In an attempt to strengthen its senior management, Inovio Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:INO), has announced a few changes in the form of change in duties and assignment of new responsibilities to key employees. As per the reports, it appointed David B. Weiner, Ph.D. as the new director to use his expertise and technical know-how to forge ahead.
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Not long ago, Weiner joined country’s first independent biomedical research facility, Wistar Institute, as its EVP and director of its vaccine center. Dr. Weiner retired as Chair of the Gene Therapy at Perelman School of Medicine and Professor, Department of Laboratory & Pathology Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. He joined the University of Pennsylvania in 1986 and worked on many projects until his retirement in 2016.
Weiner was the Chairman of Inovio’s Scientific Advisory Board since 2001. Previously he worked on world-renowned DNA-based vaccine and immunotherapy technology and provided an exclusive license of the same to Inovio. It’s the impact of his second-to-none skills and expertise related to DNA-based vaccines that Inovio has managed to touch many milestones which once looked impossible.
Upon his appointment as the new director, Inovio granted him a stock option to buy 16,000 shares of its common stock at $7.02 per share. In addition to this, he was also offered restricted stock units representing these shares of common stock. Apart from these 16,000 shares, Inovio also offered him additional 30,000 shares at a nominal price of $7.02 for providing consulting services as the Chair of company’s Scientific Advisory Board. In the coming months, Weiner will receive cash and equity-based rewards as per company’s policies.
The entire senior management team of Inovio is delighted to have an experienced professional like Weiner as company’s director. He has got the necessary skills required for Inovio to forge ahead in today’s fast-paced, competitive world. Going forward, Inovio will announce many more such initiatives to add value to shareholders’ investment, details of which will be announced at a later date.
