MigVax appoints Eyal Desheh, former Teva, Check Point executive, as chairman
Desheh, chairman of the board of Isracard Group, to head Israeli coronavirus vaccine project
JUNE 9, 2020 – KIRYAT SHEMONA, ISRAEL – MigVax Corp., an Israeli company developing a vaccine for COVID-19 (MigVax-101), today announced the appointment of Eyal Desheh as chairman of its board of directors.
Mr. Desheh has been chairman of the board of directors of Isracard Group since 2017. He previously served as executive vice president and chief financial officer of Teva Pharmaceuticals. Prior to joining Teva, he was executive vice president and chief financial officer of Check Point Software Technologies. Mr. Desheh has a B.A. in economics and an M.B.A. in finance, both from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
“I am very happy to join this global effort to defeat the COVID-19 pandemic which has devastated our world by creating a severe health and economic crisis,” Mr. Desheh said. “An amazing and talented team of scientists in the north of Israel created a promising infrastructure for the development of vaccines for COVID-19 and its like. At MigVax we are working as hard and as fast as we can to make this a reality.”
“I look forward to working with Eyal more closely as we continue to create an exciting vaccine company,” said David Zigdon, MigVax interim CEO. “Eyal Desheh brings years of top-tier experience in pharmaceuticals, business and technology to the MigVax team. We are confident that he is the right person to help create the multinational business relationships for MigVax.”
Jerusalem-based OurCrowd is leading a $12 million investment in MigVax, an affiliate of the Migal Galillee Research Institute.
About MigVax
MigVax Ltd. is developing an oral subunit COVID-19 vaccine (MigVax-101) which consists of a mixture of three recombinant chimeric soluble proteins. Administration of the chimeric protein combination is expected to result in activation of mucosal (IgA), blood-borne (IgG) and cell-mediated immunity against the SARS-CoV-2 antigens. MigVax-101 is based on extensive work has done at Migal Galilee Research Institute Ltd, in developing an oral subunit vaccine for Infectious Bronchitis Virus (IBV), an avian (poultry) coronavirus. Migal gave MigVax an exclusive worldwide license to develop, manufacture and commercialize vaccines for human viruses. www.migvax.com
For press materials: http://blog.trust.ocdvlp.com/desheh/
MigVax: Yael Shavit +972 50-777-7950 / tksh1@tikshorot.co.il
OurCrowd: Leah Stern +44 747 019 6826 / leah@ourcrowd.com