INOVIO Expands Executive Leadership to Prepare for Commercial Operations

Rhea-AI Summary

INOVIO (NASDAQ: INO) has appointed four new leaders to strengthen its executive team ahead of commercial operations. Mark Twyman takes on the role of Chief Commercial Officer, Rob Crotty as General Counsel, Asli Gevgilili as Chief Human Resources Officer, and Gene Kim as Chief Corporate Affairs Officer. These appointments aim to leverage their extensive experience in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries to expedite the launch of INOVIO's DNA medicines targeting infectious diseases and cancer. The company is also advancing clinical trials for its vaccine candidates, including INO-4800 against COVID-19.

Positive

• Appointment of experienced leaders to the executive team for commercial operations.
• Mark Twyman's background in commercializing global brands strengthens INOVIO's market strategy.
• Ongoing clinical trials for INO-4800 show regulatory progress in multiple countries, enhancing growth potential.

Negative

• None.

PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa., Nov. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- INOVIO (NASDAQ: INO), a biotechnology company focused on bringing to market precisely designed DNA medicines to treat and protect people from infectious diseases, cancer, and HPV-associated diseases, today announced the strategic appointments of new leaders designed to position INOVIO for growth and upcoming commercial operations. Effective immediately, four experienced and talented leaders will all join the executive team and report to INOVIO's President and CEO, Dr. J. Joseph Kim.

Dr. Kim said, "These leaders, all with global experience, bring world-class talent to our executive management team as we move towards commercial operations. Their contributions and leadership will help the company deliver on its mission to rapidly bring to market innovative, life-saving DNA medicines."

Mark Twyman is appointed to the newly created Chief Commercial Officer role. Mark joined INOVIO in 2017 to drive the company's global commercialization efforts. Prior to joining INOVIO, Mark held various VP and SVP level commercial roles with Novavax, Sanofi-Genzyme, GI Dynamics, LENSAR, MedImmune, and Merck; as well as senior advisory roles to pharmaceutical and biotech organizations. He played a leadership role in commercializing multiple global brands including: Recombivax HB^® Ped/Adol, Gardisil^®, Varivax^®, ProQuad®, Synvisc-One^®, and LENSAR-AR^®. Mark brings over 30 years of senior commercial leadership experience to this newly created role. Mark holds an MBA in Finance from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and a BA in Economics from Dickinson College.

Rob Crotty joins INOVIO as its new General Counsel. Rob brings more than 15 years' experience in the life sciences industry. Prior to joining INOVIO, Rob held legal positions of increasing responsibilities at ImClone Systems Incorporated, NPS Pharmaceuticals, Dendron Corporation, Vernalis Therapeutics, and most recently, Nabriva Therapeutics where he served as General Counsel & Secretary. Before going in-house, Rob was an associate at the global law firm of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, where his practice was focused on business and finance. Rob holds a JD from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and a BA from Princeton University. He is admitted to practice law in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

Asli Gevgilili is appointed as INOVIO's Chief Human Resources Officer. She will be responsible for the strategy, planning, and implementation of all human resource-related functions. Asli joins INOVIO from Allergan (acquired by AbbVie), where she spent nearly 10 years in HR leadership roles of increasing responsibility; prior to Allergan, she spent eight years at Merck and Schering Plough, where she held HR Business Partner roles supporting different business functions. She holds a master's degree in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from New York University and has completed graduate work at Baruch College towards her Ph.D. in Industrial and Organizational Psychology. She earned her BA in Psychology from Boğaziçi University in Istanbul.

Gene Kim is appointed to the newly created position of Chief Corporate Affairs Officer and will continue in his role as President of INOVIO Asia. Gene joined INOVIO as the President of INOVIO Asia in 2020. In his new role, Gene will oversee all communications functions for INOVIO, including investor and public relations. Gene brings more than 20 years of experience in finance and corporate strategy. Prior to joining INOVIO, in his last three roles as CFO of public and private companies in Korea, Gene had strong investor relations experiences where he built high-performing investor relations teams, improved company presence among investors and increased analyst coverage by securities firms. Gene holds an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles.

About INOVIO

INOVIO is a biotechnology company focused on rapidly bringing to market precisely designed DNA medicines to treat and protect people from infectious diseases, cancer, and diseases associated with HPV. INOVIO is the first company to have clinically demonstrated that a DNA medicine can be delivered directly into cells in the body via a proprietary smart device to produce a robust and tolerable immune response. Specifically, INOVIO's lead therapeutic candidate VGX-3100 met primary and secondary endpoints for all evaluable subjects in REVEAL 1, the first of two, Phase 3 trials for precancerous cervical dysplasia, demonstrating ability to destroy and clear both high-grade cervical lesions and the underlying high-risk HPV-16/18. INOVIO is also evaluating INO-4800, a DNA vaccine candidate against COVID-19, in a Phase 2/3 clinical trial; the Phase 3 segment of which has received regulatory approvals to begin in Colombia, Mexico, Brazil, Philippines, and India. INOVIO's partners, Advaccine Biopharmaceuticals and International Vaccine Institute, are also evaluating INO-4800 in ongoing clinical trials in China and South Korea, respectively.

Partners and collaborators include Advaccine, ApolloBio Corporation, AstraZeneca, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency/Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense/Department of Defense, HIV Vaccines Trial Network, International Vaccine Institute, Kaneka Eurogentec, Medical CBRN Defense Consortium, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Ology Bioservices, the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, Plumbline Life Sciences, Regeneron, Richter-Helm BioLogics, Thermo Fisher Scientific, University of Pennsylvania, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, and The Wistar Institute. For more information, visit www.inovio.com.

CONTACTS:
Media: Jeff Richardson, 267-440-4211, jrichardson@inovio.com
Investors: Ben Matone, 484-362-0076, ben.matone@inovio.com

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements relating to our business, including our plans to develop and commercialize DNA medicines, our expectations regarding our research and development programs, including the planned initiation and conduct of pre-clinical studies and clinical trials and the availability and timing of data from those studies and trials, our ability to successfully manufacture and produce large quantities of our product candidates if they receive regulatory approval and planned collaborations with third parties. Actual events or results may differ from the expectations set forth herein as a result of a number of factors, including uncertainties inherent in pre-clinical studies, clinical trials, product development programs and commercialization activities and outcomes, our ability to secure sufficient manufacturing capacity to mass produce our product candidates, the availability of funding to support continuing research and studies in an effort to prove safety and efficacy of electroporation technology as a delivery mechanism or develop viable DNA medicines, our ability to support our pipeline of DNA medicine products, the ability of our collaborators to attain development and commercial milestones for products we license and product sales that will enable us to receive future payments and royalties, the adequacy of our capital resources, the availability or potential availability of alternative therapies or treatments for the conditions targeted by us or collaborators, including alternatives that may be more efficacious or cost effective than any therapy or treatment that we and our collaborators hope to develop, issues involving product liability, issues involving patents and whether they or licenses to them will provide us with meaningful protection from others using the covered technologies, whether such proprietary rights are enforceable or defensible or infringe or allegedly infringe on rights of others or can withstand claims of invalidity and whether we can finance or devote other significant resources that may be necessary to prosecute, protect or defend them, the level of corporate expenditures, assessments of our technology by potential corporate or other partners or collaborators, capital market conditions, the impact of government healthcare proposals and other factors set forth in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 , our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2021 and other filings we make from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. There can be no assurance that any product candidate in our pipeline will be successfully developed, manufactured, or commercialized, that results of clinical trials will be supportive of regulatory approvals required to market products, or that any of the forward-looking information provided herein will be proven accurate. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this release, and we undertake no obligation to update or revise these statements, except as may be required by law.

 

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SOURCE INOVIO Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

FAQ

What leadership changes did INOVIO announce on November 5, 2021?

INOVIO announced the appointment of four new leaders to enhance its executive team, including Mark Twyman as Chief Commercial Officer and Rob Crotty as General Counsel.

How does the new executive leadership benefit INOVIO?

The new leadership brings extensive experience in the biotech and pharmaceutical sectors, which is expected to expedite the company's commercial operations and enhance its market strategies.

What is the significance of INO-4800 in INOVIO's pipeline?

INO-4800 is a DNA vaccine candidate against COVID-19 currently in Phase 2/3 clinical trials, with regulatory approvals to begin Phase 3 in several countries.

What are the primary focuses of INOVIO as a biotechnology company?

INOVIO focuses on developing DNA medicines targeting infectious diseases, cancer, and HPV-associated diseases, leveraging its proprietary delivery technology.