Osivax – Osivax appoints Prof. Jeffrey Almond, pre-eminent Vaccinologist, as Chairman of its Scientific Advisory Board

Lyon, le 19 février 2018,

Osivax, a biopharmaceutical company currently focused on the development of a breakthrough influenza vaccine, announced today that the Company is strengthening its management team with the appointment of Prof. Jeffrey Almond as the Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board.

“We are very proud to welcome Jeffrey Almond as the Chairman of our Scientific Advisory Board. Jeffrey is a preeminent vaccinologist with leadership experience both in large pharmaceutical companies and in academic centers. His insights will help us to efficiently develop our lead candidate in influenza as well as our other projects”, said Alexandre Le Vert, CEO and cofounder of Osivax. “Having worked with Jeffrey Almond as a member of our SAB over the past year, we are delighted to reinforce our collaboration”.

Dr. Almond is Visiting Professor of Microbiology at the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, University of Oxford and is an Oxford Martin Fellow with the Oxford Martin Programme on Vaccines.  Before that he was Vice President and Head of Discovery Research and External R&D at Sanofi Pasteur, where he was responsible for the early stage R&D pipeline and for establishing and managing R&D partnerships with academia and biotechnology companies. Prof. Almond is the Chairman of VirionHealth, a recently established company developing novel therapeutics for respiratory viral infections, and is serving on numerous scientific committees and advisory boards. He is an elected Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology and a Fellow of the UK Academy of Medical Sciences.

« I am delighted to become the Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board of Osivax, and support their quest to change the field of influenza vaccination with their broad-spectrum vaccine », said Jeffrey Almond. « I am impressed by the progress of their technology over the past few years and which could be used beyond the field of influenza ».

About Influenza

With 250,000 to 500,000 deaths annually globally, including tens of thousands in the US and Europe (56,000 deaths in the US alone in 2012), Influenza remains a devastating disease.

Current seasonal vaccines are only partially effective, especially for patients over 65 years old (25% effectiveness in the 2016-17 season in the US, according to the CDC, the Atlanta, GA based Center for Disease Controls and Prevention).

About OVX836

OVX836 is a breakthrough, wide-spectrum influenza vaccine that is in late-stage preclinical development, with a phase I clinical trial planned to start in 2018.

OVX836 activates a CD8 T-cell immune response against the influenza nucleoprotein (NP), a well-conserved internal protein essential to the replication of the virus. Vaccines triggering such immune responses (CD8 T-cell responses against NP) represent a disruptive and promising path to a breakthrough improvement of current flu vaccines.

OVX836 will be used in combination with seasonal influenza vaccines.

About Osivax

Osivax is a biopharmaceutical company focused on vaccines and leveraging on oligoDOM®, a patented technology platform spun-off from Imaxio SA. Osivax focuses on its flagship project: OVX836, a breakthrough influenza vaccine candidate, with the goal to rapidly start a phase I clinical trial.

The company partners with international renown academic structures, including the Jenner Institute at Oxford University (UK), the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Inserm, CNRS and the Léon Bérard Cancer Center (France).

Osivax was founded in 2017 as a spin-off of Imaxio SA.

For further information: www.osivax.com