– UK, London – Virion Biotherapeutics today announced the appointment of Edwin Moses, PhD, former CEO of Ablynx, as Chairman of its Board of Directors. In addition, Guido Dietrich, PhD, has joined the company’s management team as Head of Manufacturing.
Dr. Moses brings to Virion over 25 years of Board level and executive leadership experience and 35 years overall in the biotech industry. He will succeed Jeffrey Almond, PhD, who will continue to serve on the Board as an independent director. Dr. Dietrich joins Virion with over 20 years of expertise in quality, manufacturing and development of vaccines and biopharmaceuticals. At Virion he will be responsible for chemistry, manufacturing and control of the company’s novel therapeutic modality and growing pipeline. He will report to Vanessa King, PhD, President and CEO of Virion Biotherapeutics.
“Both Edwin and Guido are substantive additions to the Virion team and attracting them is a testament to the potential of our technology,” said Vanessa King, CEO. “Their experience and insights will greatly benefit Virion as we move our first candidate, VH244, into the clinic. In addition, I would like to thank Jeff for launching Virion and am delighted that he will continue to contribute to its growth.”
About Dr Edwin Moses
Dr. Moses joined Ablynx in 2004 as Chairman of the Board and in 2006 became the CEO, a position he held until Ablynx was acquired in 2018 by Sanofi for €3.9 billion. As CEO, Dr. Moses led the company’s Euronext Brussels and Nasdaq listings in 2007 and 2017, respectively, delivered several partnerships with major pharmaceutical companies and was responsible for multiple successful private and public financings. Ablynx achieved EU market approval for the company’s lead product earlier this year. Dr. Moses has been the Chairman of several European companies and contributed to a variety of strategies focused on value creation and the development of important medicines to meet unmet medical needs. During his career, he has raised more than €500 million in equity and debt financing.
Commenting on his appointment, Dr. Moses said: “Virion is an exciting biotech company with the potential to revolutionize the treatment of respiratory virus infections, the fourth biggest killer globally. Virion’s first-in-class pipeline is powered by the seasoned Virion team, who are collectively responsible for the development and commercialization of the top selling antiviral agents globally. With the addition of Guido Dietrich, Virion strengthens its ability to bring its novel products to the clinic and the market.”
About Dr. Guido Dietrich
Dr. Guido Dietrich joins Virion from Merck, Sharpe & Dohme (MSD) where he was most recently Vice President Quality Biologics and Steriles. In this position he built and developed its Global Biologics and Steriles Quality team with responsibility for a range of products including leading immunotherapy Keytruda®, as well as viral and bacterial vaccines and anti-infectives. Dr. Dietrich is an expert in quality assessment, manufacturing and development of vaccines and biopharmaceuticals with extensive experience in the successful maintenance of compliance standards required by health authorities including the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European agencies. Previously, he held senior management roles in manufacturing and quality of biopharmaceuticals, vaccines and steriles at Novartis, GlaxoSmithKline and Lonza. He holds a PhD in Microbiology from Julius-Maximilians-University in Würzburg, Germany.
About Virion Biotherapeutics
Virion Biotherapeutics’ purpose is to develop the first rapid-acting, broad-spectrum therapeutic to treat the full range of viral respiratory diseases irrespective of the viruses that cause them, from the most acute infections to the common cold. We have shown this to be possible with our lead agent VH244 in highly-translatable in vivo preclinical models. Virion’s transformative approach is enabled by a unique RNA-based technology platform, extensive drug discovery and development expertise, and a leadership team committed to changing the treatment paradigm. Our success will be to minimize infectious-disease-related suffering as well as alleviate an enormous economic burden worldwide.
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