Management

Vijay B. Samant, President and Chief Executive Officer Vijay B. Samant joined us as President and Chief Executive Officer in November 2000. Mr. Samant has 23 years of diverse U.S. and international sales, marketing, operations, and business development experience with Merck. From 1998 to mid-2000, he was Chief Operating Officer of the Merck Vaccine Division. From 1990 to 1998, he served in the Merck Manufacturing Division as Vice President of Vaccine Operations, Vice President of Business Affairs, and Executive Director of Materials Management. Mr. Samant earned a master's degree in management studies from the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1983. He received a master's degree in chemical engineering from Columbia University in 1977 and a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Bombay, University Department of Chemical Technology, in 1975. Mr. Samant has been a member of the Board of Directors for Raptor Pharmaceutical since 2011, and was a member of the Board of Directors for BioMarin Pharmaceutical from 2002 to 2004. Mr. Samant was a Director of the Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation (Rockville, MD) from 2001 to 2010; a member of the Board of Trustees for the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID, Bethesda, MD) from 2003 to 2012; and a member of the Board of Trustees for the International Vaccine Institute (IVI, Seoul, Korea) from 2008 to 2012.
Alain P. Rolland, Pharm.D., Ph.D., Executive Vice President, Product Development Alain P. Rolland, Pharm.D., Ph.D., joined us as Vice President, Product Development in August 2002, was promoted to Senior Vice President in April 2004 and Executive Vice President in January 2009. Dr. Rolland was Senior Vice President of Pre-Clinical Research and Development, and Head of The Woodlands Center of Valentis, Inc. from 2000 to 2002. From 1993 to 1999, he served in several positions at a predecessor company to Valentis, Inc., GeneMedicine, Inc., where he progressed from Director of Gene Delivery to Vice President of Research. From 1989 to 1993, he was the Head of Formulation Research at the Research & Development Center of Galderma International, or CIRD, in France. Prior to that, he was a scientist at the Advanced Drug Delivery Research Center of Ciba Geigy Pharmaceuticals in the United Kingdom. He received his Pharm.D., D.E.A., and Ph.D. degrees from Rennes University, France. Dr. Rolland holds several U.S. and European patents on advanced drug and gene delivery for medical applications. He has authored numerous publications and books in the area of nonviral gene delivery resulting from his active career in research and development. He also serves on the editorial board of several journals and he is the Editor-in-Chief of "Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology."
Igor P. Bilinsky, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Corporate Development Igor P. Bilinsky, Ph.D., joined us as Senior Vice President, Corporate Development in October 2010. Prior to joining Vical, Dr. Bilinsky was Vice President, Business Development and Special Operations at Halozyme Therapeutics since January 2008, after joining the company in 2007 as Executive Director, Corporate Development and Special Operations. From 2005 to 2007, Dr. Bilinsky was Chief Executive Officer of Androclus Therapeutics, a privately-held biotechnology company developing novel therapeutics for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. He joined Androclus in 2004 as Chief Operating Officer. From 1999 to 2004, Dr. Bilinsky served in positions of increasing responsibility as a management consultant, project leader and ultimately as principal in the healthcare practice of the Boston Consulting Group, where he advised companies in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and life science industries on business strategy, operational performance and mergers and acquisitions. Prior to joining the Boston Consulting Group, Dr. Bilinsky also worked in research positions at Symyx Technologies and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Lincoln Laboratory. Dr. Bilinsky received his B.S. degree in physics from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and his Ph.D. degree in physics from MIT.
Mammen P. "Anza" Mammen, Jr., M.D., Vice President, Clinical Vaccines Mammen P. “Anza” Mammen, Jr., M.D., joined us as Vice President, Clinical Vaccines in November 2012. Prior to joining Vical, Dr. Mammen retired as a colonel after a 21-year career in the Army Medical Corps, most recently as Infectious Disease Consultant and Chief, Pandemic Warning Team, U.S. Department of Defense. From 2006 to 2010, he served as the Army’s Product Manager for vaccines in Advanced Development against dengue, hepatitis E, and HIV viruses for the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (USAMRMC). He was Chief, Department of Virology, the Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences (AFRIMS), Thailand, from 2001 to 2006 when he managed U.S. Food and Drug Administration-regulated vaccine field studies. His previous assignments include serving as Infectious Disease Officer, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR), and Chief, Internal Medicine Clinic, 121st General Hospital, Seoul, South Korea. Dr. Mammen received his M.D. degree from the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine and is Board-certified in Infectious Diseases. He has been elected as Fellow by the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA) and the American College of Physicians (ACP). He received his Internal Medicine and Infectious Disease clinical training from the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He earned a B.A. degree in mathematics from Williams College.
Larry R. Smith, Ph.D., Vice President, Vaccine Research Larry R. Smith, Ph.D., joined us as Executive Director, Vaccinology in September 2003, and was named Vice President, Vaccine Research in October 2006. Dr. Smith was Director of Viral Vaccines Research at Wyeth Vaccines, where he oversaw the immunogenicity testing of various viral vaccines including a number of recombinant viral vectors. Prior to joining Wyeth in 1996, Dr. Smith was a Scientific Investigator at Immune Response Corporation, where he identified autoreactive T cell targets in psoriasis and multiple sclerosis which led to the clinical testing of several therapeutic vaccine candidates. Dr. Smith received a B.S. degree in Biology from Purdue University, a Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Texas Medical Branch, and was a postdoctoral fellow in the Immunology Department at Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation.

Vijay B. Samant, President and Chief Executive Officer

Vijay B. Samant joined us as President and Chief Executive Officer in November 2000. Mr. Samant has 23 years of diverse U.S. and international sales, marketing, operations, and business development experience with Merck. From 1998 to mid-2000, he was Chief Operating Officer of the Merck Vaccine Division. From 1990 to 1998, he served in the Merck Manufacturing Division as Vice President of Vaccine Operations, Vice President of Business Affairs, and Executive Director of Materials Management. Mr. Samant earned a master's degree in management studies from the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1983. He received a master's degree in chemical engineering from Columbia University in 1977 and a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Bombay, University Department of Chemical Technology, in 1975. Mr. Samant has been a member of the Board of Directors for Raptor Pharmaceutical since 2011, and was a member of the Board of Directors for BioMarin Pharmaceutical from 2002 to 2004. Mr. Samant was a Director of the Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation (Rockville, MD) from 2001 to 2010; a member of the Board of Trustees for the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID, Bethesda, MD) from 2003 to 2012; and a member of the Board of Trustees for the International Vaccine Institute (IVI, Seoul, Korea) from 2008 to 2012.

Alain P. Rolland, Pharm.D., Ph.D., Executive Vice President, Product Development

Alain P. Rolland, Pharm.D., Ph.D., joined us as Vice President, Product Development in August 2002, was promoted to Senior Vice President in April 2004 and Executive Vice President in January 2009. Dr. Rolland was Senior Vice President of Pre-Clinical Research and Development, and Head of The Woodlands Center of Valentis, Inc. from 2000 to 2002. From 1993 to 1999, he served in several positions at a predecessor company to Valentis, Inc., GeneMedicine, Inc., where he progressed from Director of Gene Delivery to Vice President of Research. From 1989 to 1993, he was the Head of Formulation Research at the Research & Development Center of Galderma International, or CIRD, in France. Prior to that, he was a scientist at the Advanced Drug Delivery Research Center of Ciba Geigy Pharmaceuticals in the United Kingdom. He received his Pharm.D., D.E.A., and Ph.D. degrees from Rennes University, France. Dr. Rolland holds several U.S. and European patents on advanced drug and gene delivery for medical applications. He has authored numerous publications and books in the area of nonviral gene delivery resulting from his active career in research and development. He also serves on the editorial board of several journals and he is the Editor-in-Chief of "Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology."

Igor P. Bilinsky, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Corporate Development

Igor P. Bilinsky, Ph.D., joined us as Senior Vice President, Corporate Development in October 2010. Prior to joining Vical, Dr. Bilinsky was Vice President, Business Development and Special Operations at Halozyme Therapeutics since January 2008, after joining the company in 2007 as Executive Director, Corporate Development and Special Operations. From 2005 to 2007, Dr. Bilinsky was Chief Executive Officer of Androclus Therapeutics, a privately-held biotechnology company developing novel therapeutics for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. He joined Androclus in 2004 as Chief Operating Officer. From 1999 to 2004, Dr. Bilinsky served in positions of increasing responsibility as a management consultant, project leader and ultimately as principal in the healthcare practice of the Boston Consulting Group, where he advised companies in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and life science industries on business strategy, operational performance and mergers and acquisitions. Prior to joining the Boston Consulting Group, Dr. Bilinsky also worked in research positions at Symyx Technologies and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Lincoln Laboratory. Dr. Bilinsky received his B.S. degree in physics from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and his Ph.D. degree in physics from MIT.

Mammen P. "Anza" Mammen, Jr., M.D., Vice President, Clinical Vaccines

Mammen P. “Anza” Mammen, Jr., M.D., joined us as Vice President, Clinical Vaccines in November 2012. Prior to joining Vical, Dr. Mammen retired as a colonel after a 21-year career in the Army Medical Corps, most recently as Infectious Disease Consultant and Chief, Pandemic Warning Team, U.S. Department of Defense. From 2006 to 2010, he served as the Army’s Product Manager for vaccines in Advanced Development against dengue, hepatitis E, and HIV viruses for the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (USAMRMC). He was Chief, Department of Virology, the Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences (AFRIMS), Thailand, from 2001 to 2006 when he managed U.S. Food and Drug Administration-regulated vaccine field studies. His previous assignments include serving as Infectious Disease Officer, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR), and Chief, Internal Medicine Clinic, 121st General Hospital, Seoul, South Korea. Dr. Mammen received his M.D. degree from the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine and is Board-certified in Infectious Diseases. He has been elected as Fellow by the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA) and the American College of Physicians (ACP). He received his Internal Medicine and Infectious Disease clinical training from the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He earned a B.A. degree in mathematics from Williams College.

Larry R. Smith, Ph.D., Vice President, Vaccine Research

Larry R. Smith, Ph.D., joined us as Executive Director, Vaccinology in September 2003, and was named Vice President, Vaccine Research in October 2006. Dr. Smith was Director of Viral Vaccines Research at Wyeth Vaccines, where he oversaw the immunogenicity testing of various viral vaccines including a number of recombinant viral vectors. Prior to joining Wyeth in 1996, Dr. Smith was a Scientific Investigator at Immune Response Corporation, where he identified autoreactive T cell targets in psoriasis and multiple sclerosis which led to the clinical testing of several therapeutic vaccine candidates. Dr. Smith received a B.S. degree in Biology from Purdue University, a Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Texas Medical Branch, and was a postdoctoral fellow in the Immunology Department at Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation.

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