INTREPID Alliance Appoints Scientific Advisory Board to Drive Antiviral Research and Protect Global Public Health

Renowned experts in virology, immunology, and drug development will help guide INTREPID's efforts to accelerate breakthrough antiviral therapies for emerging viral pandemic agents

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Oct. 22, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The INTREPID Alliance, a consortium of innovative biopharmaceutical companies dedicated to accelerating the development of antiviral treatments to help protect the world ahead of future pandemics, today announced the formation of its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB). Comprising experts in infectious disease research, drug development, innovation and global public health, the SAB will work closely with INTREPID to strengthen its goals to improve pandemic preparedness, and to accelerate the development of potentially life-saving treatments for emerging viral pandemic agents.

Specifically, the SAB will provide expert guidance to INTREPID on antiviral research priorities, advising on emerging trends, program strategy, and key scientific issues. It will also interpret landscape data, and help shape long-term strategies to enhance pandemic preparedness.

Ruxandra Draghia-Akli, M.D., Ph.D., who was announced as the inaugural chair of the SAB earlier this year, brings to this advisory group a proven track record of driving the discovery, development, and commercialization of pioneering products that advance public health. She is the future Executive Vice President and Head of Research & Development at Novavax where she will be responsible for the company's expanded R&D strategy. In her previous role at Johnson & Johnson, Dr. Draghia-Akli built a leading Global Public Health R&D organization, delivering groundbreaking innovation to address climate-related, emerging, and entrenched health threats, such as dengue, coronaviruses, antimicrobial resistance, tuberculosis, and leprosy. Known for fostering impactful partnerships, she has also led key initiatives such as European Commission's Health Research and Innovation Program, including the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI), and co-chaired the ACTIV Therapeutics Clinical Working Group of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I am honored to serve as the inaugural chair of the INTREPID Alliance Scientific Advisory Board," said Dr. Draghia-Akli. "Antiviral treatments are a fundamental part of the world's collective defense against new and known viruses – but to achieve this defense, we must catalyze efforts to fill current pipeline gaps. Together with INTREPID members, collaborators and my esteemed SAB colleagues, I look forward to helping shape a stronger pipeline for antiviral research, in order to ensure better preparedness against endemic and pandemic threats and deliver the next generation of life-saving medicines."

The SAB members include:

Constance Benson, M.D., Professor of Medicine and Global Public Health, Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health, University of California San Diego

Dr. Benson is an internationally-recognized clinical and translational researcher and clinician working in the fields of HIV and tuberculosis since 1984 – and more recently, SARS-CoV-2. She is a Professor of Medicine and Global Public Health, Senior Attending Physician, the Co-Director of the Antiviral Research Center, and the Principal Investigator for the HIV Collaborative Clinical Trials Unit within the Division of Infectious Diseases and Global Public Health at University of California, San Diego (UCSD). From 2003 - 2010 Dr. Benson led the NIH/NIAID AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG) Network. Her current major areas of research interest include Mycobacterium tuberculosis, other non-tuberculous mycobacterial diseases, new antiretroviral drug development, and the treatment of emerging infectious diseases in resource-limited settings.

Kelly Chibale, Ph.D., Neville Isdell Chair in African-centric Drug Discovery and Development, University of Cape Town

Dr. Chibale is a full Professor of Organic Chemistry at the University of Cape Town (UCT), where he holds the Neville Isdell Chair in African-centric Drug Discovery & Development.  He is also a Schmidt Sciences AI2050 Senior Fellow, and the Founder and Director of the UCT Holistic Drug Discovery and Development (H3D) Centre and H3D Foundation. His research interests are in infectious disease drug discovery and the development of tools and models to contribute to improving treatment outcomes in people of African descent. In recognition of his pioneering work, Dr. Chibale was named one of Fortune magazine's 50 World's Greatest Leaders in 2018, among many other esteemed awards and honors he's received. He currently serves as Editor-In-Chief of the American Chemical Society (ACS)'s ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters.

Barry Clinch, Ph.D., Consultant and Director, Pottersheath Associates Ltd.

Dr. Clinch is an independent consultant specializing in all aspects of clinical development strategy for pharma and biotech clients in the infectious disease space. With 25 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, he previously served as Global Head of Infectious Disease at Roche, where he led clinical science activities to support the development, filing and life-cycle management of high-profile influenza antivirals. He also worked closely with early development on therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) for influenza and novel antibiotics for gram negative infections. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Clinch played a key role in shaping Roche's strategic response and expanded the infectious disease team to support global filing activities for mAbs and global clinical development of a small molecule direct acting antiviral, in partnership with Regeneron and Atea respectively.

Ken Duncan, Ph.D., Deputy Director, Discovery and Translational Sciences, Gates Foundation

Dr. Duncan joined the Gates Foundation in 2007, where he leads the drug discovery program in tuberculosis (TB), malaria, antivirals and contraception. In this role, he established the TB Drug Accelerator to facilitate collaboration across industry, academia, and non-profit teams to speed up drug discovery research. He also played a major role in launching the Global Health Drug Discovery Institute in Beijing, China. Dr. Duncan currently serves on the Selection Committee of the Global Health Innovative Technology Fund in Japan and is a member of the Governing Board of the Tres Cantos Open Lab Foundation in Spain. Before joining the Foundation, Ken spent 16 years at GSK, most recently as Director, Diseases of the Developing World.

Daria Hazuda, Ph.D., Head of Infectious Disease and Vaccine Research, Generate:Biomedicines

Dr. Hazuda is a renowned expert in infectious disease and vaccine research, currently serving as Head of Infectious Disease and Vaccine Research at Generate:Biomedicines. Before joining Generate:Biomedicines, she spent 30 years at Merck where she held positions of increasing responsibility managing cross-functional research resulting in multiple approved drugs and vaccines including antivirals for HIV, hepatitis C, and cytomegalovirus, as well as antibacterials. Notably, Dr. Hazuda led research efforts that identified the first-in-class HIV integrase inhibitor, which won the 2008 Prix Galien award. Dr. Hazuda retired from Merck as the Vice President of Infectious Disease and Vaccines and Chief Scientific Officer of the Cambridge Research site.

Johan Neyts, Ph.D., Full Professor of Virology, University of Leuven (KU Leuven)

Dr. Neyts is a full Professor of Virology at the University of Leuven (KU Leuven), Belgium where he teaches at the medical and dental schools. He is an expert in developing antiviral strategies and drugs against emerging and neglected viral infections, including dengue, Chikungunya and other alphaviruses, enteroviruses, noroviruses, hepatitis D and E viruses, rabies and coronaviruses. Together with the Centre for Drug Design & Development, his lab developed a candidate pan-serotype dengue inhibitor. He also co-developed a Phase 1 vaccine platform and is the founder of the KU Leuven spin-off AstriVax. Dr. Neyts is a past president of the International Society for Antiviral Research and leads the Belgian VirusBank platform, a €20 million investment of the Belgian Federal Government in epidemic/pandemic preparedness, which he also co-founded.

ABOUT THE INTREPID ALLIANCE

The INTREPID Alliance aims to accelerate the development of new treatments for emerging viral pandemic agents through facilitating early science and R&D, policy and advocacy, and stakeholder engagement. Led by a not-for-profit consortium of innovative biopharmaceutical companies and working with the public, private and not-for-profit sectors, INTREPID works to bridge key gaps and unmet needs to ensure delivery of antiviral solutions to viral pathogens with the greatest pandemic potential.

INTREPID was launched in March 2023 at a high-level summit bringing together more than 100 thought leaders in virology and global health. For a read-out from the summit and additional information, visit www.intrepidalliance.org.

SOURCE INTREPID Alliance