Emergex Appoints Sir Michael Rake as Board Chairman

Highly experienced international Board Leader joins Emergex as the company grows and progresses clinical development of its pipeline of T cell-priming immune set-point candidates

ABINGDON, United Kingdom, June 29, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Emergex Vaccines Holding Limited (‘Emergex’), a clinical-stage biotechnology company addressing major global infectious diseases through the development of fully synthetic T cell-priming immune set-point candidates, today announced the appointment of Sir Michael Rake as Chairman of the Board. Sir Michael takes on this role from Finian Tan, Ph.D., who becomes Emergex’s Deputy Chairman.

Sir Michael has had a long and distinguished career in international business as a Senior Executive and Board leader over several decades. He is currently the Chairman of Great Ormond Street Hospital, the international centre of excellence in child healthcare; a position which he has held since 2017. He is also the Chairman of Wireless Logic Ltd, Newday Ltd, and Majid Al Futaim Holdings llc in the UAE and a Vice President of the UK charity The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB). He is a Senior Advisor to Elliott Advisors and is a Director of Trust Payments Ltd.

During his career, Sir Michael has held the role of Chairman at many international blue-chip companies in numerous industry sectors, including: BT Group Plc (2007-2017); Worldpay Group Plc (2015 – 2017); EasyJet plc (2010 – 2013); KPMG, UK Chair (1998-2007) becoming Global Chair (2002-2007); and Deputy Chairman at Barclays Bank plc (2008 – 2015). He has also served as a Director at S&P Global (2007-2018), the UK Financial Reporting Council (2008-2011) and was the Lead Director of Worldpay Inc. (now FIS).

Sir Michael has additionally held many advisory roles during his career, including Senior Advisor to Citibank, Senior Advisor to the International Affairs Think Tank Chatham House, a member of the Oxford University Global Board for Business Reputation, and a William Pitt Fellow at Pembroke College, Cambridge. Sir Michael was also the President of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), a member of former UK Prime Minister David Cameron’s Business Advisory Council and Chairman of the UK International Chamber of Commerce. In addition, he was a member of Former UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s National Security Forum, the first Chairman of the Commission for Employment and Skills and the first Chairman of the Private Equity Oversight Group Guidelines Monitoring Committee.

Sir Michael qualified as a chartered accountant in the UK in 1972 and became a partner with Peat Marwick (KPMG) continental firm in Brussels in 1979, subsequently becoming Senior Partner of Peat Marwick (KPMG) Middle East in 1986, before becoming Chair of the UK firm in 1998, the European firm in 1999, and Global firm in 2002.

Sir Michael was knighted by the late HRH Queen Elizabeth II in 2007 for his extensive service. In 2011, he received the British American Business UK Transatlantic Business Award and in 2013, he received the Channing Award for corporate citizenship, was voted the FTSE 100 non-executive Director of the year and received the ICAEW outstanding achievement award. Most recently, in 2021, he was made a Grand Cordon of the Order of Rising Sun, by the Emperor of Japan, for services to UK/Japan relations.

Sir Michael Rake, the new Chairman at Emergex, commented: “I look forward to joining the Emergex Board as Chairman and sharing my experience and network to help grow the business at such a pivotal time in the company’s evolution. Following the COVID-19 pandemic and its far-reaching global impact, there remains a vital need for innovative and durable therapies to tackle the continuing threat of COVID-19 and other, emerging infectious diseases. Emergex’s proprietary technologies and expansive pipeline of T cell-priming immune set-point candidates are well-placed to offer a valuable solution, with potential to offer long-term protection against infectious health threats to diverse and global communities.”

Dr Finian Tan, the former Chairman and new Deputy Chairman at Emergex, added: “Sir Michael has had a long and distinguished career to-date and will bring his global expertise to the Board, as well as an impressive body of international business contacts. I look forward to working closely with him to maximise and steward the opportunities available for Emergex at this exciting time of continued growth and development.”

About Emergex
Emergex is a clinical-stage, privately-held biotechnology company, headquartered in Abingdon, UK, with an operating subsidiary in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, USA. The company is pioneering the development of 100% synthetic, T cell-priming immune set-point therapeutic candidates that harness and direct the body’s natural T cell immune response to destroy and to clear pathogen-infected cells, using cytopathic or non-cytopathic mechanisms, in order to provide protection against some of the world’s most urgent health threats. Emergex’s first indications being pursued are against infectious diseases: [i] viral infectious diseases, amongst which are Betacoronavirus, Dengue Fever and Universal Influenza A, including pandemic influenza, as well as [ii] intra-cellular bacterial infectious disease, such as Francisella tularensis. In the near future, other disease applications will follow.

Find out more online at www.emergexvaccines.com.

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