Vaxart Appoints Dr. James F. Cummings as Chief Medical Officer
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Dr. Cummings Brings Nearly Three Decades of Experience to New Role
SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Sept. 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Vaxart, Inc. (NASDAQ: VXRT), today announced the appointment of James F. Cummings, M.D., as the Company’s Chief Medical Officer (CMO). Dr. Cummings is a Board-Certified Infectious Diseases Physician with extensive experience in vaccine, drug and diagnostics development. He joins Vaxart as the Company prepares to begin its Phase II clinical trials for COVID-19 with an oral tablet formulation.
“We are excited to have a professional of Dr. Cummings’ caliber join Vaxart at this pivotal time to advance our COVID-19 and norovirus vaccine late-stage clinical programs and guide our growing portfolio of oral vaccine candidates,” said Vaxart Chief Executive Officer, Andrei Floroiu. “As we develop innovative solutions to benefit global public health through oral tablet vaccines, his clinical trial experience, expertise in vaccine development, and robust industry network will help Vaxart achieve our strategic objectives.”
“Vaxart’s oral vaccine tablet could transform preventative medicine and allow us to protect more people,” said Dr. Cummings. “Bringing Vaxart’s potentially game-changing tablet vaccine to market will make it easier to vaccinate the global population as we continue our fight against COVID-19 and other potentially deadly diseases including norovirus and flu. I am grateful for the chance to be a part of this dynamic team and join their mission to improve human health through preventative medicines.”
Dr. Cummings brings a 26-year career in the U.S. Army serving as Director of the Department of Defense’s Global Emerging Infectious Surveillance and Response System (GEIS), with Biosurveillance Laboratories in 71 countries, Director of Translational Medicine & Regulated Activities for the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR), and Consultant to the Surgeon General for all medical research and development. Before joining Vaxart, Dr. Cummings served as President, Government and Public Health Solutions at Icon GPHS, the federal business unit of Icon PLC, a leading global Contract Research Organization (CRO), and Vice President of Clinical Development and Translational Medicine at Novavax. He joined Vaxart earlier this month.
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