ROCKVILLE, Md., Feb. 1, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Novavax, Inc. (Nasdaq:NVAX) announced today the appointment of Mr. Mervyn L. Hamer to the position of Vice President of Manufacturing. In this role, Mr. Hamer will have responsibility for manufacturing at both the Rockville and Gaithersburg, MD locations, with oversight of Materials Management, Clinical Manufacturing, Facilities, Environmental, Health & Safety, and Security.
Mr. Hamer joined Novavax in January 2012 as Vice President, Manufacturing, bringing with him more than 30 years of experience in the pharmaceuticals and biotechnology manufacturing industry. Prior to joining Novavax, he was Vice President of Supply Chain Management and Engineering at Intercell USA and Vice President of Operations at Iomai Corporation, its predecessor company. While there, he guided a novel vaccine technology into Phase 3 development, leading the product, process, and facility designs to achieve a commercial scale manufacturing operation. Before joining Iomai, Merv was Technical Director at PATH responsible for manufacturing technology transfer to developing country vaccine and pharma product manufacturers. Prior to PATH, he worked at Alza Corporation for nine years, where he led the establishment of a commercial manufacturing facility in Vacaville, CA for a variety of controlled release dosage forms and became Director of Manufacturing.
Mr. Hamer received his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
"We are very pleased to have someone with Merv's experience in GMP manufacturing join Novavax at this time when we are bringing a new facility on line and continuing to manufacture clinical trial material in our current facility for our flu and RSV vaccine programs," commented Timothy J. Hahn, SVP, Manufacturing and Process Development.
About Novavax
Novavax, Inc. (Nasdaq:NVAX) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company creating novel vaccines to address a broad range of infectious diseases worldwide. Using innovative virus-like particle (VLP) and recombinant nanoparticle technology, as well as new and efficient manufacturing approaches, the company produces potent vaccine candidates to combat diseases, with the goal of allowing countries to better prepare for and more effectively respond to rapidly spreading infections. Novavax is committed to using its technology platforms to create geographic-specific vaccine solutions and is therefore involved in several international partnerships, including collaborations with Cadila Pharmaceuticals of India and LG Life Sciences of Korea. Together, these companies have worldwide commercialization capacity and the global reach to create real and lasting change in the biopharmaceutical field. Additional information about Novavax is available on the company's website: www.novavax.com.