CureVac: Myriam Mendila

German mRNA specialist CureVac has appointed Myriam Mendila as Chief Development Officer.

Klaus Edvardsen left the role at the end of last month; and Ulrike Gnad-Vogt, Senior Vice President Area Head Oncology, will act as interim Chief Development Officer until Mendila takes up the role in February 2023.

Mendila has more than 20 years of global experience in product development, medical affairs, pharmacovigilance and healthcare compliance as well as global product strategy, including commercial strategy at Roche, Genentech and Novartis. Over the last 5 years, she has held the position of Worldwide Head of Medical Affairs and Chief Medical Officer Oncology at Novartis Pharma AG, Switzerland where she drives and oversees the development and cross-functional execution of the long-range global medical affairs vision and strategy for the Novartis oncology portfolio. Myriam earned her medical degree and subsequently doctoral degree from the Medical University of Hanover, Germany.

Ulrike Gnad-Vogt, Senior Vice President Area Head Oncology at CureVac, is responsible for defining, building and executing CureVac’s oncology strategy and will serve as interim Chief Development Officer. Ulrike joined CureVac in 2011 as Head of Clinical Development and served as Chief Medical Officer from 2013-2019, before transitioning to her current role. Prior to joining CureVac, Ulrike held positions as an oncologist at the National Center for Tumor Diseases in Heidelberg and as Global Medical Leader at Merck KGaA, where she focused on early clinical development of cancer vaccines and immune cytokines. Ulrike holds a medical degree from the University of Homburg/Saar.