Pevion Biotech appoints Dr. Christian A. Spyr to be Head of Project Management & Clinical Development

Press release

Ittigen, November 23, 2009 – Pevion Biotech Ltd. today announced that Dr. Christian A. Spyr has been appointed head of Project Management & Clinical Development. In his new role he will be responsible for advancing the company’s candidate vaccines through state-of-the-art clinical development and ensuring compliance with today’s regulations.
Prior to joining Pevion Biotech Ltd., Dr. Spyr held various senior positions at Berna Biotech Ltd. (Bern, Switzerland, later part of Crucell N.V.) in the fields of influenza and pediatric combination vaccines. He has more than 10 years of experience in industrial vaccine development.

»We are delighted to welcome Christian Spyr to our management board«, said CEO Thomas Stauffer. »Pevion Biotech’s objective is to develop product candidates that fully comply with both the demands and standards of the pharmaceutical industry. Christian brings the necessary experience to our company and will make significant contributions to achieve this goal. He has successfully led development projects through various development phases up to market launch. His appointment is a great opportunity for Pevion Biotech.«

Dr. Spyr started his industry career as a Clinical Development Manager at Berna Biotech Ltd., where he was responsible for the clinical development of influenza vaccines in all phases of development. After four years, the company deployed him as a Project Manager to its South Korean subsidiary. There he led a cross-functional, multinational and multicultural team in the development of pediatric combination vaccines. This work resulted in the successful launch of Quinvaxem®, a pentavalent vaccine for immunization against five childhood diseases now widely used in the developing world. Upon the merger of Berna Biotech Ltd with Crucell N.V., Dr. Spyr was appointed to the position of Program Director overseeing life cycle activities for Quinvaxem®, ranging from obtaining market authorization in new markets to projects aimed at further developing the product. Dr. Spyr returned to Switzerland in 2008 after having worked in South Korea for five years. Christian Spyr obtained his PhD from the University of Bern, Switzerland, where he was engaged in basic research on the relationship of viral structure and function.

About Pevion Biotech
Pevion Biotech is a privately owned Swiss biopharmaceutical company focusing on the preclinical and clinical development of vaccines to prevent/treat infectious diseases and cancer. For its vaccine development, the company uses its virosome-based technology which is already validated by two registered and marketed vaccines. The combination of the virosome technology with novel or clinically validated antigens substantially reduces the known risk in biopharmaceutical product development and permits the targeting of diseases for which so far no appropriate treatment is available. Pevion Biotech’s product candidates address diseases of unmet medical needs, including prophylactic or therapeutic vaccines against breast cancer, candidiasis, RSV and influenza. Three virosome-based vaccine candidates are currently in clinical development.

For further questions, please contact:
Miriam Peters, Tel: +41 31 550 44 01, miriam.peters@pevion.com, www.pevion.com