Valneva Strengthens Management Team; Appoints Perry Celentano as Interim COO and David Lawrence as Acting CFO
11 Janvier 2021 - 7:00AM
Saint-Herblain (France), January 11, 2021 –
Valneva SE a specialty vaccine company focused on prevention
against diseases with major unmet needs, today announced it has
appointed Perry Celentano as Chief Operating Officer (COO) on an
interim basis to support the expansion of the manufacturing sites
in Livingston and Solna.
Perry Celentano has an extensive track record in
the pharma and vaccines industry including roles with Merck,
Novartis and Dynavax. Perry will be based at the Company’s
Livingston site where the primary production of VLA2001 is taking
place. The Company also manufactures its JEV and chikungunya
vaccines in Livingston.
Further to the recent announcement that David
Lawrence, CFO, will retire at the end of 2020, the Company has
re-appointed David as Acting Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
potentially until mid-2021. David will support the ongoing
strategic planning, including Investor Relations, as well as key
collaborations, including the COVID vaccine collaboration with the
UK Government. The Company had previously announced that David
would support the CEO in an advisory capacity in 2021 following his
retirement.
Commenting, Thomas Lingelbach, CEO, said,
“Valneva is going from strength to strength and it’s important that
we continue to build our senior management team. I am delighted to
welcome Perry on board; he is a really strong operations and
manufacturing expert and leader. He will play a vital role in the
execution of our manufacturing strategy for our planned COVID-19
vaccine. I’m also really pleased that David has agreed to continue
helping Valneva and to work with me personally on our near-term
objectives. He knows the Company and our investors very well, so
will play a pivotal role in executing on our capital formation and
growth strategies. These appointments also give the Company time to
find the best permanent candidates as we go through an important
stage of our evolution.”
About Valneva SEValneva is a
specialty vaccine company focused on prevention against diseases
with major unmet needs. Valneva’s portfolio includes two commercial
vaccines for travelers: IXIARO®/JESPECT® indicated for the
prevention of Japanese encephalitis and DUKORAL® indicated for the
prevention of cholera and, in some countries, prevention of
diarrhea caused by ETEC. The Company has various vaccines in
development including unique vaccines against Lyme disease,
chikungunya and COVID-19. Valneva has operations in Austria,
Sweden, the United Kingdom, France, Canada and the US with over 500
employees.
Valneva
Investor and Media ContactsLaetitia
Bachelot-FontaineDirector Investor Relations & Corporate
CommunicationsM +33 (0)6 4516
7099investors@valneva.com |
Teresa
PinzolitsCorporate Communications SpecialistT +43 (0)1 20620
1116communications@valneva.com |
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Valneva Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains certain
forward-looking statements relating to the business of Valneva,
including with respect to the progress, timing and completion of
research, development and clinical trials for product candidates,
the ability to manufacture, market, commercialize and achieve
market acceptance for product candidates, the ability to protect
intellectual property and operate the business without infringing
on the intellectual property rights of others, the ability to
achieve Valneva’s near-term objectives and growth strategies,
estimates for future performance and estimates regarding
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unknown risks and uncertainties and other factors that may cause
actual results, performance or achievements to be materially
different from any future results, performance or achievement
expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. In
particular, the expectations of Valneva could be affected by, among
other things, uncertainties involved in the development and
manufacture of vaccines, unexpected clinical trial results,
unexpected regulatory actions or delays, competition in general,
currency fluctuations, the impact of the global and European credit
crisis, and the ability to obtain or maintain patent or other
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or otherwise.
- 2021_01_11_VLA_COO_CFO_PR_EN_Final