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Cha Vaccine Institute names Pfizer veteran as new CEO
Cha Vaccine Institute said Monday it has appointed its R&D chief Han Seung-il as its 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.'
