SEATTLE, April 11, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TapImmune Inc. (OTCBB:TPIV) has announced that Robert Florkiewicz, Ph.D., has been appointed Senior Director of Molecular Biology & Virology.
"Bob has a unique combination of skills and experience in the fields of virology and molecular biology that encompasses both the science and intellectual property landscapes," said Mark Reddish, Head of Development. "His career of distinguished scientific work is made all the more valuable by his experience in the area of intellectual property and business development. His combined skills fit into our corporate development plans to expand our IP estate in support of our clinical programs and for leverage in potential partnerships."
Dr. Florkiewicz has experience in both academic and biotechnology environments. Most recently he conducted research on human embryonic stem-cell based therapies at the University of Washington. He was the Director of Cellular and Molecular Biology and co-founder of Ciblex Corporation, a spin-out from his laboratory at the Scripps Institute, San Diego. He was a patent agent at Seed Intellectual Law Group in Seattle and at ID Biomedical where he managed the Company's intellectual property portfolio prior to and through its acquisition by GSK. He has a Ph.D. in Molecular and Development Biology from the University of Arizona (focusing on the molecular biology of various RNA viruses) and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Salk Institute (focusing on the intracellular trafficking of proteins encoded by vesicular stomatitis virus). As a Research Scientist at Synergen, Inc. he helped establish the viral vector and animal cell expression group, and also discovered novel molecular mechanisms modulating FGF2 gene expression.
At TapImmune he will lead the team responsible for the design and testing of novel vectors expressing TAP and targeting immunologically modeled peptide antigen arrays associated with immunotherapies for treating cancer and infectious diseases.
About TapImmune Inc.
Taplmmune Inc. is a vaccine technologies company specializing in the development of innovative gene based immunotherapeutics and vaccines in the areas of oncology and infectious disease. The Company's lead product candidates, include vaccines designed to restore and augment antigen presentation and subsequent recognition and killing of cancer cells by the immune system. The Company is also developing TAP-based prophylactic vaccines commercially suitable for the prevention of infectious diseases and as Biodefense agents. As a vaccine component, the gene based TAP technology has the potential to significantly improve the efficacy of both prophylactic and immunotherapeutic vaccines as it addresses a fundamental mechanism for T cell recognition and response. Unlike other vaccine technologies that address only the initiation of immune responses, TAP expression also has the unique ability to enhance the effector function of mature killer T cells. This enhancement of effector function is potentially complementary to any/all vaccine approaches that are designed to enhance cellular responses. The Company is developing cancer vaccines that combine the use of novel antigens together with its TAP expression technology.
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