SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Vaxart, Inc. (NASDAQ:VXRT), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing oral recombinant vaccines that are administered by tablet rather than by injection, today announced the appointment of Brant Biehn as Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations. Mr. Biehn brings over 27 years of commercial planning, market development and sales experience in the pharmaceutical industry.
“We are delighted to welcome Brant to Vaxart. He is a seasoned leader with a wealth of sales and marketing experience within the pharmaceutical and vaccine industry,” said Wouter Latour, chief executive office of Vaxart. “That combination will be invaluable as we advance our therapeutic and prophylactic product candidates through the clinic toward commercialization. We look forward to his contributions as we further establish Vaxart as a leader in the development of antivirals and vaccines.”
Prior to joining Vaxart, Mr. Biehn served as a consultant, where his role included business development, investor relations, and general management for a variety of pharmaceutical and medical device companies. Earlier, he served as chief commercial officer at Dynavax Technologies Corporation, where he helped raised significant capital and was responsible for the development and execution of Dynavax’s commercial strategy, including global sales, marketing and supply chain management, leading a team of 70 professionals preparing to launch Heplisav®.
Before Dynavax, Mr. Biehn held sales and marketing positions of increasing seniority at Merck, culminating in the position of Global Brand Leader with global responsibility for the manufacturing, commercial, clinical and regulatory acitivites for vaccines such as ZOSTAVAX®, PNEUMOVAX®, RECOMBIVAX HB® and VAQTA®.
Mr. Biehn holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the Memorial University of Newfoundland.
About Vaxart
Vaxart is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing oral recombinant protein vaccines based on its proprietary oral vaccine platform. Vaxart’s vaccines are designed to generate broad and durable immune responses that protect against a wide range of infectious diseases and may be useful for the treatment of chronic viral infections and cancer. Vaxart’s vaccines are administered using a convenient room temperature-stable tablet, rather than by injection. Vaxart believes that tablet vaccines are easier to distribute and administer than injectable vaccines, and have the potential to significantly increase vaccination rates. Vaxart’s development programs include oral tablet vaccines that are designed to protect against norovirus, seasonal influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), as well as a therapeutic vaccine for human papillomavirus (HPV). Vaxart is also developing several small-molecule antiviral drug candidates, including teslexivir (BTA074), an antiviral treatment for condyloma caused by HPV types 6 and 11. For more information, please visit www.vaxart.com.
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