Appoints Emilio
Emini and Lauren Silvernail
to Board of Directors; Two Directors to Step Down at 2025 Annual
Meeting
Intends to Seek Stockholder Approval for
Declassification of Board at 2025 Annual Meeting
EMERYVILLE, Calif., Jan. 27,
2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Dynavax Technologies Corporation
(Nasdaq: DVAX) (the "Company"), a commercial-stage
biopharmaceutical company developing and commercializing innovative
vaccines, today announced the following changes to its Board of
Directors as part of its ongoing refreshment program:
- Emilio Emini, Ph.D. and
Lauren Silvernail have been
appointed to the Board, effective February
3, 2025. Dr. Emini will serve as a Class III director with
an initial term expiring at the Company's 2027 Annual Meeting and
Ms. Silvernail will serve as a Class I director with an initial
term expiring at the Company's 2025 Annual Meeting.
- Peggy Phillips, who has served
on the Dynavax Board since 2006, will retire from the Board at the
2025 Annual Meeting.
- Julie Eastland will step down
from the Board at the 2025 Annual Meeting given her recent
appointment as chief executive officer of another public
company.
- The Board expects to appoint Ms. Silvernail as Chair of the
Audit Committee and Scott Myers as
Chair of the Compensation Committee following the 2025 Annual
Meeting.
- The Board intends to seek stockholder approval at the 2025
Annual Meeting for the declassification of the Board. If
stockholders approve the proposal, directors standing for election
at the Company's 2026 Annual Meeting and thereafter will stand for
one-year terms. Beginning with the Company's 2028 Annual Meeting,
all directors will stand for election annually.
Following the 2025 Annual Meeting, the Board will be comprised
of nine directors, with six of its eight independent directors
having been appointed since 2020.
"Emilio and Lauren are two renowned leaders in their respective
fields and we expect that their tremendous expertise will be
immediately additive as the Company continues to execute its
strategic plan and deliver for our stakeholders. Emilio has been at
the forefront of some of the most notable vaccines and brings a
unique perspective at the intersection of R&D, academia and
public health and Lauren brings a track record of financial and
operational prowess and board leadership experience within the
biopharma space," said Scott Myers,
Chairman of the Dynavax Board of Directors. "On behalf of the
Board, I want to extend my gratitude to Peggy and Julie who have
made innumerable contributions to Dynavax's growth and success over
the years. Our ongoing efforts to refresh our Board with fresh
perspective and expertise and enhance our governance profile are
key pillars of our commitment to support Dynavax's long-term growth
objectives and the changes announced today underscore this
commitment."
Dr. Emini said, "Dynavax has an important mission, one that I
firmly share, and I am excited to work alongside the Board and the
Dynavax team, a group of world-class innovators and scientists
serving patients globally."
Ms. Silvernail said, "Dynavax is a clear category leader with
its lead asset, HEPLISAV-B, and I am eager to work with the Board
to help advance the Company's strategic and financial initiatives
to capitalize on its positive momentum."
"We have started 2025 with strong momentum, achieving record
annual revenue for HEPLISAV-B in 2024 and advancing our pipeline
programs, while returning capital to our stockholders with our
active $200 million share repurchase
program. Through the execution of our strategic growth pillars with
discipline and rigor, we will continue to focus on delivering value
for our stockholders and other stakeholders, and I am looking
forward to working alongside Emilio and Lauren as we look to
capture the significant opportunities ahead," said Ryan Spencer, Chief Executive Officer
of Dynavax.
About Emilio Emini
Dr. Emini brings over 40 years of experience as an executive and
academic across the biopharmaceutical industry and global public
health roles, helping to develop and deliver multiple
anti-infectious disease interventions. Prior to his retirement, Dr.
Emini served as Chief Executive Officer of the Bill & Melinda
Gates Medical Research Institute and as the Director of the
Foundation's Tuberculosis and HIV Programs. At the Merck Research
Laboratories, from 1983 to 2004, Dr. Emini led the biological
research that developed the first highly active antiretroviral
therapies for HIV and led multiple vaccine research teams that
contributed to many successful developments, including the vaccines
for human papillomavirus and rotavirus. Following a two-year leave
from the industry at the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, Dr.
Emini joined Wyeth/Pfizer as the Senior Vice President of Vaccine
R&D where he led the development of the Prevenar 13® vaccine
for prevention of pneumococcal disease. Dr. Emini holds a Bachelor
of Science from Manhattan College and a
Ph.D. in Microbiology from the Cornell
University Graduate School of Medicine.
About Lauren
Silvernail
Ms. Silvernail has three decades of experience leading finance
and business development functions across the pharmaceutical
industry. She most recently served as Chief Financial Officer and
Executive Vice President of Corporate Development of Evolus, Inc.,
from 2018 until her retirement in 2022, where she led fundraising,
financial and partnership activities including establishing the
infrastructure for the U.S. commercial launch of the company's
first approved product. Previously, she served as Chief Financial
Officer and Chief Business Officer at Revance Therapeutics, Inc.,
where she led the company's initial public offering and subsequent
rounds of financing. Prior to that, Ms. Silvernail was Chief
Financial Officer and Executive Vice President of Corporate
Development at ISTA Pharmaceuticals until its sale to Bausch &
Lomb. Prior to that, she held corporate development roles at
Allergan and other companies. Ms. Silvernail is currently a
director and Audit Committee Chair of Harrow and previously served
as a director and Audit Committee Chair at Harpoon Therapeutics
until its successful sale to Merck and a director and Corporate
Governance Committee chair at Nicox S.A. She earned an M.B.A. in
finance and accounting from the Anderson Graduate School of
Management at UCLA, and a B.A. in
Biophysics from the University of California,
Berkeley.
About Dynavax
Dynavax is a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company
developing and commercializing innovative vaccines to help protect
the world against infectious diseases. The Company has two
commercial products, HEPLISAV-B® vaccine [Hepatitis B Vaccine
(Recombinant), Adjuvanted], which is approved in the U.S., the
European Union and Great Britain
for the prevention of infection caused by all known subtypes of
hepatitis B virus in adults 18 years of age and older, and CpG
1018® adjuvant, currently used in HEPLISAV-B and multiple
adjuvanted COVID-19 vaccines. For more information about our
marketed products and development pipeline, visit
www.dynavax.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains "forward-looking" statements within
the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as
amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as
amended, which are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties.
All statements that are not historical facts are forward-looking
statements. Forward-looking statements can generally be identified
by the use of words such as "anticipate," "believe," "continue,"
"could," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "intend," "will," "may,"
"plan," "project," "potential," "seek," "should," "think,"
"toward," "will," "would" and similar expressions, or the negatives
thereof, or they may use future dates. Forward-looking statements
made in this document include statements regarding the Company's
plans to submit a declassification proposal at its 2025 Annual
Meeting, expected contributions from newly appointed directors, the
planned resignation of certain directors, anticipated committee
appointments, expectations regarding delivering value for our
stockholders, and our future growth and long-term performance.
Actual results may differ materially from those set forth in this
press release due to the risks and uncertainties inherent in our
business, including, the risk that circumstances surrounding or
leading up to our 2025 Annual Meeting may change, risks relating to
our ability to commercialize and supply HEPLISAV-B, and risks
related to the implementation of our long-term growth objectives,
as well as other risks detailed in the "Risk Factors" section of
our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the three months
ended September 30, 2024 and periodic filings made
thereafter, as well as discussions of potential risks,
uncertainties and other important factors in our other filings with
the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. These
forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof, are
qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement and we
undertake no obligation to revise or update information herein to
reflect events or circumstances in the future, even if new
information becomes available. Information
on Dynavax's website at www.dynavax.com is not
incorporated by reference in our current periodic reports with
the SEC.
For Investors/Media:
Paul Cox
pcox@dynavax.com
510-665-0499
Nicole Arndt
narndt@dynavax.com
510-665-7264
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SOURCE Dynavax Technologies
