Vir Biotechnology Announces Retirement of CEO George Scangos, Ph.D.; Appoints Marianne De Backer, MSc, Ph.D., MBA, as Successor - Seite 2

Prior to joining Vir, Dr. Scangos served as CEO and as a member of the Board of Biogen Inc. for six years. Previously, he was President and CEO of Exelixis for 14 years. In recognition of his industry leadership, Dr. Scangos was among the top 10 CEOs to be named a “Businessperson of the Year” by Fortune (2014 and 2015). He was also named one of “The Best Performing CEOs in the World” by Harvard Business Review for three straight years (2014, 2015 and 2016) and “The Most Admired CEO” by the San Francisco Business Times (2021).

Dr. Scangos served as Chair of PhRMA in 2016, and as the Chair of the California Healthcare Institute in 2010. He received the Pantheon Life Sciences Leadership Award in 2018 and was named lead of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization’s response to Coronavirus (COVID-19) in 2020. Today, he serves on the Board of Overseers of the University of California, San Francisco and the Board of Trustees of Life Science Cares.

“Having the opportunity to bring life-saving medications to patients around the world has been the greatest privilege of my career,” said Dr. Scangos. “I am extremely proud of our employees’ unwavering commitment to the patients we serve and all that we have accomplished as a result. I feel confident that now is the right time for me to retire and that Dr. De Backer is the right successor to ensure Vir’s ongoing forward momentum. The Company is operating from a position of strength with significant cash, an impressive pipeline and critical near-term catalysts that have the potential to support multiple important therapies. Additionally, we have laid out a vision for the Company that gives me great confidence in Vir’s ability to transform the infectious disease landscape. Given the strength of our people, our values, our science and the incredible skill set that Dr. De Backer brings to Vir, I believe the Company is well-positioned to continue to grow and thrive in the years ahead.”

Dr. De Backer brings to her new role more than two decades of broad international leadership experience, including a strong track record in global expansion, innovation technology licensing and multiple billion-dollar mergers and acquisitions. Throughout her career, she has been directly accountable for more than 200 strategic alliances in healthcare, many of which have led to approved medicines now available to patients. Prior to joining Bayer, Dr. De Backer spent more than 20 years at the Johnson & Johnson family of companies, first as a scientist and scientific group leader, and later taking on roles of increasing responsibility and scope, including corporate development and international commercial positions.