Executive Team
George Simeon
CEO & Board Director
George Simeon is the CEO of Curevo Vaccine. He joined Curevo at the beginning of 2019 and has over 30 years of experience in the healthcare sector working with multinational firms, start-ups, and not-for-profits. He has worked in biotech, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, IVD, and healthcare convergence technologies. He has worked extensively in Europe, Asia, and North America.
Before moving to the USA, he was based in South Korea from 2014-2018, where he worked for SK Telecom’s Healthcare Division in M&A and global strategic alliances. In 2016, he joined Sollers Partners, a cross-border investment advisory firm, while maintaining an advisory role with SK Telecom.
He has worked across Europe and the USA as an executive with Johnson & Johnson, as the founding Vice-President of Cordis Neurovascular Europe, and with GHX Europe as a Commercial Vice-President. He also spent 3 years with Novartis Global Headquarters in Switzerland working on projects in their CNS portfolio in Health Economics and Pricing.
George has also founded two start-ups and advised GS1 on their global entry and expansion into the Healthcare, High-Tech, and Customs sectors as well as on ESG practices in FMCG logistics.
George is a graduate of INSEAD (MBA) and Yale University (MPH).
Gregory S. Curhan
CFO
Greg Curhan has been the CFO of Curevo Vaccine since 2020. He has over 35 years of operational, financial, capital markets and strategic advisory experience in various sectors including Investment Banking, Medical Device/Life Sciences, Internet, Clean Technology, and Investment/Wealth Management. Greg has been a Partner at FLG Partners since 2020. As CFO, Greg has managed Finance, Legal, HR, and Investor Relations functions for Public and Private companies. He has raised equity and debt capital for both private and public companies, completed numerous successful IPOs, and executed M&A transactions both acquiring and divesting companies. He has also served in CEO, President and Board of Director capacities. In July 2020, Greg was appointed to the Advisory Board at Specific Diagnostics as the company prepares to launch its Reveal rapid susceptibility testing system in Europe.
Greg founded and was President of an investment bank (Merriman Curhan Ford) growing it from pre-revenue startup to 250 employees, $90 million in revenue, profitability, and a Nasdaq listing within 7 years. The investment bank raised over $5 billion dollars for corporate clients (both public and private) during that period in IPOs, Public offerings, PIPE financings and Private Placements, while also executing successful M&A engagements in various Technology, Biotech, Medical Technology and Consumer sectors.
Prior to joining FLG, Greg was CFO and SVP Corporate Development of Providence Medical Technology, a venture backed medical device manufacturer whose purpose is to improve clinical outcomes for high-risk patients and prevent surgical failures of the cervical spine. At Providence Greg raised multiple rounds of equity investment, identifying and bringing in a new lead investor in the company’s largest private round to date. He arranged new debt financing facilities, increasing the size and extending the maturity twice in three years. He introduced long term FP&A practices to support strategy formation and capital raising, including budgeting for a multi-year, randomized clinical trial.
Prior to that Greg was CEO of Clickworker USA, a US subsidiary of a venture backed German Crowdsourcing platform. He was EVP and CFO of MCF Corporation, the parent company of Merriman Curhan Ford. He was also CFO of WorldRes, a venture backed web-based hotel reservation booking engine. In addition, Greg has worked for various investment banking firms including Merrill Lynch, Montgomery Securities, Volpe Brown Whelan and MLV.
Greg earned a BA degree in Economics (summa cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa) from Dartmouth College. He was an Adjunct Professor teaching Entrepreneurial Finance to MBA students at Dominican University and wrote and published a Novel Indomitable Spirit.
Guy De La Rosa, MD
CMO
Guy R. De La Rosa, M.D., is the Chief Medical Officer at Curevo Vaccine. He joined Curevo in 2023. Dr. De La Rosa brings over 20 years of clinical experience directing successful development programs across multiple areas in the field of Infectious Diseases. Prior to joining Curevo Vaccine, Dr. De La Rosa worked for Enanta Pharmaceuticals, where he served in roles of increasing seniority, culminating as Executive Medical Director for Infectious Diseases, and leading the clinical development for several assets for RSV, SARS-CoV-2 and HBV. Prior to his tenure at Enanta Pharmaceuticals, Dr. De La Rosa held positions with Abbott, Janssen, and Takeda Pharmaceuticals where he led the development of assets for HIV, HCV, RSV and Dengue Tetravalent Vaccine. He has co-authored and collaborated in more than 60 scientific publications and presentations.
Dr. De La Rosa earned his M.D. at the University of Panama School of Medicine. He completed his Internal Medicine Residency in Boston, MA and his Infectious Diseases Fellowship at the University of Texas/M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX. Upon completion of his Infectious Diseases Fellowship, Dr. De La Rosa completed a Fellowship in HIV Medicine at the University of Texas. Dr. De La Rosa also holds a Degree in Tropical Medicine from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine in the U.K.
Andrea Wang
Sr. VP CMC Operations
Andrea Wang is the Sr. VP CMC Operations of Curevo Vaccine. She joined Curevo at the beginning of 2022 and has over 20 years of experience in the Biotech industry developing therapeutic drugs including monoclonal antibodies, bispecific antibodies, recombinant protein drugs as well as ADC. Her work has been focused on the CMC development for earlier phase clinical studies as well as commercial drug manufacturing. She also had experience working with QA and RA for cGMP compliance and regulatory applications.
Before joining Curevo, Andrea worked at Aptevo as Senior Director for 3.5 years overseeing product quality and CMC activities for multiple projects. During this time, she played critical roles in obtaining FDA approval for a new dose strength of IXINITY®, for specification revision and drug product shelf-life extension. In addition, she participated in Scientific Advice meetings as CMC expert, and led various activities supporting several clinical stage programs. Prior to Joining Aptevo, Andrea worked at Silverback, Askgene, Allozyne and Corixa, and her work span from protein engineering to drug candidate screening/selections, from cGMP production to clinical sample testing. Andrea had 15 peer-reviewed publications, 2 book chapters, and more than 20 patents.
Andrea obtained her B.S. in Chemistry from Tsinghua in Beijing, China, and her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Southern Illinois University, IL. She received her postdoctoral training in University of California, San Diego.
Emma Fritzen
VP, Operations
As Vice President of Operations, Emma is a dynamic executive with a proven track record in optimizing operational efficiency and driving strategic initiatives. Since joining Curevo in 2018, Emma has been instrumental in developing and streamlining internal processes to accelerate Curevo’s primary focus, vaccine development. Leveraging expertise acquired over years in the industry, she ensures seamless cross-functional collaboration and compliance with quality standards. Additionally, Emma oversees Program Management, Business Operations, Clinical Quality, Human Resources, and Facilities and Office Management. With a commitment to excellence and a focus on innovation, Emma plays a pivotal role in advancing the company’s mission to develop next-generation non-mRNA vaccines.
Emma received her master’s in science and public health at Tulane University. Having started her journey in the field of malaria research, Emma led the Human Challenge Center at the Center for Infectious Disease Research responsible for operating Controlled Human Malaria Trials. Her most recent role was conducting Asthma and Allergy Research. During her leisure time, Emma finds joy traveling and spending quality time with her daughters.
David Miller
VP, Strategic Communications
A former biotech analyst, David has 20+ years of experience with business strategy, communications, and business analysis focusing on technology and biotechnology industries. He led the investor relations and communications program at Angion (NASDAQ:ANGN), helping take the company public via a 2021 IPO. He held a variety of roles at Alpine Immune Sciences (NASDAQ:ALPN), helping taking the company public via a reverse merger in 2017.
During his time at Alpine BioVentures, he was the portfolio manager for their public company investment fund and helped start multiple companies on the private equity side. He’s also been a software company CEO, college professor, and advisor to multiple entrepreneurs across a variety of industries. He’s an avid sailboat racer, racing his sailboat One Life throughout the Pacific Northwest. David earned his BA in Communications from Western Washington University, honored by faculty as the department’s Top Graduate for his graduating class.
Board of Directors
Moncef Slaoui
Chairman
Moncef is an Advisor at Medicxi and supports several portfolio companies, including ViceBio and Altesa Biosciences.
Moncef was most recently the Chief Scientific Advisor to Operation Warp Speed. Under his leadership the operation enabled the fastest ever development, manufacturing, and approval of multiple COVID-19 vaccines in less than 11 months after the virus genetic sequence was described. Moncef has sat on several biotechnology company boards, including Moderna, Inc. and Lonza Group AG, and he chaired the boards of Galvani, and Vaxcyte, a vaccine development platform company.
Moncef spent nearly 30 years at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) holding leadership positions including as member of the Board of Directors of GSK PLC; Chairman of Pharmaceutical R&D; Chairman Global R&D, Vaccines & Oncology; and Chairman, Global Vaccines. As Chairman of Pharmaceuticals R&D, he led a restructuring to improve focus on innovation and productivity. As Chairman of Global Vaccines, he was directly involved in GSK’s vaccine pipeline, leading to the creation of 14 new vaccines, including Shingrix, to prevent shingles; Cervarix to prevent cervical cancer; Mosquirix, to prevent malaria; Rotarix, to prevent rotavirus gastroenteritis; and Synflorix, to prevent pneumococcal disease.
Moncef received a PhD in Molecular Biology and Immunology from the Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium and completed postdoctoral studies at Harvard Medical School and Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston. He was a professor of Immunology at the University of Mons, Belgium and has authored more than 100 scientific papers and presentations. A citizen of Morocco, Belgium and the USA, he is fluent in English, French and Arabic.
George Simeon
George Simeon is the CEO of Curevo Vaccine. He joined Curevo at the beginning of 2019 and has over 30 years of experience in the healthcare sector working with multinational firms, start-ups, and not-for-profits. He has worked in biotech, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, IVD, and healthcare convergence technologies. He has worked extensively in Europe, Asia, and North America.
Before moving to the USA, he was based in South Korea from 2014-2018, where he worked for SK Telecom’s Healthcare Division in M&A and global strategic alliances. In 2016, he joined Sollers Partners, a cross-border investment advisory firm, while maintaining an advisory role with SK Telecom.
He has worked across Europe and the USA as an executive with Johnson & Johnson, as the founding Vice-President of Cordis Neurovascular Europe, and with GHX Europe as a Commercial Vice-President. He also spent 3 years with Novartis Global Headquarters in Switzerland working on projects in their CNS portfolio in Health Economics and Pricing.
George has also founded two start-ups and advised GS1 on their global entry and expansion into the Healthcare, High-Tech, and Customs sectors as well as on ESG practices in FMCG logistics.
George is a graduate of INSEAD (MBA) and Yale University (MPH).
Giovanni Mariggi
Giovanni is a co-founder and Partner at Medicxi. Prior to Medicxi, Giovanni was a Principal at Index Ventures. He led Medicxi’s investment in New Amsterdam (NASDAQ:NAMS) and Abivax (NASDAQ:ABVX) and currently serves on the boards of a number of portfolio companies, including Curevo Vaccine, ForeBio, Vaderis Therapeutics (Chair), Aura Biosciences (NASDAQ:AURA), My-T Bio, Breakpoint Therapeutics, ViceBio (Chair) and Kurome Therapeutics.
Giovanni received a BSc in Biochemistry from Imperial College London and a PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from University College London.
Tal Zaks, Ph.D., M.D.
Tal joined OrbiMed in 2021 and is a Partner for the Private Equity team. Tal was recently the Chief Medical Officer at Moderna, where he led the development of the company’s COVID-19 vaccine and other key programs. Previously, Tal held senior leadership positions in drug development at major pharmaceutical companies, including Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline. Tal received his M.D. and Ph.D. from the Ben Gurion University and conducted post-doctoral research at the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
Mario Barro, Ph.D.
Mario is a Director of Innovation, Vaccines at RA Capital. Mario has more than two decades of experience in vaccinology, virology and immunology research in large pharma, government, academy and biotech settings. Prior to joining RA Capital, Mario was Associate Vice President for Advanced Research at Sanofi Pasteur where he created and executed a novel integrative strategy for influenza vaccine development including Machine Learning, Automation, High Through Put, Antigen Design, Translational Models, Data Viz, Scrum Agile and New CMC Platforms.
He authored patents in the use of ML to create novel translational models, vaccine antigen selection and design that were tested in the clinic. Prior to this, Mario held a Project Director position at BARDA with the highest US project certification (COTR III) leading technical completion of multiyear vaccine development programs. At BARDA, he led collaborative/networks/partnerships with both government and private partners. He also evaluated government market research for new vaccine technologies/programs, qualification of services to government and commercial clients, and negotiated contracts for the vaccine industry and the US Government. He also acted as CSO for a small vaccine start up (Global Vaccines Inc) that developed novel adjuvants and chimeric viruses for HIV and other targets. Mario received postdoctoral training at the NIH and Mount Sinai School of Medicine in innate immunity and bioinformatics. He earned a PhD in microbiology at University of Chile and a MS in Nuclear Physics. He is an active reviewer for NIH grants and contracts.
Charlie Petty
Charlie is the co-founder of Adjuvant Capital, which manages a $300m venture capital fund focused on life sciences technologies for high-burden public health challenges. Previously, he was with the Global Health Investment Fund, an experimental investment vehicle formed by JP Morgan and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Prior to his career investing in global health research and development, he was a private equity investor at Artemis.
Charlie Spent the first two years of his career in Haiti as a financial analyst at the country’s largest microfinance bank, Fonkoze.
Baeksik Bae
Baeksik Bae is the Head of the Corporate Strategy Division at GC Pharma. Prior to GC Pharma, he worked as a General Manager & Team Leader for Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction for seven years and The Boston Consulting Group as a Management Consultant for eight years. Baeksik received MBA from Columbia Business School, M.S. from KAIST Management Engineering, and B.S. from KAIST Civil Engineering.