Vir Biotechnology, Inc. has announced the nomination of Norbert Bischofberger, Ph.D. and Ramy Farid, Ph.D. to its board of directors at its upcoming annual meeting of stockholders on May 29, 2024. If elected, each of Drs. Bischofberger and Farid will join the board on such date. The nomination of the two new independent directors demonstrates Vir’s commitment to ongoing board refreshment.
Dr. Bischofberger brings close to 40 years of experience as a biotech executive and in research and development leadership roles to the industry. He is currently the president and chief executive officer, and a member of the board of directors, of Kronos Bio, Inc. He was previously the executive vice president, research and development, and chief scientific officer at Gilead Sciences, Inc., where he presided over the development and approval of more than 25 medicines for a range of serious conditions. Dr. Bischofberger also serves on the board of directors of Morphic Therapeutic Inc., the supervisory board of Bayer AG, and the biopharma advisory board of Ginkgo Bioworks.
Dr. Farid is the president, chief executive officer, and a member of the board of directors at Schrödinger, Inc. He has played a key role in implementing major strategic initiatives and has served on the board of directors of several biopharmaceutical companies. Dr. Farid began his career in academia and has authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications.
The company also announced that Phillip Sharp, Ph.D. and Robert Perez will not stand for reelection at the annual meeting. Dr. Sharp is a Nobel laureate and a founding director of Vir, and Perez has been a member of Vir’s board since 2018.
These changes to the board of directors reflect Vir’s commitment to incorporating extensive mid-to-late-stage clinical development and computational/data sciences expertise to its discovery and clinical development programs, focused on infectious disease, viral-associated diseases, and immune targeting to help patients globally.
Vir Biotechnology, Inc. is an immunology company focused on powering the immune system to transform lives by treating and preventing infectious diseases and other serious conditions, including viral-associated diseases. The company has two technology platforms designed to modulate the immune system by exploiting critical observations of natural immune processes. Its current clinical development pipeline consists of product candidates targeting hepatitis delta and hepatitis b viruses and human immunodeficiency virus. Vir has several preclinical candidates in its pipeline, including those targeting influenza A and B, COVID-19, RSV/MPV, and HPV. Following these announcements, the company's shares moved -1.4%, and are now trading at a price of $8.13. Check out the company's full 8-K submission here.
