Tony is currently CEO of Evox Therapeutics, which is developing exosome therapeutics as another new transformative drug modality. Prior to Evox, Tony was CSO of Ablynx, where he led all of the company’s non-clinical R&D operations and played a key role in the approval of the 1^st single domain antibody drug, caplacizumab. Prior to Ablynx, Tony was the founding CSO at Moderna Therapeutics and pioneered modified mRNA as a new therapeutic modality for both rare diseases and as vaccines, CSO of antibody-based immuno-oncology company Tolerx Inc, and VP Research at Alnylam where he helped develop RNAi as a new therapeutic modality, including overseeing the development of the now 1^st approved RNAi delivery system and the development of several RNAi drugs including inclisiran. Also, Tony has been Principal Investigator on over $80m in grants, has over 60 scientific publications, and is an inventor on over 100 issued U.S. patents. He also serves on the Scientific Advisory Boards of MiNA Therapeutics, LIfT BioSciences, and Healion Biosciences. Tony earned his Ph.D. in Immunology from Harvard University.

Show Less

Currently, the Chief Scientific Officer at VLP Therapeutics, Jon Smith brings over 35 years of experience in virology, infectious diseases research and vaccine development with a focus on RNA-replicon vaccines. Jon was the former Chief of the Department of Virology, United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) and co-founder of AlphaVax, Inc., a biotech focused on RNA vaccines for infectious diseases and cancer. He has also held leadership positions at multiple biotech companies including VP for Development, Operations and Research at ClearPath Vaccines, Executive VP and Chief Scientific Officer at PaxVax Inc., and Chief Scientific Officer at Liquidia Technologies. Jon has led preclinical and translational programs for a range of infectious agents including Klebsiella, Pseudomonas, Cholerae, HIV, Influenza, Chikungunya, Anthrax, Dengue, Malaria and Zika. Jon has over 100 publications and multiple issued and pending patents in this field.

Show Less

Previously, Robert Willette spent over thirty years in the pharmaceutical industry, most recently serving as the Vice President, Head and Senior Fellow of GSK’s Heart Failure & Renal Discovery Performance Unit. During his industry tenure he has led and advanced multiple internal discovery programs and alliances across therapeutic modalities. He is the recipient of American Heart Association’s Robert Seikert award for outstanding contribution to stroke research and the George Koelle award for contributions in Pharmacology. Robert has authored >150 original peer reviewed research papers and his other notable accomplishments include President of the Mid-Atlantic Pharmacology Society, adjunct professorship at Thomas Jefferson University, scientific advisor to the Nephcure Foundation and he currently serves as an industry mentor at the University of Pennsylvania, interim CSO at Complexa Therapeutic, Inc. and consulting CSO at ImmunoMet, Inc.

Robert received his doctoral degree from the Department of Pharmacology at Rutgers University, School of Medicine and Dentistry in New Jersey and pursued his postdoctoral training in cardiopulmonary biology at the Veterans Administration in NJ and Department of Neurosurgery at Rutgers University and in neurobiology at the Weill Medical College, Cornell University.

Show Less