Cha Vaccine Institute names Pfizer veteran as new CEO
Han, an industry veteran who worked at Pfizer for more than 20 years, joined Cha Vaccine Institute in June as vice president leading the R&D team.
He studied biology at Korea University and earned his Ph.D. from Purdue University in the US. He continued his academic career as a postdoctoral research associate at The Scripps Research Institute and later as a research assistant professor at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, specializing in structural biology.
In 2002, Han began his industry career at Pfizer, where he served as a research fellow at the company's US R&D center. He played a key role in bringing several new drugs to market with US Food and Drug Administration approvals, including the COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty, the respiratory syncytial virus vaccine Abrysvo and the immunology treatment Cibinqo.
In an industry first, Han introduced cryo-electron microscopy technology at Pfizer. The application of the technology to structure-based drug design led to the discovery of more than 10 new drug targets annually.
'I will quickly establish and execute a clear roadmap for technology transfer, clinical trials, and commercialization of the company's pipeline,' Han said. 'I will help the company leap forward as a competitive R&D player on the global stage.'
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