Paul Willems’ appointment will strengthen Osivax’s capacities to design and implement an ambitious and impactful clinical development plan for its vaccines pipeline and especially the “universal” flu vaccine program
Lyon, France – January 31st, 2019 – Osivax, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company currently focused on the development of a breakthrough “universal” influenza vaccine program, announced today the appointment of Dr Paul Willems as Chief Medical Officer.
“We are delighted to welcome Paul Willems in our leadership team. As we entered the clinical development stage 6 months ago with our first-generation vaccine candidate, Paul’s deep medical and clinical expertise in the development of biologics and especially vaccines will be a major asset for Osivax to design and implement an ambitious clinical development strategy to bring the universal flu vaccine program closer to market”, said Alexandre Le Vert, CEO and cofounder of Osivax.
Dr. Paul Willems will be responsible for the strategic and operational management of medical and clinical development activities at Osivax. Paul will be working part-time for Osivax and will pursue his external consultant activities with other non-concurrent biotech companies in parallel. These engagements in other clinical development activities will be an asset for Osivax by bringing an external view on our development strategy.
Paul graduated as Medical Doctor from the University of Liege in Belgium. As a board-certified physician with more than two-decade industry experience in biologics and vaccines clinical development and post-marketing safety, he brings to Osivax a strong expertise in de-risking and efficiently conducting clinical trials. Before joining Osivax, Paul worked for 18 years at GSK vaccines in leading postions in Clinical Development, Medical Affairs and Safety/Pharmacovigilance in Belgium, the United States and Eastern Europe. He then worked for 4 years at ThromboGenics (now Oxurion) as Head of Clinical trial safety and post-marketing pharmacovigilance for a first-in-class biological product in ophthalmology registered in EU and US, before moving to a consultancy position catering primarily to small companies in matters related to Clinical Development and Benefit/Risk Management for developmental and marketed products.
“I am delighted to become the Chief Medical Officer of Osivax, and thereby to contribute to an exciting new concept in vaccinology. », said Paul Willems. « I look forward to joining a stimulating team, and I trust that together we will make it a success”.
Paul Willems replaces Simonetta Viviani who was acting as Osivax Chief Medical Officer for the past two years. Simonetta has extensive experience in vaccine clinical development and will continue to support Paul as an external consultant on the ongoing phase I clinical trial and in elaborating Osivax clinical development strategy.
About Osivax
Osivax’s mission is to revolutionize influenza prevention with a universal flu vaccine for both current and future Influenza A and B infections by leveraging its unique oligoDOM® technology platform. The most advanced candidate, a broad-spectrum A-strain flu vaccine is in Phase 1 clinical development. Osivax is focused on providing proof-of-concept in Influenza A firstly to save lives and secondly to lay the groundwork for a universal flu vaccine as well as apply the platform to other infectious and immune system-associated diseases. For further information: www.osivax.com