Altravax Announces the Appointment of Dr. Sean X. Du as Chief Operating Officer

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Altravax, Inc. today announced the appointment of Dr. Sean X. Du to the role of Chief Operating Officer. He joins Altravax from Simcere Pharmaceuticals Group SCR where he was Executive Director, Institute of Vaccine Research. Dr. Du established Simcere's R&D capabilities for new generation vaccines and was also involved in the evaluation of vaccine-related collaborations and M&A opportunities. He led preclinical development of both a therapeutic hepatitis B vaccine and Vero-cell-based rabies vaccine, with the later program achieving a clinical filing to the Chinese SFDA. Prior to joining Simcere, he was Senior Scientist and Project Leader at Maxygen, Inc. focusing on vaccines for infectious diseases, and subsequently a co-founder of Altravax. Dr. Du holds a B.S. degree from Shandong University, an M. S. degree from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (Beijing), and a Ph.D. from the University of Delaware. He also received postdoctoral training at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons before joining Maxygen in 2001.

“Sean brings a strong combination of vaccine product-development expertise along with his experience in business development,” said Michael Chambers, CEO of Altravax. “I am looking forward to working with him and the Altravax Management Team to advance our products, forge corporate partnership, and secure additional funding for the Company's activities.”

James Burgum, Chairman of Altravax's Board of Directors, added: “As Altravax continues to grow and develop innovative solutions to improve global health, I am confident that Sean— with his extensive product development background and strong business development acumen—will help raise the company to the next level. We are very excited to welcome Sean to the Altravax team.”

About Altravax

Altravax, Inc. is a privately held biopharmaceutical company incorporated in North Dakota with research and development as well as business development activities in Sunnyvale, CA. Altravax has acquired exclusive rights to a novel therapeutic hepatitis B vaccine program and a preventative dengue vaccine program. Altravax uses its proven Immunogen Optimization System (IOS) technology platform to develop first-in-class or best-in-class products to fight infectious diseases or treat other indications to improve global health outcomes.