Director of Center for Vaccine Equity at The Task Force for Global Health will bring global health perspective and experience to guide the development of company’s new vaccine technology.

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts July 15th, 2016

Vaxess Technologies, Inc., an innovative life sciences company developing a novel vaccine stabilization and delivery technology, announced today that Mark McKinlay, Ph.D., has joined the company as an uncompensated advisor. Dr. McKinlay will play a key role to guide the current growth phase, in particular in implementing global health strategies aimed at increasing vaccine access. Vaxess’s proprietary platform harnesses the unique properties of fibroin, a protein derived from naturally sourced silk fibers, to greatly improve the thermal stability of vaccine products and enable novel delivery formats. Vaccines incorporating Vaxess’ technology can alleviate cold-chain constraints on global vaccine access and reduce distribution costs, and are easier to administer thanks to improved delivery formats.

Widely regarded as a leading expert on poliovirus antivirals and vaccines, Dr. McKinlay is currently the Director for the Center for Vaccine Equity (CVE) at The Task Force for Global Health in Decatur, GA. CVE’s mission is to reduce the burden of vaccine-preventable diseases in developing countries, particularly influenza, cholera, and polio. Mark also serves as Director of The Task Force’s Polio Antivirals Initiative which aims to develop novel drugs to treat immune deficient individuals who excrete poliovirus as a result of immunization. Prior to joining The Task Force, Dr. McKinlay was co-founder, Chief Scientific Officer and Senior Vice President for Research and Development of TetraLogic Pharmaceuticals, co-founder and Vice President of R&D of ViroPharma Incorporated (acquired in 2014 by Shire) and Senior Director, Virology and Oncopharmacology in the research group at Sterling Drug where he discovered a novel class of antipicornavirus agents presently being developed to treat poliovirus infections in immune deficient poliovirus excreters.

“I am honored to have the opportunity to assist Vaxess in the development of this exciting technology,” said Mark McKinlay, “It has the potential to help us overcome a number of big hurdles to increase access to life-saving vaccines for children living in developing countries”.

“As Vaxess grows, we need to develop innovative partnerships to advance our global health mission, and Mark’s experience in the vaccines for use in developing countries as well as his entrepreneurial successes will be crucial for Vaxess’s success,” said Livio Valenti, Vaxess Vice President of Policy and Strategy.

About Vaxess Technologies

Vaxess Technologies is an innovative life sciences company based in the Kendall Square innovation district in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Formed in 2012 by founders from Harvard and Tufts Universities, our company is developing proprietary technologies based on a silk biopolymer platform for encapsulating and stabilizing biological compounds. We work with our partners to develop therapeutic and diagnostic products that are highly innovative in presentation format and robust under extreme environmental conditions. For more information please visit the company website at www.vaxess.com or send additional inquiries to contact@vaxess.com.