population as we
continue our fight against COVID-19 and other potentially deadly
diseases including norovirus and flu. I am grateful for the chance
to be a part of this dynamic team and join their mission to improve
human health through preventative medicines."
Dr. Cummings brings a 26-year career in the U.S. Army serving as
Director of the Department of Defense's Global Emerging Infectious
Surveillance and Response System (GEIS), with Biosurveillance
Laboratories in 71 countries, Director of Translational Medicine
& Regulated Activities for the Walter Reed Army Institute of
Research (WRAIR), and Consultant to the Surgeon General for all
medical research and development. Before joining Vaxart, Dr.
Cummings served as President, Government and Public Health
Solutions at Icon GPHS, the federal business unit of Icon PLC, a
leading global Contract Research Organization (CRO), and Vice
President of Clinical Development and Translational Medicine at
Novavax. He joined Vaxart earlier this month.
About Vaxart
Vaxart is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing a
range of oral recombinant vaccines based on its proprietary
delivery platform. Vaxart vaccines are designed to be administered
using tablets that can be stored and shipped without refrigeration
and eliminate the risk of needle-stick injury. Vaxart believes that
its proprietary tablet vaccine delivery platform is suitable to
deliver recombinant vaccines, positioning the company to develop
oral versions of currently marketed vaccines and to design
recombinant vaccines for new indications. Vaxart's development
programs currently include tablet vaccines designed to protect
against coronavirus, norovirus, seasonal influenza, and respiratory
syncytial virus (RSV), as well as a therapeutic vaccine for human
papillomavirus (HPV), Vaxart's first immune-oncology indication.
Vaxart has filed broad domestic and international patent
applications covering its proprietary technology and creations for
oral vaccination using adenovirus and TLR3 agonists.
Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements that
involve substantial risks and uncertainties. All statements, other
than statements of historical facts, included in this press release
regarding Vaxart's strategy, prospects, plans and objectives,
results from pre-clinical and clinical trials, commercialization
agreements and licenses, and beliefs and expectations of management
are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements
may be accompanied by such words as "should," "believe," "could,"
"potential," "will," "expected," "plan," and other words and terms
of similar meaning. Examples of such statements include, but are
not limited to, statements relating to the receipt by Vaxart's
ability to develop and commercialize its product candidates,
including its vaccine booster products; Vaxart's expectations
regarding clinical results and trial data; and Vaxart's
expectations with respect to the effectiveness of its product
candidates. Vaxart may not actually achieve the plans, carry out
the intentions, or meet the expectations or projections disclosed
in the forward-looking statements, and you should not place undue
reliance on these forward-looking statements. Actual results or
events could differ materially from the plans, intentions,
expectations, and projections disclosed in the forward-looking
statements. Various important factors could cause actual results or
events to differ materially from the forward-looking statements
that Vaxart makes, including uncertainties inherent in research and
development, including the ability to meet anticipated clinical
endpoints, commencement, and/or completion dates for clinical
trials, regulatory submission dates, regulatory approval dates,
and/or launch dates, as well as the possibility of unfavorable new
clinical data and further analyses of existing clinical data; the
risk that clinical trial data are subject to differing
interpretations and assessments by regulatory authorities; whether
regulatory authorities will be satisfied with the design of and
results from the clinical studies; decisions by regulatory
authorities impacting labeling, manufacturing processes, and safety
that could affect the availability or commercial potential of any
product candidate, including the possibility that Vaxart's product
candidates may not be approved by the FDA or non-U.S. regulatory
authorities; that, even if approved by the FDA or non-U.S.
regulatory authorities, Vaxart's product candidates may not achieve
broad market acceptance; that a Vaxart collaborator may not attain
development and commercial milestones; that Vaxart or its partners
may experience manufacturing issues and delays due to events
within, or outside of, Vaxart's or its partners' control;
difficulties in production, particularly in scaling up initial
production, including difficulties with production costs and
yields, quality control, including stability of the product
candidate and quality assurance testing, shortages of qualified
personnel or key raw materials, and compliance with strictly
enforced federal, state, and foreign regulations; that Vaxart may
not be able to obtain, maintain, and enforce necessary patent and
other intellectual property protection; that Vaxart's capital
resources may be inadequate; Vaxart's ability to resolve pending
legal matters; Vaxart's ability to obtain sufficient capital to
fund its operations on terms acceptable to Vaxart, if at all; the
impact of government healthcare proposals and policies; competitive
factors; and other risks described in the "Risk Factors" sections
of Vaxart's Quarterly and Annual Reports filed with the SEC. Vaxart
does not assume any obligation to update any forward-looking
statements, except as required by law.
Contacts
Vaxart Media
Relations:
|
Investor
Relations:
|
Mark Herr
|
IR@Vaxart.com
|
Vaxart,
Inc.
|
|
mherr@vaxart.com
|
|
(203)
517-8957
|
|
View original content to download
multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/vaxart-appoints-dr-james-f-cummings-as-chief-medical-officer-301385279.html
SOURCE Vaxart, Inc.