METUCHEN, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Tevogen Bio, a clinical stage biotechnology company, announces the appointment of Sten H. Vermund, M.D., Ph.D., Dean and Anna M.R. Lauder Professor in the Yale School of Public Health and Professor in Pediatrics in the Yale School of Medicine, to its Innovation and Public Health Advisory Council (IPHAC).
The Council’s role is to advise on public health priorities based on assessments of regional or national health metrics and on the implementation of evidence-based innovation-driven programs, practices, and policies to improve health outcomes.
“It’s a privilege to welcome a person with such unrivaled credentials as Dean Vermund to our Innovation and Public Health Advisory Council,” said Tevogen CEO Ryan Saadi, M.D., M.P.H. “His extensive research and policy background focusing on diseases of resource-limited settings, including HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, parasitic diseases, and COVID-19 have equipped him with a rare skillset as the world continues to deal with newer SARS-CoV-2 variants and other life-threatening infectious diseases,” Saadi added.
Dr. Vermund’s research background encompasses epidemiology, clinical trials, and translational research, namely bringing efficacious clinical and public health tools to the field for assessing efficacy and scaling up in operations for HIV care and cervical cancer screening. In 2020, he pivoted his work towards COVID-19 research and intervention, working with international collaborators on early insights from the December 2019-March 2020 outbreak, with Yale economists on mask use in March 2020, and on safety in schools and arts organizations.
“I am honored to join a mission that may help the world overcome the threat posed by dangerous and persistent pathogens, like SARS-CoV-2, as well as common cancers,” said Dr. Vermund. “Working with a platform of curative therapeutics will require many complicated decisions that we are accustomed to considering in the public health sphere, and I am excited to be able to help our own Yale School of Public Health alumnus, CEO Dr. Ryan Saadi and Tevogen as they navigate this new terrain,” he continued.
Dr. Vermund’s prior leadership roles include serving as Principal Investigator of the following collaborative efforts: The Adolescent Medicine HIV/AIDS Research Network, the NIH Prevention Trials Network, U.S. HIV/AIDS programs in Zambia, Nigeria, and Mozambique (the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief or PEPFAR), and the Fogarty International Clinical Research Scholars and Fellows Program. He has worked since 1981 in university settings, aside from his 1988-1994 stint as a branch chief at the National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases/Division of AIDS. Dr. Vermund is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences, and a Fellow of the Royal Society for Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, among others.
About Tevogen Bio
Tevogen Bio is driven by a team of distinguished scientists and highly experienced biopharmaceutical leaders who have successfully developed and commercialized multiple franchises. Tevogen’s leadership believes that accessible personalized immunotherapies are the next frontier of medicine, and that disruptive business models are required to sustain medical innovation in the post-pandemic world.
About Tevogen’s Investigational COVID-19 Therapy
TVGN-489 is a highly purified, SARS-CoV-2-specific cytotoxic CD8+ T lymphocyte (CTL) product, which detects targets spread across the entire viral genome. These targeted CTLs are expected to recognize and kill off virally infected cells, allowing the body to replace them with healthy, uninfected cells. TVGN-489 has demonstrated strong antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2 in preclinical studies.
TVGN-489 is currently in clinical trials for high-risk patients at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. Trial details and recruitment information are available at Clinical Trials - Tevogen.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements relating to Tevogen Bio™ Inc.’s (the “Company”) development and patient access of its innovations in infectious diseases and oncology. These statements are based on management’s current expectations and beliefs as of the date of this release and are subject to a number of factors which involve known and unknown risks, delays, uncertainties, and other factors not under the company’s control which may cause actual results, performance, or achievements of the company to be materially different from the results, performance, or other expectations implied by these forward-looking statements. In any forward-looking statement in which the Company expresses an expectation or belief as to future results, such expectations or beliefs are expressed in good faith and are believed to have a reasonable basis, but there can be no assurance that the statement or expectation or belief will be achieved. These factors include results of current or pending clinical trials, risks associated with intellectual property protection, financial projections, sales, pricing, and actions by the FDA/EMA. The Company undertakes no obligation to update the forward-looking statements or any of the information in this release, or provide additional information, and expressly disclaims any and all liability and make no representations or warranties in connection herewith or with respect to any omissions herefrom.
