Novavax: Gale E. Smith; Troy Morgan, Greg Covino
Novavax has announced three senior level changes this month. Gale E. Smith, Ph.D., has been promoted to Senior Vice President, Discovery and Pre-Clinical Research and Chief Scientist; while Troy Morgan has been named as Senior Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer.
Meanwhile, Greg Covino, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) will step down from his role and take on a new position as executive adviser to the company.
Described as a pioneer in vaccine research, Dr. Smith is the senior inventor of the insect cell technology that serves as the basis of Novavax' scientific platform and is used broadly by the pharmaceutical industry, as well as on the company's vaccine patents for respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), ebola, influenza and coronavirus vaccines, including COVID-19.
He is widely published and holds numerous patents for the baculovirus-insect cell expression system as well as seasonal influenza vaccines and adjuvants. Since joining Novavax in January 2004, he has overseen discovery and pre-clinical research and leads vaccine technology development.
"This well-deserved promotion reflects not only his major contributions in creating our COVID-19 vaccine candidate, but well over a decade of dedication to improving our technology platform,” said Gregory M. Glenn, M.D., president of research and development at Novavax.
Meanwhile, Troy Morgan will oversee Novavax’s strategic direction of the company’s compliance program in the newly created role of Chief Compliance Officer. He joins Novavax from EMD Serono, Inc., where he was Chief Compliance Officer, responsible for building a global corporate compliance program supporting a range of therapies.
Prior to this, he held senior leadership roles at Merck KGaA, Sanofi, and Biogen. At the Biogen spinout Bioverativ, he was responsible for the development, implementation and management of the global compliance program. He holds a Master of Laws from Pepperdine University, Juris Doctorate from Jones School of Law, Faulkner University and a Bachelor of Science from Troy State University.
