REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Aug 07, 2014 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- PaxVax, Inc., a specialty vaccine company focused on travel and biodefense, today announced the expansion of its global commercial team with the appointments of Jonathan Klock as Vice President of Sales and Marketing, North America; Jeremy Gowler as Vice President of Global Marketing; and five U.S. National Account Directors. They join the European and U.S.-based commercial teams who came to PaxVax in conjunction with the company's acquisition of the oral typhoid vaccine Vivotif® last month.
"We are pleased to welcome Jonathan, Jeremy and our new U.S. National Account Directors to the PaxVax team," said Kenneth Kelly, PaxVax Chief Executive Officer. "Their leadership and expertise will help us drive our global strategy and increase our ability to serve the U.S., which is the largest single market for travel vaccines."
Mr. Klock joins PaxVax from Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, where he was most recently Head of Government Affairs. Prior roles at Novartis include Executive Director of Sales and Director of Public and Private Payor Markets. Mr. Klock has also held sales and government affairs positions at MedImmune and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). In a biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry career spanning nearly 20 years, he has launched 14 new commercial products in the U.S., half of which were vaccines. Mr. Klock holds a B.S. from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.
Mr. Gowler also joins PaxVax from Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, where he was most recently Senior Director of Marketing and Head of the U.S. meningococcal franchise. During his decade with Novartis, Mr. Gowler served as Director of Medical Affairs and held commercial leadership roles working on licensed vaccine products including Menjugate® (meningococcal C disease), Menveo® (meningococcal ACWY disease), Bexsero (meningococcal B disease), Fluvirin® (Influenza), Flucelvax® (Influenza), Rabavert® (Rabies) and Ixiaro® (Japanese encephalitis). He holds a B.S. from the University of Victoria.
Each of the U.S. National Account Directors joining PaxVax, Ashley Ales-Rice, Chris Bangs, Marie Carmen, Mark Faulkner and Holly Katsaros, brings more than a decade of experience in commercial sales of vaccines and pharmaceuticals and in new product launches. With prior sales and business development roles at companies such as Novartis, GSK, Eli Lilly and McKesson, this team has extensive expertise in customer and channel development with organizations spanning pharmacy benefit management, specialized vaccine distribution, wholesalers, distributors, group purchasing organizations, retail pharmacies, integrated health networks and U.S. government agencies.
"With these new hires, we have significantly deepened our in-house expertise in developing and executing commercial strategies across the vaccine life cycle, spanning late-stage clinical trials to product launch and through maturity. This experience will be important as PaxVax expands the market for Vivotif and works to prepare for the expected approval of our cholera vaccine candidate in 2015," said Nima Farzan, PaxVax Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.
About PaxVax
Founded in 2007, PaxVax is a fully integrated specialty vaccine company with a mission to protect people from infectious diseases. The company seeks both financial returns through two specialty business strategies in travel and biodefense vaccines as well as social returns by providing access to its vaccines globally and by developing vaccines addressing some of the world's most lethal infectious diseases. The PaxVax portfolio includes a licensed vaccine for typhoid (Vivotif®), vaccines in clinical development for cholera, anthrax, HIV, and H5N1 (pandemic bird flu) and in research for malaria, dengue, rabies and HSV. PaxVax is headquartered in Redwood City, California and maintains research and development and Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) facilities in San Diego, California, USA, and its newly acquired facility near Bern, Switzerland. More information is available at www.PaxVax.com .
SOURCE: PaxVax, Inc.
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