12 December 2019 - - Former CEO of NPS Pharmaceuticals brings broad expertise to support Moderna's progress towards late-stage development and commercialization

US-based clinical stage biotechnology company Moderna, Inc., (NASDAQ: MRNA) has named François Nader, M.D., M.B.A. to its board of directors.

Dr. Nader is an experienced biopharmaceutical executive and director with broad expertise across development, regulatory affairs and commercial at NPS Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Shire Plc, now part of Takeda (NYSE: TAK)), as well as Aventis-Pharma and the Pasteur Vaccines division of Rhone-Poulenc, now both part of Sanofi (NASDAQ: SNY).

Concurrently with Dr. Nader's appointment, Peter Barton Hutt, LL.M. has elected to step down after seven years of service to Moderna. Hutt will remain as a consultant and advisor to the company.

Dr. Nader served as president, chief executive officer and Executive director of NPS Pharmaceuticals from 2008 until 2015, when the company was acquired by Shire.

During his tenure as CEO, Dr. Nader transformed NPS Pharma into a leading global biotechnology company focused on delivering innovative therapies to patients with rare diseases.

Prior to NPS, Dr. Nader was a venture partner at Care Capital, a venture capital firm. He previously served on Aventis Pharma's North America Leadership Team, holding a number of executive positions in integrated healthcare markets and medical and regulatory affairs.

Dr. Nader previously led global commercial operations at the Pasteur Vaccines division of Rhone-Poulenc.

In addition to serving on the Moderna board of directors, Dr. Nader currently serves as chairman of the board of directors of Acceleron Pharma (NASDAQ: XLRN), Prevail Therapeutics (NASDAQ: PRVL) and Talaris Therapeutics.

He also serves on the board of directors of Alexion Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ALXN) and advisor for SVB-Leerink.

Dr. Nader is the past chairman of BioNJ, New Jersey's biotechnology trade organization, and previously served on the board of the biotechnology Industry Organization, NPS Pharma (NASDAQ: NPSP), Advanced Accelerator Applications (NASDAQ: AAAP), Baxalta (NYSE: BXLT), Clementia Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: CMTA), Trevena (NASDAQ: TRVN) and Noven (NASDAQ: NOVN). In 2013, he was recognized as the Ernst and Young National Life Science Entrepreneur of the Year.

Dr. Nader earned his French doctorate in medicine from St. Joseph University in Lebanon and a physician executive MBA from the University of Tennessee.

Moderna is advancing messenger RNA science to create a new class of transformative medicines for patients.

mRNA medicines are designed to direct the body's cells to produce intracellular, membrane or secreted proteins that have a therapeutic or preventive benefit with the potential to address a broad spectrum of diseases.

Moderna's platform builds on continuous advances in basic and applied mRNA science, delivery technology and manufacturing, providing the company the capability to pursue in parallel a robust pipeline of new development candidates.

Moderna is developing therapeutics and vaccines for infectious diseases, immuno-oncology, rare diseases and cardiovascular diseases, independently and with strategic collaborators.

Headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., Moderna currently has strategic alliances for development programs with AstraZeneca, Plc. (NASDAQ: AZN) and Merck, Inc. (NASDAQ: MRK), as well as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (NASDAQ: DARPA), an agency of the US Department of Defense and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), a division of the Office of the Assistant secretary for Preparedness and Response within the US Department of Health and Human Services.

Moderna has been named a top biopharmaceutical employer by Science for the past five years.