Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (“Vir” or “the Company”, Nasdaq: VIR)
today announced the nomination of Norbert Bischofberger, Ph.D. and
Ramy Farid, Ph.D. to its Board of Directors (the “Board”) at its
upcoming annual meeting of stockholders on May 29, 2024 (the
“Annual Meeting”). If elected, each of Drs. Bischofberger and Farid
will join the Board on such date.
The nomination of the two new independent directors demonstrates
Vir’s commitment to ongoing Board refreshment. Drs. Bischofberger
and Farid bring extensive mid-to-late-stage clinical development
and computational/data sciences expertise, respectively. Dr.
Bischofberger, during his career, has overseen the development and
approval of more than 25 medicines, and Dr. Farid currently leads
one of the world’s foremost companies applying advanced
computational methods to the discovery and development of
breakthrough therapies.
Marianne De Backer, M.Sc., Ph.D., MBA, Vir’s Chief Executive
Officer, said: “We are incredibly excited about the prospect of
adding such highly talented directors in Norbert and Ramy to the
Board. These are individuals who we expect will incorporate their
tremendous expertise towards our discovery and clinical development
programs, focused on infectious disease, viral-associated diseases
and immune targeting with an end goal to help patients
globally.”
The Company also announced that Phillip Sharp, Ph.D. and Robert
Perez will not stand for reelection at the Annual Meeting. “The
Board is deeply appreciative of the service of founding directors
Phil and Rob for their long-time contributions to the Company. It
has been an adventure and such a pleasure to work alongside them,”
said Vicki Sato, Ph.D., Chairman of the Board. “We look forward to
having Norbert and Ramy provide their scientific and strategic
acumen to Vir, and to our very accomplished Board.”
Norbert Bischofberger, Ph.D., brings close to 40 years of
experience as a biotech executive and in research and development
leadership roles to the industry. He is currently President and
Chief Executive Officer, and a member of the Board of Directors, of
Kronos Bio, Inc., a clinical-stage company dedicated to the
discovery and development of therapeutics that target the
deregulated transcription that causes cancer and other serious
diseases. Prior to joining Kronos, he was Executive Vice President,
Research and Development and Chief Scientific Officer at Gilead
Sciences, Inc., which he joined in 1990 as Director of Chemistry
after having worked as a Senior Scientist in Genentech, Inc.’s DNA
Synthesis Group from 1986 until 1990. During his 28-year tenure at
Gilead, Dr. Bischofberger presided over the development and
approval of more than 25 medicines for a range of serious
conditions which led to the transformation of the treatment of
diseases such as HIV and viral hepatitis, including HBV and HCV.
Dr. Bischofberger was part of the core management team that grew
Gilead from less than 50 employees with no revenue to 10,000
employees with $25B in revenue. He received a Ph.D. in organic
chemistry from Zurich’s Eidgen�ssische Technische Hochschule and
performed postdoctoral research in steroid chemistry at Syntex. He
also performed additional research in organic chemistry and applied
enzymology in Professor George Whiteside’s lab at Harvard
University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Dr. Bischofberger received
an honorary doctorate in Natural Sciences (2016) from The
University of Innsbruck and an honorary doctorate in Letters in
Medicine (2017) from Baylor College of Medicine. He was elected a
Fellow of The American Association for Advancement of Science
(2018). In addition to Kronos Bio, Dr. Bischofberger serves on the
Board of Directors of Morphic Therapeutic Inc., a U.S. publicly
traded biopharmaceutical company, the Supervisory Board of Bayer
AG, a multinational public company with core competencies in the
life science fields of health care and agriculture, and the
Biopharma Advisory Board of Ginkgo Bioworks. Dr. Bischofberger’s
appointment at Bayer AG will end on April 26, 2024, prior to the
date of Vir’s Annual Meeting.
Ramy Farid, Ph.D., is President, Chief Executive Officer,
and a member of the Board of Directors at Schr�dinger, Inc., which
has pioneered a physics-based computational platform that enables
discovery of high-quality, novel molecules for drug development and
materials applications more rapidly and at lower cost compared to
traditional methods. He joined Schr�dinger in 2002 and helped
advance the company’s computational platform and drug discovery
portfolio while assuming positions of increasing responsibility
before becoming Chief Executive Officer in 2017. Dr. Farid has
played a key role in implementing major strategic initiatives,
including more than 40 research collaborations and joint ventures,
and led the company through its initial public offering in 2020.
Dr. Farid currently serves on the board of directors of Ajax
Therapeutics, Inc. and Structure Therapeutics Inc., a U.S. publicly
traded biopharmaceutical company. Previously, he served on the
board of directors of Nimbus Therapeutics, a biotechnology company
he helped found in 2009. He also served on the board of directors
of Morphic Therapeutic, Inc. Dr. Farid currently serves on Morphic
Therapeutic’s scientific advisory board. Dr. Farid began his career
in academia and was an assistant professor in the chemistry
department at Rutgers University. He was a National Institutes of
Health postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Biochemistry and
Biophysics at the University of Pennsylvania and received his
doctorate degree in chemistry from Caltech. He is an author on over
100 peer reviewed publications.
Additional Information and Where to Find It
Vir plans to file a definitive proxy statement and accompanying
solicitation materials with the U.S. Securities and Exchange
Commission (the “SEC”) in connection with the solicitation of
proxies for the Annual Meeting. This communication is not intended
to be, and is not, a substitute for the definitive proxy statement
or any other document that the Company may file with the SEC in
connection with the Annual Meeting. The definitive proxy statement
will contain important information about Vir, the Annual Meeting,
and related matters. Stockholders are urged to read the
definitive proxy statement and the accompanying solicitation
materials when they become available because these documents will
contain important information. Stockholders may obtain a copy
of the definitive proxy statement (including any amendments or
supplements thereto), and accompanying solicitation materials filed
with the SEC (when they became available) at no charge from the
SEC’s website at www.sec.gov, or by visiting Vir’s Investor
Relations website at investors.vir.bio, as soon as reasonably
practicable after such materials are electronically filed with, or
furnished to, the SEC.
Participants in the Solicitation
Vir, its directors, and certain of its executive officers and
other agents may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation
of proxies from its stockholders in connection with the Annual
Meeting. Information regarding the names of Vir’s directors,
nominees, and executive officers and their respective interests
will be set forth in the definitive proxy statement and any
accompanying solicitation materials. To the extent the holdings of
Vir securities by its directors and executive officers change from
the amounts set forth in the definitive proxy statement for the
Annual Meeting, such changes will be reflected on Statements of
Changes in Beneficial Ownership of Securities on Form 4 filed with
the SEC. These documents may be obtained as indicated above.
About Vir Biotechnology, Inc.
Vir Biotechnology, Inc. is an immunology company focused on
powering the immune system to transform lives by treating and
preventing infectious diseases and other serious conditions,
including viral-associated diseases. Vir has assembled two
technology platforms that are designed to modulate the immune
system by exploiting critical observations of natural immune
processes. Its current clinical development pipeline consists of
product candidates targeting hepatitis delta and hepatitis B
viruses and human immunodeficiency virus. Vir has several
preclinical candidates in its pipeline, including those targeting
influenza A and B, COVID-19, RSV/MPV and HPV. Vir routinely posts
information that may be important to investors on its website.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. Words such as “may,” “will,” “plan,” “potential,” “aim,”
“expect,” “anticipate,” “promising” and similar expressions (as
well as other words or expressions referencing future events,
conditions or circumstances) are intended to identify
forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are
based on Vir’s expectations and assumptions as of the date of this
press release. Forward-looking statements contained in this press
release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding Vir’s
strategy and plans; whether Drs. Bischofberger and Farid are
elected to the Board by the Company’s stockholders at the 2024
annual meeting of stockholders; potential of, and expectations for,
Vir’s pipeline; Vir’s clinical and preclinical development
programs, clinical trials, including the enrollment of Vir’s
clinical trials, and the expected timing of data readouts and
presentations; the potential benefits, safety, and efficacy of
Vir’s investigational therapies; and risks and uncertainties
associated with drug development and commercialization. Many
important factors may cause differences between current
expectations and actual results. Drug development and
commercialization involve a high degree of risk, and only a small
number of research and development programs result in
commercialization of a product. Results in early-stage clinical
trials may not be indicative of full results or results from
later-stage or larger-scale clinical trials and do not ensure
regulatory approval. You should not place undue reliance on these
statements or the scientific data presented. Other factors that may
cause actual results to differ from those expressed or implied in
the forward-looking statements in this press release are discussed
in Vir’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission,
including the section titled “Risk Factors” contained therein.
Except as required by law, Vir assumes no obligation to update any
forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change
in expectations, even as new information becomes available.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240418098064/en/
Media Carly Scaduto Senior Director, External
Communications cscaduto@vir.bio +1 314-368-5189
Investors Richard Lepke Senior Director, Investor
Relations rlepke@vir.bio +1 978-973-9986
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