- Appointments Strengthen Development Management Team and Augment
Medical Affairs Expertise -
GAITHERSBURG, Md., Dec. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- MedImmune, Inc.
(Nasdaq: MEDI) announced today the appointment of four vice presidents,
including the promotion of three employees to newly created leadership posts
within the development organization and one new hire within the medical
organization. The company has promoted Cynthia N. Oliver, Ph.D., to vice
president, process biochemistry and formulation sciences; Kripa Ram, Ph.D., to
vice president, bioprocess and manufacturing sciences; and Mark A. Schenerman,
Ph.D., to vice president, analytical biochemistry. MedImmune has also hired
Jessie R. Groothuis, M.D., as vice president and head, medical and scientific
affairs, infectious disease.
"Advancing a robust pipeline of potential therapies for the treatment of
infectious diseases, cancer and inflammatory diseases requires tremendous
support from the development organization, and the promotions of Cindy, Kripa
and Mark signify the increasingly integral role of that group while
recognizing the outstanding contributions each has made to date," said David
M. Mott, MedImmune's president and chief executive officer. "The fact that we
have three highly qualified development team members to assume these new
leadership roles speaks to the overall depth of talent and experience at
MedImmune, which is further augmented by the addition of Jessie Groothuis, who
brings to medical affairs vast expertise in pediatric infectious diseases,
vaccines and monoclonal antibodies (MAbs)."
Development Promotions
MedImmune's development organization oversees all cell culture and
purification process development, clinical manufacturing, analytical methods
development and quality control for investigational products. The three new
vice presidents report to Gail Folena-Wasserman, Ph.D., senior vice president,
development.
Dr. Cynthia Oliver, vice president, process biochemistry and formulation
sciences, is responsible for formulation development and purification for
preclinical and clinical products. She is also charged with ensuring that
formulation development and purification processes optimized at laboratory
volume are scaled-up and the technology is transferred to clinical and
commercial manufacturing groups, as well as providing ongoing technical
support of commercial products. Since Dr. Oliver joined MedImmune in 1993, the
process biochemistry department has grown from three to 45 scientists and
expanded to include formulation development. She most recently served as
senior director, process biochemistry. Previously she worked in biochemical
process research and development at Merck and was a staff fellow and later an
arthritis investigator at the National Institutes of Health's National Heart,
Lung and Blood Institute. Dr. Oliver has also held a fellowship at Johns
Hopkins University and authored more than 40 publications. She earned her
bachelor's degree from Connecticut College, a master's degree from the
University of Massachusetts and a doctorate from Johns Hopkins University.
As vice president, bioprocess and manufacturing sciences, Dr. Kripa Ram
leads a team of more than 80 scientists in cell culture development and
manufacture of clinical products. He has direct responsibility for cell line,
cell culture medium and cell culture process development for preclinical and
clinical products, as well as process scale-up, technology transfer to
clinical and commercial manufacturing, manufacture of clinical trial material
and ongoing cell culture development support. He was previously senior
director of cell culture, fermentation and manufacturing sciences. Prior to
joining MedImmune in 2004, Dr. Ram held a series of positions of increasing
responsibility at Merck, Glaxo SmithKline and Biogen Idec. In these roles, he
focused on process development, technology transfer, scale-up and licensure of
biological products including vaccines, fusion proteins and MAbs. Dr. Ram
holds a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering and a doctorate in
biochemical engineering from Rutgers University.
Dr. Mark Schenerman, vice president, analytical biochemistry, is
responsible for structural and biological characterization of preclinical and
clinical products, stability and release testing for clinical products,
technology transfer to quality control and ongoing product development
support. Since joining MedImmune in 1994, Dr. Schenerman has played an
integral role in developing the company's analytical biochemistry function and
currently leads a team of more than 60 scientists supporting all stages of
product development. He most recently served as senior director, analytical
biochemistry. Prior to joining the company, Dr. Schenerman held positions in
biologics development and research and development at Bristol-Myers Squibb
Company and as a post-doctoral associate at Cornell University. He earned his
bachelor's degree in medical technology at the University of Maryland and his
doctorate in biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Florida.
New Medical Affairs Appointment
Dr. Jessie Groothuis has joined MedImmune as vice president and head,
medical and scientific affairs, infectious disease, reporting to Frank J.
Malinoski, M.D., Ph.D, senior vice president, medical and scientific affairs.
In this role, she leads MedImmune's infectious disease and vaccines group
within medical affairs, charged with providing medical support for the
company's commercial and pipeline products to health care providers and
consumers. Dr. Groothuis' responsibilities include directing the development
and implementation of late-stage clinical programs and educational materials
for MedImmune's marketed infectious disease products, including Synagis(R)
(palivizumab) and FluMist(R) (Influenza Virus Vaccine Live, Intranasal). She
also directs the company's team of field-based medical affairs personnel. Dr.
Groothuis brings to MedImmune more than 30 years' experience in pediatric
infectious diseases, vaccines and antibodies and was a pioneer in early
respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) research. Most recently vice president,
clinical affairs at Hollis-Eden Pharmaceuticals, Inc., she previously held
positions of increasing responsibility at Abbott Laboratories and was a
professor with tenure at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and the
Children's Hospital Department of Pediatrics. Dr. Groothuis holds a bachelor's
degree from Stanford University and a medical degree from the University of
Chicago. She is named as an author of six books and more than 60 peer-reviewed
publications.
About MedImmune, Inc.
MedImmune strives to provide better medicines to patients, new medical
options for physicians, rewarding careers to employees, and increased value to
shareholders. Dedicated to advancing science and medicine to help people live
better lives, the company is focused on the areas of infectious diseases,
cancer and inflammatory diseases. With more than 2,500 employees worldwide,
MedImmune is headquartered in Maryland. For more information, visit the
company's website at http://www.medimmune.com.
This announcement contains, in addition to historical information, certain
"forward-looking statements" regarding MedImmune's long-term, strategic
objectives. Such forward-looking statements are based on current expectations
and involve inherent risks and uncertainties, including factors that could
delay, divert or change current expectations and could cause actual outcomes
and results to differ materially from current expectations. In addition to
risks and uncertainties discussed in MedImmune's filings with the U.S.
Securities and Exchange Commission, no assurance exists that development
efforts for the company's pipeline programs will succeed, that these programs
will receive required regulatory approval or that, even if regulatory approval
is received, products resulting from these programs will be commercially
successful. MedImmune undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking
statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise
except as may be required by applicable law or regulation.
SOURCE MedImmune, Inc.
CONTACT: Media: Kate Barrett, +1-301-398-4320, or Investors: Beatrice
Pierre, +1-301-398-4905, both of MedImmune, Inc.