Dr. Jacqueline Shea has served as INOVIO’s President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) since May 2022. She is responsible for establishing and leading INOVIO’s overall corporate strategy across its clinical programs and advancing its DNA medicines platform.
Dr. Shea joined the Company in March 2019 as Chief Operating Officer (COO), serving as a key member of the executive team. She led INOVIO’s manufacturing, commercial, business development, project and alliance management operations.
Dr. Shea has more than 25 years of experience in the life sciences and biotech industries. Prior to joining INOVIO, she was the CEO at Aeras, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to developing new vaccines against tuberculosis (TB). Previously, she held executive roles at Emergent BioSolutions and was also the General Manager and Vice President of The Oxford-Emergent Tuberculosis Consortium.
Dr. Shea has dedicated much of her career to developing innovative products to prevent and treat infectious diseases. She has been named as an inventor on more than 20 patents, is an author of numerous scientific publications, has served on multiple advisory boards and currently serves on the Board of Trustees for the Sabin Vaccine Institute. Dr. Shea received a BSc Hons in Applied Biology from the University of Bath and a Ph.D. from the National Institute for Medical Research in the UK.
As CFO, Mr. Kies’ primary focus is assuring INOVIO’s financial health as it reaches pipeline and commercialization goals in developing next-generation DNA medicines. As a key member of the executive leadership team, Mr. Kies is also responsible for developing and executing global financial strategy and action plans to meet the business objectives and to execute overall corporate strategy.
Prior to joining INOVIO in 2002, Mr. Kies acquired broad expertise in the functional and strategic management of biotechnology and high technology companies across the full spectrum of corporate growth, from IPO to profitability. He was previously Chief Financial Officer at Newgen Results Corporation and held positions at Cytel Corporation and Ernst & Young, LLP. He has more than 30 years of experience developing and working with biotechnology and high-tech companies.
Mr. Kies holds a B.S. degree in Business Administration from United States International University in San Diego, CA.
Dr. Sumner leads INOVIO’s clinical-stage pipeline of DNA medicines, global clinical development, clinical operations and biostatistics efforts, as well as regulatory affairs, pharmacovigilance and medical affairs. Dr. Sumner previously served as CMO of Orexo AB and held numerous European- and US-based leadership roles at Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Aventis Behring, Novo Nordisk and Shire Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Sumner brings over 25 years of extensive pharmaceutical, medical and clinical experience driving numerous late-stage product approvals and supporting successful commercial products on a global basis across multiple therapeutic areas.
Dr. Sumner received his medical degree from the University of London, is a member of the Royal College of Physicians, and holds a Master of Business Administration from Henley Management College, UK.
As Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. Humeau works to ensure continuous and strategic growth of INOVIO’s pipeline by introducing a constant flow of innovative concepts and cycling them from early-stage discovery and development through clinical application and patient monitoring. He provides technical and strategic leadership across multiple teams that are essential to upstream and downstream verticals of clinical development. Prior to INOVIO, Dr. Humeau was Senior Director of Translational Research, Human Therapeutics Division for Intrexon and previously Chief Scientific Officer, Vice President of R&D at VIRxSYS Corporation. Dr. Humeau holds a Ph.D., summa cum laude, from Denis Diderot/Paris 7 University and a MS degree from Pierre & Marie Curie/Paris 6 University, Paris, France.
As Chief Commercial Officer, Mr. Twyman has responsibility for leading INOVIO’s strategic and tactical commercial efforts across the HPV-targeted, infectious diseases and immuno-oncology portfolios. Mr. Twyman has more than 20 years of healthcare commercial experience across multiple product categories including vaccines, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices. Prior to joining INOVIO, Mr. Twyman held key leadership roles including VP Marketing at Novavax, VP Marketing, Pediatric Vaccines at Merck, VP/GM Vaccines at MedImmune and SVP/GM, Biosurgery at Genzyme.
Mr. Twyman earned an MBA in Finance from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from Dickinson College.
Mr. Crotty joined INOVIO as General Counsel in 2021 and also serves as the Chief Compliance Officer. Mr. Crotty has responsibility for leading the company’s legal and compliance work. Mr. Crotty brings more than 15 years’ experience in the life sciences industry. Prior to joining INOVIO, Mr. Crotty held legal positions of increasing responsibilities at ImClone Systems Incorporated, NPS Pharmaceuticals, Dendron Corporation, Vernalis Therapeutics, and most recently, Nabriva Therapeutics where he served as General Counsel & Secretary. Before going in-house, Mr. Crotty was an associate at the global law firm of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, where his practice was focused on business and finance.
Mr. Crotty holds a JD from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and a BA from Princeton University. He is admitted to practice law in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
Mr. Brandreth is responsible for all quality and compliance functions across clinical development, manufacturing and other operational areas that support INOVIO’s broad pipeline of DNA medicines. With over 30 years in life sciences including small molecules, devices and a wide variety of pivotal biotechnology products, Mr. Brandreth is a key member of the senior leadership team with a track record of moving pipeline candidates such as Rituxan®, Zevalin®, Aldurazyme® and Naglazyme® to commercialization.
Prior to joining INOVIO, Mr. Brandreth had a successful career transitioning start-up clinical biotech operations into commercial entities; he contributed to the success of several biopharmaceutical companies through his strong leadership of the quality and compliance areas. He holds an MBA from University of the Pacific and a B.A. in Biology from University of California, San Diego.
As Senior Vice President of Business Development, Mr. Bridy is responsible for Business Development and Licensing activities at INOVIO. Mr. Bridy has over 20 years of business development, licensing, strategy, and transaction experience. Prior to joining INOVIO, Mr. Bridy was a strategic and operational advisor to over 20 life sciences operating and investment companies. Mr. Bridy also served as Head of Business Development and Licensing for Immunome, an emerging immuno-oncology company, and was a key member of the team that raised a $17.2M Series-A. At Elan Pharmaceuticals, he was responsible for out-licensing an oncology and neuroscience portfolio in their Business Development group. At GlaxoSmithKline, Mr. Bridy was responsible for diligence and valuation of oncology in-licensing and pipeline drugs in their Global Commercial Strategy group. He also served as Vice President of Strategy and Business Development at BTG plc.
Mr. Bridy has an MA in Biology and an MBA in Finance from Villanova University and a BA and BS degree in Zoology from Miami University.
As Senior Vice President of Regulatory Affairs, Dr. Elder is responsible for the development of regulatory strategies and company interaction with regulatory authorities globally. She is a proven leader with over 20 years of experience leading multi-cultural, cross-functional teams in drug development and regulatory strategies across multiple therapeutic areas. Most recently Dr. Elder was the Global Regulatory Head for the Hematology Development Unit at Novartis.
Dr. Elder received her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science and completed her industrial clinical pharmacy practice fellowship at Rutgers University and Hoffmann-La Roche. She is also a graduate of the University of Kentucky, where she received her BS from the College of Pharmacy.
Mr. Juba is responsible for ensuring the manufacturing and supply of INOVIO’s precisely designed and delivered DNA medicines and vaccine candidates for clinical use. He provides strategic and operational leadership of Supply Operations function, establishing supply processes, planning, procurement, and inventory strategies for late-stage clinical programs as well as new product launches and product line extensions.
As a chemical engineer with 20+ years of experience managing cGMP pharmaceutical and biological vaccine manufacturing for commercial and clinical products, Mr. Juba leads with extensive technical expertise to help INOVIO reach product development and commercialization goals. He previously led plasmid manufacturing at VGXI, Inc. and held several positions at Merck in bulk vaccine manufacturing operations and strategy. Mr. Juba holds a Master of Science degree in Chemical Engineering Practice and a BS degree in Chemical Engineering, both from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Mr. Kemmerrer is responsible for electrical and mechanical engineering, software development and human factors for current and new device technologies used in the delivery of INOVIO’s DNA medicines. He brings years of experience in implementing innovative, high-impact solutions in the biotech industry including as a developer of the Advanced Tissue Sciences human tissue mesh technology. Earlier in his career, he worked in the aerospace field building communication satellites.
Mr. Kemmerrer holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from University of California, Berkeley and an MBA from San Diego State University.
Dr. Skolnik leads INOVIO’s clinical development programs, focusing on HPV and immuno-oncology DNA medicines. He is a key member of the leadership team overseeing these global clinical assets. Dr. Skolnik has held several leadership positions in Clinical Development and Medical Affairs for AstraZeneca, GSK, and TetraLogic Pharmaceuticals, for both early- and late-stage compounds. Dr. Skolnik is a board-certified pediatric hematologist/oncologist and is an adjunct associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania.
Dr. Skolnik holds a B.A. in Biology from the University of Pennsylvania and an MD from New York University.
Dr. Dave Liebowitz has over 27 years of industry experience in clinical and preclinical development in Oncology, Infectious Diseases (Virology), Vascular Biology, Inflammation and Metabolic Disorders with protein, small molecule, cellular therapeutic, and vaccine modalities. He was previously Senior Vice President, Clinical Development – Infectious Diseases at INOVIO. Prior to returning, Dr. Liebowitz was Senior Vice President, Clinical Development and Medical Affairs at Xencor, leading several immune-oncology programs. Prior to that, Dr. Liebowitz held numerous senior positions, including Chief Medical Officer at DNAtrix, an oncolytic virotherapy company in San Diego, CA; Chief Medical Officer at Vaxart, Inc. and Chief Scientific and Medical Officer for Vivaldi Biosciences, an influenza vaccine and therapeutics biotechnology company.
During his time at Vaxart, Inc., he led the successful application and negotiation process for acquiring a BARDA contract and served as the Principal Investigator of the award, leading its completion. In addition, he was an early recipient of a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Dr. Liebowitz began his academic career as an Assistant Professor of Medicine and Virology at the University of Chicago and was the Director of the Bone Marrow Transplantation Program. Dave has B.S. and M.S. degrees in Biology from Emory University, an M.D. with Honors, and a Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics and Cell Biology (Virology), both from the University of Chicago.
Simon Benito has been a director of INOVIO since 2003. Mr. Benito has had a successful and extensive career serving multiple healthcare companies in senior executive positions, including 25 years at Merck & Co, Inc. where he served as Senior Vice President, Merck Vaccine Division from 1996 to 1999; Executive Vice President, Merck-Medco Managed Care from 1994 to 1996; and Executive Director and Vice President, Merck Human Health, Japan from 1986-1993. Mr. Benito was a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales for over thirty years until his retirement from Merck in 1999.
Dr. Roger Dansey joined Pfizer after the acquisition of Seagen in December 2023 as the Chief Development Officer for Pfizer Oncology focused on late-stage clinical development.
Previously, Dr. Dansey was the Chief Medical Officer at Seagen starting in 2018, where he brought extensive experience in cancer drug development. He was appointed interim CEO from May 2022 until Nov 2022 when he was appointed President, Research and Development. Dr. Dansey’s deep oncology background and proven leadership helped Seagen evolve into a global, multi-product oncology company.
Previously, Dr. Dansey was Therapeutic Area Head for Late-Stage Oncology at Merck & Co., Inc., where he was responsible for global registration efforts for Keytruda® (pembrolizumab) across multiple tumor types. Earlier in his career, he was the Vice President of Oncology Clinical Research at Gilead Sciences and the Global Development Lead for Xgeva® (denosumab) at Amgen, where he held multiple roles in oncology and hematology.
Dr. Dansey holds an M.D. from the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Dr. Ann Miller brings her years of commercial experience in the biopharmaceutical industry and her clinical training. Dr. Miller previously was a Director at Puma Biotechnology and Allena Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Miller worked at Sanofi S.A. from 2012 until her retirement in September 2018, serving as Vice President of Marketing and Vice President of Global Marketing, Oncology Division. From 2009 to 2011, Dr. Miller served as Senior Vice President at Eisai Co., Ltd., leading the Primary Care and Specialty Business unit and then Pharmaceutical Services. Dr. Miller previously served in management roles in global and U.S. marketing at Amgen Inc. for five years and in positions of increasing responsibility at Merck & Co., Inc. over 16 years. Dr. Miller received an M.D. from the Duke University School of Medicine and a B.A. in Chemistry, summa cum laude, from Duke University.
Dr. Jacqueline Shea has served as INOVIO’s President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) since May 2022. She is responsible for establishing and leading INOVIO’s overall corporate strategy across its clinical programs and advancing its DNA medicines platform.
Dr. Shea joined the Company in March 2019 as Chief Operating Officer (COO), serving as a key member of the executive team. She led INOVIO’s manufacturing, commercial, business development, project and alliance management operations.
Dr. Shea has more than 25 years of experience in the life sciences and biotech industries. Prior to joining INOVIO, she was the CEO at Aeras, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to developing new vaccines against tuberculosis (TB). Previously, she held executive roles at Emergent BioSolutions and was also the General Manager and Vice President of The Oxford-Emergent Tuberculosis Consortium.
Dr. Shea has dedicated much of her career to developing innovative products to prevent and treat infectious diseases. She has been named as an inventor on more than 20 patents, is an author of numerous scientific publications, has served on multiple advisory boards and currently serves on the Board of Trustees for the Sabin Vaccine Institute. Dr. Shea received a BSc Hons in Applied Biology from the University of Bath and a Ph.D. from the National Institute for Medical Research in the UK.
Jay P. Shepard currently serves as Venture Partner with Catalys Pacific, where he is a co-founder and board member of two of their companies, Pathalys and Aculys. He brings 35 + years’ experience in the pharmaceutical/biotech and drug delivery industries with significant corporate leadership and multiple product successes. In addition to working for Catalys Pacific, he also serves on the board of directors of Esperion Therapeutics, INOVIO Pharmaceuticals, Ironwood and the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation.
Prior to his current positions, he joined Versartis as President and CEO in May 2015. In 2018, when Versartis merged with Aravive, he became CEO of the newly formed company until January 2020, when he retired. He was an Executive Partner at Sofinnova Ventures until May 2015. Previously, he served as President and CEO of NextWave Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Pfizer), Ilypsa (acquired by Amgen), and interim CEO of Relypsa (Ilypsa’s spin-out company, which Galencia acquired). He has participated in or led over 16 product launches by preparing markets and establishing sales and marketing operations, having served as Vice President of Commercial Operations at Telik and Alza Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Johnson & Johnson).
He holds a B.S. in business administration from the University of Arizona.
David Weiner is Executive Vice President of The Wistar Institute, Director of its Vaccine Center, and the W.W. Smith Charitable Trust Endowed Professorship in Cancer Research. The Wistar Institute is the nation’s first independent biomedical research institute, NCI-designated Cancer Center, and an international leader in cancer, immunology and infectious disease research. Previously, Dr. Weiner was Professor, Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Chair of the Gene Therapy and Vaccine Program at the University’s Perelman School of Medicine and co-leader of the Tumor Virology Program of the Abramson Cancer Center at Penn.
Dr. Weiner is a world-renowned leader in immunology as well as gene vaccines and immunotherapy. In scientific circles he is known as the “father of DNA vaccines.” He has more than 350 peer-reviewed publications in scientific journals, including mainstream scientific journals such as Scientific American, and has been designated by the Institute for Scientific Information as one of the top-cited scientists in the world.
An inventor of more than 100 issued and pending U.S. patents, Dr. Weiner has received numerous honors, including election as a fellow to the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2011 and the International Society for Vaccines in 2012. He was the recipient of the NIH Director’s Transformative Research Award and the Vaccine Industry Excellence Award for Best Academic Research Team at the World Vaccine Congress in 2015 and again in 2016. Dr. Weiner was honored with the prestigious Hilleman Lectureship in 2015 at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Grand Rounds session and received a Stone Family Award from Abramson Cancer Center for his groundbreaking work on DNA vaccines for cancer immune therapy.
Dr. Weiner holds a Ph.D. in developmental biology from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, an M.S. in biology from the University of Cincinnati, and a B.S. in biology from SUNY at Stony Brook.
Wendy L. Yarno has over 26 years’ experience in the pharmaceutical industry with Merck & Co., Inc. and Johnson & Johnson. She has held a number of executive positions in the marketing, sales, human resources, and policy areas. She most recently was Executive Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer at Merck & Co., Inc. and retired from Merck in 2008.
Ms. Yarno has extensive experience as a director on both public and private company boards. She currently is the non-executive Chairman of the Board for Aratana Therapeutics, and is a member of the board of Alder Biopharmaceuticals, Global Blood Therapeutics, and MyoKardia, Inc. She was previously a member of the Board of Directors of St. Jude Medical Inc., Medivation, Inc., Durata Therapeutics, PluroGen Therapeutics, and ADial Pharmaceuticals.
Ms. Yarno has an MBA from Temple University in Philadelphia, PA and a B.S. in Marketing from Portland State University in Portland, OR.
Lota Zoth has served as a director of INOVIO since January 2019. Ms. Zoth is a Certified Public Accountant and has served as Chief Financial Officer, Chief Accounting Officer and Controller for various publicly traded companies, including MedImmune, Inc., PSINet, Inc. and Sodexho Marriott, and as a financial executive in various roles at Marriott International, Pepsi-Cola International and PepsiCo.
Ms. Zoth began her career as an auditor with Ernst & Young. Ms. Zoth serves on the boards of three other publicly traded biopharmaceutical companies (Lumos Pharma, Inc., 89Bio, Inc., and enGene Holdings, Inc.). Previously, Ms. Zoth served on the boards of nine other biopharmaceutical companies (Aeras, Circassia Pharmaceuticals PLC, Hyperion Therapeutics, Inc., Ikaria, Inc. NewLink Genetics Corporation, Orexigen Therapeutics, Inc., Spark Therapeutics, Inc. and Zymeworks, Inc).
Ms. Zoth holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting, summa cum laude, from Texas Tech University.
Dr. Rafi Ahmed is the Georgia Research Alliance Professor of Microbiology and Immunology, and Director of the Emory Vaccine Center at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, GA. His research efforts are directed towards: 1. Understanding the mechanisms of immunological memory and using this knowledge to develop new and more effective vaccines. 2. Defining the mechanisms of T cell exhaustion during chronic viral infections and cancer and developing strategies for restoring function in exhausted T cells. Dr. Ahmed is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine.
Anthony Ford-Hutchinson has over 30 years of experience in vaccine development and commercialization and was formerly at Merck and Co. During his tenure at Merck, Dr. Ford-Hutchinson played a leadership role in the development of several new blockbuster vaccines, including Gardasil®, Zostavax®, Proquad®, and Rotateq®. He was also responsible for the development of many important Merck drugs, including Singulair®, Arcoxia®, and Isentress® for asthma, pain/inflammation, and the treatment of HIV infection.
Dr. Ford-Hutchinson, who retired from Merck in early 2012, was most recently Senior Vice President, Vaccines Research and Development, and Chairman of the Board of Directors for MSD Wellcome Trust Hilleman Labs. He has held many other prominent positions at Merck in Canada and the USA, including Executive Vice President for Worldwide Research. He was responsible for all strategic decisions in Merck’s vaccine R&D following appointment as franchise head in 2005, producing a pipeline with three vaccines in phase III trials and a number of others in earlier development. He obtained his Bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from the University of Birmingham, a Master’s in molecular enzymology from the University of Warwick, and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of London.
Stanley Plotkin developed the rubella vaccine now used worldwide and has worked extensively on the development and application of other vaccines, including polio, rabies, varicella, rotavirus, and cytomegalovirus. He is Emeritus Professor, Wistar Institute and the University of Pennsylvania, and is a principal of Vaxconsult.
Over the course of his career he has served as senior assistant surgeon with the Epidemic Intelligence Service of the U.S. Public Health Service; Chairman of the Infectious Diseases Committee and the AIDS Task Force of the American Academy of Pediatrics; Chairman of the Microbiology and Infectious Diseases Research Committee of the National Institutes of Health; director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia; Associate Chairman of the Department of Pediatrics, University of Pennsylvania; Medical and Scientific Director of Aventis Pasteur; and Executive Advisor to Sanofi Pasteur. Over 600 of his articles have been published, and he has edited several books, including Vaccines, now the standard textbook in the field.
Dr. Plotkin’s numerous professional awards include:
Dr. Plotkin earned his M.D. at the State University of New York, Downstate College of Medicine, and holds honorary degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Rouen (France). He serves on the Board of Directors of Dynavax and is Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board of Mymetics, while also serving as an International Society for Vaccines advisor.
David Weiner is Executive Vice President of The Wistar Institute, Director of its Vaccine Center, and the W.W. Smith Charitable Trust Endowed Professorship in Cancer Research. The Wistar Institute is the nation’s first independent biomedical research institute, NCI-designated Cancer Center, and an international leader in cancer, immunology and infectious disease research. Previously, Dr. Weiner was Professor, Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and Chair of the Gene Therapy and Vaccine Program at the University’s Perelman School of Medicine and co-leader of the Tumor Virology Program of the Abramson Cancer Center at Penn.
Dr. Weiner is a world-renowned leader in immunology as well as gene vaccines and immunotherapy. In scientific circles he is known as the “father of DNA vaccines.” He has more than 350 peer-reviewed publications in scientific journals, including mainstream scientific journals such as Scientific American, and has been designated by the Institute for Scientific Information as one of the top-cited scientists in the world.
An inventor of more than 100 issued and pending U.S. patents, Dr. Weiner has received numerous honors, including election as a fellow to the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2011 and the International Society for Vaccines in 2012. He was the recipient of the NIH Director’s Transformative Research Award and the Vaccine Industry Excellence Award for Best Academic Research Team at the World Vaccine Congress in 2015 and again in 2016. Dr. Weiner was honored with the prestigious Hilleman Lectureship in 2015 at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Grand Rounds session and received a Stone Family Award from Abramson Cancer Center for his groundbreaking work on DNA vaccines for cancer immune therapy.
Dr. Weiner holds a Ph.D. in developmental biology from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, an M.S. in biology from the University of Cincinnati, and a B.S. in biology from SUNY at Stony Brook.
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