ExeVir Announces Michael Garrett as New Chief Executive Officer

GHENT, Belgium, Nov. 18, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- ExeVir Bio, a biotech company developing heavy chain-only antibodies targeting highly conserved epitopes for broad protection against infectious diseases, announces the appointment of Michael Garrett as its new Chief Executive Officer, effective 1 December 2024. He will also join ExeVir’s Board of Directors.

ExeVir’s llama-derived antibody (VHH) technology has produced the next generation COVID-19 antibody, XVR013m, which is being developed to protect millions of immunocompromised and elderly from the devastating effects of COVID-19, the most prevalent viral respiratory disease.

Mr. Garrett is a seasoned leader in pharma, biotech, and venture capital. With a background in medicinal chemistry and patent law, he co-founded Flamingo Therapeutics, successfully negotiated deals with Ionis Pharmaceuticals, and steered the company through a merger with Dynacure SA (France). He has held various executive roles in major pharma companies, overseeing business development, investments, and IP.

“I am honored to advance ExeVir’s mission of developing new COVID-19 antibody therapeutics to protect the most vulnerable populations, including the immunocompromised and the elderly who may not respond adequately to vaccination, making antibody therapeutics a crucial form of additional protection,” said Michael Garrett.

He continued: “ I am excited to build on the Company’s current pace of innovation, aiming to deliver impactful antibody therapeutics to those who need them most. We are planning ourFirst in Human clinical trial to start in 2025.”

Dr Jeanne Bolger, Chair of the Board of Directors, added: “Michael is an outstanding leader who will drive significant value for ExeVir. Our immediate priority is to rapidly advance XVR013m through clinical trials, emergency use authorization and conditional approval, and ultimately, full approval to combat the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. As we look beyond COVID-19, our high performing team of scientists is leveraging the VHH platform to discover and develop groundbreaking therapeutics addressing emerging viral threats to human health, a mission with global impact.”

Michael Garrett, CEO of ExeVir Bio

Mr. Garrett has more than 25 years’ experience in the biotech industry in positions of increasing responsibility. Prior to co-founding Flamingo Therapeutics, he was a Partner with TCG, a life science consulting group in RTP, North Carolina. He was Vice President of Corporate Development at Scynexis, Inc. and a member of the team that executed the company’s IPO. Mr. Garrett was Global Vice President, Ventures & Business Development for BTG plc, with responsibility for the company’s investment portfolio. Prior to this he worked in the corporate venture group of Aventis (Paris) and in their business development group. Earlier in his career he was a patent attorney in the Rhone-Poulenc Intellectual Property department, based in France and the UK.

Mr. Garrett is a British and European Patent Attorney, holds an Honors degree in Chemistry from Southampton University, UK, and an Executive Certificate in General Management from the Cedep INSEAD business school, France.

For more information contact:

ExeVir Bio
Veronique Vandevoorde
vvandevoorde@exevir.com

About ExeVir Bio

ExeVir Bio, is a clinical stage biotechnology company developing heavy-chain only antibodies in infectious diseases. The company is harnessing its llama-derived antibody (VHH) technology platform to generate multi-specific antibodies for prophylaxis and treatment of infectious diseases. ExeVir’s initial focus is on delivering differentiated products for the prevention of COVID-19 for the immunocompromised patient population, and for the elderly, where there remains a high unmet need due to the limitations of current vaccines and therapeutic approaches. Beyond COVID-19 ExeVir Bio is leveraging its robust VHH-Fc platform to develop new therapies against dengue and pandemic preparedness, addressing critical global health challenges.

ExeVir, a spin-out of VIB, the leading Belgium-based life sciences research institute is backed by strong investors including Fund+, which led the series A of EUR 42 million, together with an international consortium including UCB Ventures, SFPIM, V-Bio Ventures, VIB, Wallonie Entreprendre, Noshaq, Vives IUF and SambrInvest. ExeVir has received support from VLAIO, the SPW-Recherche and the European Union, leading to a total of EUR 18 million in non-dilutive funding.

ExeVir has demonstrated it can progress its candidates from research to the clinic in under one year, execute early clinical development, and conduct scale-up manufacturing. Leveraging this extensive experience, its XVR013m asset is being developed to start a First in Human clinical trial in 2025. 

About the VHH platform

VHHs are smaller in size than whole antibodies, giving them access to hidden epitopes that traditional monoclonal antibodies are unable to reach with potential for deeper tissue penetration and simpler, more cost-effective manufacturing. VHHs can be linked together like building blocks into single multi-specific molecules to tackle different epitopes or act through different mechanisms of action at once, to address more complex and co-evolving infectious diseases.

Find out more on ExeVir’s LinkedIn or on ExeVir’s website