SpyBiotech announces the appointments of Dan Menichella as Non-Executive Director and Dr Norman Begg as Scientific Advisor

Published on 8 Mar 2021

Oxford, U.K., March 8, 2021: SpyBiotech, a British biotechnology company with a novel vaccine platform technology targeting infectious diseases, cancer and chronic diseases, today announces the appointments of Dan Menichella as an independent, non-executive director and Norman Begg as a scientific advisor.

Mr Menichella brings with him over 20 years of executive and leadership experience within the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. He is currently CEO of Kaleido Biosciences, a clinical-stage healthcare company based in Massachusetts with a differentiated, chemistry-driven approach to targeting the microbiome to treat disease and improve human health. Prior to joining Kaleido Biosciences, he was CEO of CureVac NV. Formerly, Mr Menichella held the position of Chief Business Officer at several companies, including Bamboo Therapeutics, Applied Genetic Technologies Corporation (AGTC) and Zyngenia. He earned his Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University and his Master of Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Norman is a physician with over 30 years’ clinical and research experience in the prevention and control of infectious disease. During his career, he has held a number of leadership roles in both public health and the private sector. For 18 years, he served at GSK, where he held the role of Chief Medical Officer of the Global Vaccines business, among others. Among his public sector roles, he was a consultant in public health medicine at the Communicable Disease Surveillance Centre. During his tenure, he supported the implementation of several new vaccines (including Hib, Men C, MMR), developed a new system for monitoring vaccine coverage in the UK and wrote several national guidelines. He is currently a Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of CureVac NV.

The appointments follow a pivotal year for SpyBiotech, which in February announced that it had raised $32.5 million in a Series A equity financing. The company can now advance clinical development of its internal lead candidate, targeting human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), using its novel vaccine technology platform based on its proprietary SpyCatcher/SpyTag protein “superglue” technology. The platform technology has potential applicability across a range of infectious diseases and therapy areas, including oncology.

Lutz B. Giebel, Chairman, SpyBiotech, said:

“I am delighted to welcome colleagues of such calibre to SpyBiotech. Dan and Norman are both accomplished in their respective fields and their appointments will add invaluable, independent perspectives on vaccine development and commercialization.

“Along with these appointments, recent developments show the pace at which SpyBiotech is growing and, as we mark a strong start to the year, we are excited to further accelerate our development through 2021. I am confident Dan and Norman will have an immediate impact as we continue to scale.”

ENDS

For further information contact:

Powerscourt (Public Relations)

Sarah MacLeod T: +44 7747 602739

Jessica Hodgson T: +44 7561 424788

spybiotech@powerscourt-group.com

Notes for editors

About SpyBiotech

SpyBiotech is a British biotechnology company with a novel vaccine platform technology to target infectious diseases, cancer and chronic diseases.

Based on science developed at the University of Oxford, SpyBiotech’s novel vaccine platform is based on a proprietary protein “superglue” technology which binds antigens to vaccine delivery platforms in a way which minimises delivery risk and enhances immunogenicity and efficacy.

The technology is one of the safest and most effective ways to create vaccines: cost-effective and highly scalable. This makes it ideal for use against infectious diseases in challenging environments, such as in the developing world, but also with potential application in non-infectious disease settings such as cancer.

SpyBiotech has the exclusive rights from the University of Oxford to apply, commercialise and sub-license the SpyTag/SpyCatcher technology in vaccine development.

The company’s lead candidate is against human cytomegalovirus (HCMV), with clinical studies planned for 2022 and the company sees a range of development opportunities in infectious diseases and beyond. In 2020, SpyBiotech signed an exclusive global licensing agreement with the Serum Institute of India for the development of a novel virus-like-particle (VLP) vaccine targeting COVID-19.

SpyBiotech is supported by high quality investors including Braavos Investment Advisers, Oxford Sciences Innovation (OSI), the capital investor for the University of Oxford, and GV (formerly Google Ventures). The company has raised $39 million in funding to date.