(Reuters) – Moderna Inc on Thursday named David Meline its chief financial officer, as the company develops a potential vaccine for COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the new coronavirus.
Meline, who starts at Moderna on June 8, previously served as the chief financial officer at drugmaker Amgen Inc for six years, and has also held executive positions at 3M and General Motors Co.
The decision comes at a time when Moderna has made significant progress with its coronavirus vaccine candidate, mRNA-1273, putting it well ahead of other companies in clinical trial timeline.
Moderna has already started dosing patients in a mid-stage study after gaining FDA approval based on early-stage data that showed mRNA-1273 was safe and produced protective antibodies in a small group of healthy volunteers.
Meline will succeed Dr Lorence Kim, who announced plans to retire in August 2020, after six years of service.
(Reporting by Saumya Sibi Joseph and Mrinalika Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Shinjini Ganguli)
