PaxVax is a vaccine start-up company developing candidate oral vaccines for influenza, and key infectious diseases.
PaxVax has developed a proprietary oral vaccine technology based on a common virus called adenovirus. The technology removes the delivery hurdles of traditional injectable vaccines, namely the need for cold storage, needles, and administration by medical personnel.
PaxVax has raised more than $50 million from investors including Ignition Partners and the Wellcome Trust, and is supported by grants from the U.S. National Institutes of
Health (NIH) through the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and its Division of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (DAIDS), as well as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Mr. Kelley co-founded PaxVax in early 2007 and serves as the Companys Chief Executive Officer and Executive Chairman. Mr. Kelley brings to PaxVax thirty years of experience in biotechnology (IntraBiotics, Integrated Genetics), venture capital (K2 BioVentures, Latterell Venture Partners, Institutional Venture Partners), and strategic management (McKinsey & Company). During his career, Mr. Kelley has funded 36 early stage biotechnology and medical device companies, fifteen of which became public. As founder/CEO and Chairman of IntraBiotics Pharmaceuticals, Inc., he raised over $200M and took the company public in 2000 (NASDAQ: IBPI). Mr. Kelley also serves as Chairman of the Board for Halozyme (NASDAQ: HALO) and Fluxion Biosystems. Mr. Kelley earned an M.B.A. from Stanford University and a B.A. in Biochemical Sciences from Harvard University.
Mr. Farzan joined PaxVax in September of 2011 as EVP and Chief Operating Officer. Nima joined PaxVax from Novartis AG where he spent over seven years in a number of positions of increasing responsibility including pharmaceutical marketing, sales and development in both global and US positions. Most recently, he had been the Vice President of Marketing for Novartis Vaccines USA where he was responsible for marketing, market access, pricing and key account sales and helped launch multiple new vaccines. Prior to Novartis, Nima worked at DoubleTwist, Inc. a genomics company and was a consultant at The Boston Consulting Group. He has his MBA from Harvard Business School and an undergraduate degree in Human Biology from Stanford University
Dr. Monath has devoted his nearly 30-year career to the fight against infectious disease through his work in the military, corporate, academic and investment sectors. In addition to his role at PaxVax, Dr. Monath is a Partner in the Pandemic and Biodefense Fund at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. He is also Adjunct Professor at Harvard School of Public Health. From 1992 to 2006, Dr. Monath was Chief Scientific Officer and Executive Director at Acambis, a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company, where he pioneered the development of ChimeriVax vaccines against dengue, West Nile, Japanese encephalitis, as well as vaccines against yellow fever, Clostridium difficile, Helicobacter pylori and smallpox. In 1992, Dr. Monath retired as a U.S. Army colonel following 24 years in the uniformed services.
Dr. Gurwith has served as Chief Medical Officer at PaxVax since 2007. During his thirty years in industry at major pharmaceutical companies (Boehringer Mannheim, Wyeth-Ayerst) and biotechnology companies (VaxGen, Genelabs, and Sequus), Dr. Gurwith has directed the clinical development of 20 therapeutic drug candidates in the areas of infectious diseases, cardiovascular, cancer, inflammation, and metabolic disorders. He played a pivotal role in the regulatory submissions in the U.S. and Europe, ultimately securing the approval of four new agents: RotaShield (vaccine), Amphocil (antibiotic), Demadex (antihypertensive), and Retavase (cardiovascular). Dr. Gurwith has authored 95 publications and served as a reviewer for several prestigious peer-reviewed journals; such as The Journal of Infectious Diseases and The Journal of American Medical Association. Dr. Gurwith has an M.D. from Harvard University, Board certifications in internal medicine, infectious diseases and microbiology, and a J.
Mr. Shabram joined PaxVax as Vice President, Operations in July 2007 where he has established a manufacturing facility fully compliant with Good Manufacturing Procedures (cGMP) and oversees the development of all manufacturing processes from initial vaccine vector to finished product. throughout his career he has implemented novel manufacturing processes in both the large pharma (Schering-Plough) and biotech organizations (Chiron, Cytel, Canji, Arizeke, Ventana). He has contributed to the CMC sections of fifteen INDs and produced multiple products for nine clinical trials, one of which, Regranx, was ultimately approved for treatment of diabetic ulcers. Mr. Shabram is a globally recognized expert in adenovirus production technologies. He holds a B.A. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of California, Santa Cruz, CA as well as an M.B.A. from the University of Phoenix, and has been a major contributor on sixteen publications.
Howard B. Rosen is currently a consultant to several companies in the industry and a lecturer in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Stanford University. He previously served as Vice President, Commercial Strategy, at Gilead Sciences, Inc., where he was responsible for strategic marketing, global brand management, health economics, competitive intelligence, market research and Gilead’s overall portfolio and business planning. Prior to Gilead, Mr. Rosen spent more than 10 years in various roles at ALZA Corporation, an operating company within the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies, most recently as President of the ALZA division of Johnson & Johnson. During his tenure at ALZA, he was responsible for product development activities, portfolio management, corporate and new product planning, mergers and acquisitions, R&D planning and technology ventures.
Prior to ALZA, Mr. Rosen managed the west coast practice of Integral, Inc.
Dr. Smith is a pioneer in the development of novel vaccines and vaccine vector systems derived from RNA viruses with more than 25 years of experience in virology, infectious diseases, immunology, and vaccine development. He joined PaxVax from Liquidia, where he was the companys Chief Scientific Officer, responsible for overseeing research and development programs applying the companys novel nanoparticle technology to vaccines and other applications. Prior to joining Liquidia in 2010, Dr. Smith was a co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of AlphaVax, a biotechnology company focused on developing RNA replicon vaccines for infectious diseases, biodefense, and cancer. Prior to his 10 years at AlphaVax, Dr. Smith was a faculty member in the Department of Microbiology at the University of Maryland Medical School and Chief of Viral Biology at the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases. Dr. Smith received his B.A. from Colby College and his Ph.D.
VP Project Management at PaxVax