GSK Appoints Former Pfizer Vaccine Chief Phil Dormitzer to Lead Global Vaccine R&D Amid Strategic Push in RSV and mRNA Platforms

Compiled by Fan Dongdong

In the past year, several vaccine researchers at GSK have chosen to leave, but the company has poached a heavyweight from Pfizer to get its vaccine business back on track. According to the latest information, Phil Dormitzer will join this British company as the new global head of vaccine research and development. Dormitzer previously served as vice president and chief scientific officer for RNA and viral vaccines at rival Pfizer.

During his tenure at Pfizer, he was involved in the work related to Pfizer and BioNTech's well-known COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty, as well as the experimental Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) vaccine and its early RNA vaccine targeting influenza. After joining GSK, Dormitzer will help support GSK’s efforts in the area of COVID-19, which are far behind, including collaboration agreements with Sanofi and CureVac, as well as RSV.

In fact, Pfizer and GSK are going head-to-head in the race for a Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) vaccine, with both companies releasing positive data this year. The two companies are also competing to see who can reach the trial endpoint first. Worldwide, RSV infection is a significant cause of infant hospitalization. According to WHO estimates, 64 million children are infected with RSV globally each year. So far, there is no effective treatment or preventive vaccine specifically targeting RSV available worldwide. Dormitzer's move to GSK will help the company gain an advantage in the competition.

In July this year, GSK disclosed that it had terminated a pediatric RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) candidate vaccine (viral vector) GSK3389245A in Phase 2 clinical development. The reason was that the evaluation indicated that the efficacy of the vaccine in protecting children was unlikely to reach the target value. This is a recombinant chimpanzee adenovirus vector vaccine based on three RSV viral proteins encoded by the viral vector. GSK previously expected that the vaccine could stimulate the immune system to produce humoral and cellular immunity against the pathogen.

Hal Barron, MD, Chief Safety Officer and R&D President of GSK and Dormitzer's superior, said that he is delighted to have a renowned vaccinologist and scientific leader like Dormitzer join GSK. Barron stated that the importance of vaccines has never been clearer, and the pace of technological innovation has never been faster. With an industry-leading vaccine pipeline, GSK will rely on Dormitzer’s scientific expertise and extensive experience in critical innovative technologies (such as mRNA, structure-based antigen design, and synthetic biology) to ensure its continued leadership in this field.

Prior to this, there was a small-scale outflow of vaccine talent from GSK, including its former head of vaccine research, Dr. Emmanuel Hanon, who left in the spring to join microbiome company Viome. The former head of global vaccine engineering core technology, Amir Reichman, also departed in early 2021 to work at Biond Vax Pharmaceuticals.

Analysts believe that Dormitzer's joining will hopefully help stabilize the ship. The year 2022 could be a significant year for GSK in making progress in respiratory syncytial virus and COVID-19.

Source: GSK poaches Pfizer vax leader Dormitzer after hemorrhaging vaccine R&D talent