CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Moderna, Inc., (Nasdaq: MRNA) a biotechnology company pioneering messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics and vaccines, today announced that Elizabeth (Betsy) Nabel, M.D. has been appointed to the Company’s Board of Directors.
Dr. Nabel was previously a member of Moderna’s Board of Directors from December 2015 to July 2020. She resigned from the Moderna Board in July 2020 to alleviate any potential concern about the conduct or the outcome of the COVID-19 vaccine trial when Brigham and Women’s Hospital was identified by NIH as one of the clinical sites for the Phase 3 trial. Through February 2021, she was President of Brigham Health, which includes Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital, and the Brigham and Women’s Physician Organization, a position she held from 2010.
The Board has appointed Dr. Nabel as a Director effective today. She will be included on the slate for re-election as a Class III Director by stockholders at the Company’s upcoming annual meeting on April 28, 2021. Dr. Nabel will serve on the Product Development and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committees of the Board.
“It is a pleasure to welcome Betsy back to the Moderna Board. Her track record as a global healthcare leader, medical professional and researcher will continue to benefit Moderna as we grow and expand as a commercial stage company,” said Noubar Afeyan, Ph.D., Co-Founder and Chairman of Moderna, and CEO of Flagship Pioneering. “I look forward to partnering with Betsy along with our other Board members, as we continue to advance Moderna’s mission of delivering on the promise of mRNA medicines for patients.”
Simultaneous with her service as President of Brigham Health, Dr. Nabel was also a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School from 2010 to 2021. Prior to joining Brigham Health, Dr. Nabel held a variety of roles, including Director, at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute at the National Institutes of Health, a federal agency funding research, training and education programs to promote the prevention and treatment of heart, lung and blood diseases, from 1999 to 2009. On March 1, 2021, Dr. Nabel became the Executive Vice President for Strategy at ModeX Therapeutics, a new biotechnology company focused on developing innovative immunotherapies for cancer and viral diseases.
“The world has seen the potential for mRNA vaccines and therapeutics,” said Dr. Nabel. “I am honored to rejoin my Moderna Board colleagues as we work to deliver on the promise of mRNA science to create a new generation of transformative medicines for patients and populations.”
“Betsy’s extensive experience and credentials as a healthcare provider, working in government at the NIH and as a medical professional will be important assets to Moderna as we continue to grow the company,” said Stéphane Bancel, Chief Executive Officer of Moderna. “As we execute on our 2021 priorities, I am pleased to welcome Betsy back to the Moderna Board of Directors.”
Dr. Nabel has been named one of the nation’s top leaders in medicine by Modern Healthcare and Becker’s Hospital Review. Her honors include the Distinguished Bostonian Award from the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, the Kober Medal from the Association of American Physicians, the Champion in Health Care Award from the Boston Business Journal, the Willem Einthoven Award from Leiden University in the Netherlands, the Amgen-Scientific Achievement Award, two Distinguished Achievement Awards and the Eugene Braunwald Academic Mentorship Award from the American Heart Association, and nine honorary doctorates. Her colleagues have elected her to the American Academy of the Arts and Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine, the Association of American Physicians, the American Society of Clinical Investigation, and she is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
About Moderna
Moderna is advancing messenger RNA (mRNA) science to create a new class of transformative medicines for patients. mRNA medicines are designed to direct the body’s cells to produce intracellular, membrane or secreted proteins that can have a therapeutic or preventive benefit and have the potential to address a broad spectrum of diseases. The company’s platform builds on continuous advances in basic and applied mRNA science, delivery technology and manufacturing, providing Moderna the capability to pursue in parallel a robust pipeline of new development candidates. Moderna is developing therapeutics and vaccines for infectious diseases, immuno-oncology, rare diseases and cardiovascular diseases, independently and with strategic collaborators.
Headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., Moderna currently has strategic alliances for development programs with AstraZeneca PLC and Merck & Co., Inc., as well as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Defense, and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), a division of the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Moderna has been named a top biopharmaceutical employer by Science for the past five years. To learn more, visit www.modernatx.com.
