ID Biomedical announces CEO appointment

Vancouver, BC – January 26, 2004 – Biotechnology company ID Biomedical says it has appointed vaccine industry executive, Mustapha (Staph) L Bakali, as its new chief operating officer. Mr Bakali was formerly the chief operating officer and member of the board of directors of British vaccine company, PowderJect Pharmaceuticals, until its recent sale to Chiron.

“We are very excited about Staph’s appointment,” says Anthony Holler, MD, chief executive officer at ID Biomedical. “Not only is he very well known and respected throughout the vaccine industry, but additionally, Staph has a wealth of experience and an impressive track record that will be critical for ID Biomedical’s near term growth and commercial development, particularly related to our non-live intranasal flu vaccine, FluINsure.”

While at PowderJect, Mr Bakali was responsible for all global operations of the company and played an important role in transforming PowderJect into a leading and commercially successful vaccine company. Prior to joining PowderJect in 2001, he was the head of worldwide sales and marketing for Chiron Vaccines. Mr Bakali started his career in the vaccine business of SmithKline Beecham (now Glaxo SmithKline), where he held several senior management positions throughout Europe, South America, Africa and the Middle East.

Mr Bakali will be based at the company’s Montreal facility. At ID Biomedical, he will assume primary responsibility for clinical, regulatory, process and product development, manufacturing and facility management.