Codagenix Expands Senior Management Team With Three New Appointments

NEW YORK, March 17, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Codagenix Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing prophylactic vaccines and oncolytic virus therapies, today announced the expansion of its senior management team with three new appointments. Lisa Runco, Ph.D., has been named Director of Operations. Additionally, Sally Yang, M.S., R.A.C. has been appointed Associate Director of Regulatory Affairs, and Lasmy Tea, M.S., M.P.H., has been named Associate Director of Clinical Project Management.

"We are proud to announce the appointment of these three vastly experienced individuals to the growing management team at Codagenix and look forward to benefitting from their expertise as Codagenix anticipates multiple, significant growth opportunities throughout the year," said J. Robert Coleman, Ph.D., CEO of Codagenix. "The ongoing development of COVI-VAC, our single-dose, live attenuated COVID-19 vaccine, has brought considerable attention to Codagenix's diverse portfolio of vaccines and our Synthetic Attenuated Virus Engineering (SAVE) platform. Sally, Lasmy and Lisa will be instrumental to maximizing this potential by advancing key operational, regulatory and clinical initiatives."

Dr. Runco added, "The growth at Codagenix over the past year has been substantial, paralleling the rapid advance of COVI-VAC, which went from concept-to-clinic in less than nine months. As Director of Operations, I welcome the opportunity to work with our executive management team, as well as our newly appointed team leaders, to ensure that our operations continue to support our current initiatives, while building out capacity to enable Codagenix to quickly capitalize on future opportunities."

Sally Yang -- Associate Director of Regulatory Affairs
Ms. Yang is a veteran advisor to biotechnology companies on regulatory issues and has held a number of positions of increasing seniority at several consulting and services firms. In her most recent post as Associate Director of Regulatory Program Management at Synchrogenix, she oversaw multiple drug development programs, advised on large regulatory submissions to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other regulatory bodies, and developed multifaceted regulatory programs. Previously, at Clinical Network Services, Ms. Yang authored FDA submissions and correspondences, developed standard operating procedures and assisted with FDA Advisory Committee meetings. Ms. Yang received a M.S. in Applied Life Science from the Keck Graduate Institute at The Claremont Colleges. In 2015, she received a Regulatory Affairs Certification (RAC), the only post-academic professional credential for regulatory professionals in the healthcare product sector.

Lasmy Tea -- Associate Director of Clinical Project Management
Ms. Tea has more than a decade of experience coordinating global, multi-site clinical trials and managing data collection. Before joining Codagenix, she oversaw startup activities for Phase 1 clinical trial sites at Alucent Biomedical. Prior to that, Ms. Tea held a number of positions at academic research centers and biotechnology companies. She managed an international Phase 3 clinical trial at Axsome Therapeutics, implemented and maintained cancer clinical trials at the Huntsman Cancer Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, and managed laboratory vendors and contract research organizations for the former Ophthotech, now known as IVERIC Bio. Ms. Tea holds a M.P.H. in Global Public Health from New York University and a M.S. in Information Management from Columbia University.

Dr. Lisa Runco – Director of Operations
Dr. Runco started at Codagenix in a full-time capacity after serving for more than five years as an outside consultant to the company. Prior to joining Codagenix full-time, Dr. Runco worked in the academic sector, as a director of research at a private high school and an assistant professor at the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) where she conducted research in the fields of molecular biology and microbiology. While at NYIT, Dr. Runco co-founded the Advanced Research Core, a collaborative research program, and served as co-director of a combined Baccalaureate/ Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree program. Dr. Runco earned a Ph.D. in molecular genetics and microbiology in 2007 from Stony Brook University, where she also served as a research associate and instructor.

About Codagenix, Inc.
Codagenix is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing prophylactic vaccines and oncolytic virus therapies. The company's breakthrough Synthetic Attenuated Virus Engineering (SAVE) platform utilizes a computer algorithm to recode the genomes of viruses and construct live-attenuated vaccines to prevent viral infections or treat solid tumors. Codagenix has demonstrated its live-attenuated viruses stimulate a robust T cell and antibody immune response but are non-pathogenic. Codagenix possesses a deep pipeline of clinical and pre-clinical programs including vaccine candidates for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 (COVI-VAC); respiratory syncytial virus (CodaVax^TM-RSV) in Phase I testing; influenza (CodaVax^TM-H1N1); dengue virus; and triple negative breast cancer (using a rationally designed virus). To date, as part of Phase 1 clinical studies, 194 healthy volunteers ranging in age from 18 to 75 years old have received Codagenix vaccines. Codagenix was founded based on technology developed in the laboratory of National Academy of Science member Dr. Eckard Wimmer at Stony Brook University, and is supported by Adjuvant Capital, TopSpin Partners, and Euclidean Capital. The company has ongoing research and license programs with various federal agencies.

Media Contacts:
Tiberend Strategic Advisors, Inc. 
Johanna Bennett & Ingrid Mezo
[email protected] / 1-212-375-2686
[email protected] / 1-646-604-5150

SOURCE Codagenix Inc.