by Kate Andrews – Mark T. Esser, vice president for vaccines and immune therapies at pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, will be the inaugural chief scientific officer and leader of the Paul and Diane Manning Institute of Biotechnology at the University of Virginia, U.Va. announced Thursday.
Esser, who will join U.Va. May 1, earned a Ph.D. in microbiology in 1998 from U.Va.’s medical school, and has worked in translational medicine at AstraZeneca, MedImmune (which was acquired by AstraZeneca) and Merck. He was involved with development of Evusheld, a medicine that helped prevent and treat COVID-19; infection and cancer vaccine programs; human papillomavirus vaccines; and a monoclonal antibody that helps prevent RSV in infants.
The $350 million Manning Institute, launched in 2023 with a $100 million donation from Albemarle County investors Paul and Diane Manning, is a hub for biotech research, development and manufacturing at U.Va., which is building a 350,000-square-foot structure in Fontaine Research Park in Charlottesville that’s expected to open by late 2026 or early 2027, according to Paul Manning. A member of the university’s board of visitors, Manning founded PBM Products, an infant formula and baby food business, which he sold to Perrigo for an estimated $808 million in 2010. He then started PBM Capital, a private equity firm that invests in pharmaceutical and life sciences startups.
The focus of the institute is research like cellular therapy, gene therapy, nanotechnology and drug delivery, as well as expanding U.Va.’s clinical trial offerings. According to Thursday’s announcement, Esser will be tasked with fostering an “ecosystem of innovation” to attract biotech and pharmaceutical companies and jobs to Central Virginia. U.Va. is also developing a statewide clinical trials network to expand availability of new treatments while they’re being tested.
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