CureVac N.V., a global clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing a new class of transformative medicines based on messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA), has appointed Klaus Edvardsen, MD, PhD, as chief development officer. The appointment will take effect on August 1, 2021.
 
“We are very happy to welcome Dr. Edvardsen to the CureVac leadership team,” said Jean Stéphenne, chairman of the Supervisory Board of CureVac. “He has a tremendous background, having led both business development and clinical research on a global scale for several high-profile biopharmaceutical companies. His great breadth of knowledge and expertise in research and different therapeutic areas will serve CureVac well as it continues to evolve from a research-oriented biotechnology to a fully integrated biopharmaceutical company.”
 
“We are very pleased that Klaus is joining us in highly dynamic times for the company,” said Dr. Franz-Werner Haas, chief executive officer of CureVac. “He brings a wealth of experience in both clinical development and product development, with a specific focus on oncology and therapies. Looking ahead, his expertise will be of great value to us as we expand our pipeline, advance our technology platform and further grow our company.”
 
“I am both honored and excited to be joining CureVac at such an interesting point in its growth journey,” Edvardsen commented. “Their years of dedicated work on mRNA therapeutics positions CureVac well for bringing future treatments across a variety of indications to different patient populations. I am looking forward to contributing my experiences to the company and its development programs.”
 
Experience
 
Edvardsen joins CureVac from Merck KGaA, where he led early- and late-stage global oncology development as a senior vice president and head of global oncology development. He served at AstraZeneca prior to that, as senior vice president and head of Global Medicines Development Oncology, where he was responsible for the overall development strategy for oncology and hematology programs. Edvardsen also held leadership roles at both GlaxoSmithKline PLC and at Genmab A/S in medicines development within various therapeutic areas.
 
Edvardsen’s previous research work includes several positions as adjunct member and professor in oncology at various institutes in Denmark, USA, Norway and Sweden. Edvardsen holds a MD degree as well as a PhD in cancer biology from University of Copenhagen.