MEDICAGO
7.12.2020 13:32:51 CET | Business Wire | Press release
Medicago, a biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Quebec City, Canada, today announced Takashi Nagao as the company’s new President and Chief Executive Officer. Prior to becoming President and CEO, Mr. Nagao served as the Chairman of the Board of Medicago, where for the last four years, he has guided Medicago executives to get the company to where it is today.
Medicago, a research and development company for the last 20 years, is embarking on a transformative year, one that will see the company build on its R&D roots to become a company that also produces and commercializes vaccines and other immunotherapies. Mr. Nagao has extensive experience leading pharmaceutical companies through the pre-commercial and commercial process and is well positioned to ensure the successful launch of Medicago’s COVID-19 and influenza vaccines, subject to regulatory approvals. Mr. Nagao will continue Medicago’s evolution towards its goal of being a fully operational commercial entity, able to respond to the needs of the global public health community and medical authorities and professionals.
“Taking on this new role with Medicago during this exciting time is a great honour for me,” said Mr. Nagao, President and Chief Executive Officer, Medicago. “I want our employees, investors, and stakeholders such as the Government of Canada to know that I will put all my efforts into seeing our COVID-19 and influenza vaccines through to a successful launch to protect as many people as possible.”
From 2007 to 2017, Mr. Nagao oversaw the establishment of Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation’s U.S. presence and led the team that successfully achieved NDA of RADICAVA®, the first FDA-approved drug in over 20 years for the patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS). Prior to that, Mr. Nagao was a Managing Director in investment banking at J.P. Morgan and Deutsche Bank where he was responsible for global clients and leading equity and cross-border M&A transactions in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology sector in North America, Japan and Europe. He has an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Mr. Nagao succeeds Dr. Bruce D. Clark, who held the position of President and CEO of Medicago since 2017 and was instrumental in the development of Medicago’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate.
Medicago recently announced the start of Phase 2/3 clinical trial of its plant-derived VLP vaccine candidate for COVID-19 to evaluate its efficacy, safety, and immunogenicity, based on the positive Phase 1 results and subsequent allowance to advance to Phase 2/3 by the Canadian regulatory authorities. The company is also building a new facility in Quebec to increase Canada’s domestic capacity for manufacturing vaccines, producing up to a billion doses annually.
“Medicago is at an inflection point. We are moving from a research and development focused organization to become a commercial entity supplying vaccines to Canadians and people around the world,” said Mr. Nagao.
About Medicago
Medicago is a biopharmaceutical company and pioneer in plant-derived therapeutics. Founded in 1999 with the belief that innovative approaches and rigorous research would bring new solutions in healthcare.
Our mission is to improve global health outcomes by leveraging innovative plant-based technologies for rapid responses to emerging global healthcare challenges. Medicago is committed to advancing therapeutics against life-threatening diseases worldwide. Our team includes over 450 scientific experts and employees in Canada and the United States and academic affiliations in Europe and South Africa.
Medicago has previously demonstrated its capability to be a first responder in a flu pandemic. In 2009, the company produced a research-grade vaccine candidate against H1N1 in just 19 days. In 2012, Medicago manufactured 10 million doses of a monovalent influenza vaccine candidate within one month for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), part of the U.S. Department of Defense. In 2015, Medicago also demonstrated in principle that it could rapidly produce an anti-Ebola monoclonal antibody cocktail for the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
For more information: www.medicago.com
To learn more about our plant-based technology: Video / Website
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20201204005409/en/
Link:
About Business Wire
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
SMBC and Toshiba Jointly Develop New Equity Indices Using Advanced Quantum-Driven Technologies28.5.2026 03:00:00 CEST | Press release
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (“SMBC”) and Toshiba Corporation (“Toshiba”) today announced the joint development of the SMBC/TOSHIBA Quantum Driven Diversified Japan Equity Index and the SMBC/TOSHIBA Quantum Driven Diversified U.S. Equity Index, new equity indices realized with advanced quantum-driven technologies. Collectively, the indices are referred to as “SMBC/TOSHIBA Quantum Diversified” (the “Indices”). This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260519448161/en/ Toshiba’s Simulated Bifurcation Machine 1. Background and Objectives Equity investment is central to asset management, but it also carries the ever-present risk of abrupt and substantial market fluctuations driven by geopolitical developments, changes in economic policy, and other external factors. In uncertain markets, investors are constantly seeking innovations in risk diversification that can protect their assets from unexpected market shocks. SM
BeOne Medicines Announces Phase 3 HERIZON-GEA Data Published in NEJM and Presented at ASCO 202627.5.2026 23:00:00 CEST | Press release
TEVIMBRA plus ZIIHERA and chemotherapy demonstrated statistically significant overall survival benefit with an unprecedented seven-month improvement in first-line HER2+ GEAOral presentation at ASCO highlights benefit regardless of PD-L1 status, including in PD-L1 <1% BeOne Medicines Ltd. (Nasdaq: ONC; HKEX: 06160; SSE: 688235), a global oncology company, today announced that data from HERIZON-GEA-01 were published in The New England Journal of Medicine and will be presented in an oral presentation (Rapid Oral Abstract: 4010) at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting on June 1, 2026, in Chicago.The HERIZON-GEA-01 clinical trial evaluated ZIIHERA® (zanidatamab) plus chemotherapy, with and without TEVIMBRA® (tislelizumab), compared with the control arm of trastuzumab plus chemotherapy as first-line treatment for advanced/metastatic HER2+ gastroesophageal adenocarcinoma (GEA). Dr. Sun Young Rha, Professor of Medical Oncology at the Yonsei Cancer Center, Yonsei Univ
Stallergenes Greer Foundation Celebrates Excellence in Allergy Innovation With 2025 Awards27.5.2026 17:22:00 CEST | Press release
The Stallergenes Greer Foundation, dedicated to advancing allergy research, fostering innovation and addressing environmental factors which impact allergies, is delighted to announce the recipients of the 2025 edition of its prestigious Science Awards for Allergy. Building on the success of the previous edition, this year’s awards recognise outstanding contributions to allergy research and patient engagement and allocate a total of €100,000 to support these initiatives. Four researchers have been selected by the Board as award recipients, each receiving €25,000 across two categories: Innovation In Treatment Awards Assoc. Professor Alexander Eggel, PhD, Department for Biomedical Research, University of Bern, and Department of Rheumatology and Immunology, University Hospital Bern, Switzerland, recognised for his research: “Improving diagnostic and therapeutic options for allergic patients”; Dr Janice A. Layhadi, PhD, Research Associate, National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College
Capchase Secures $200M+, as Demand for Vendor Financing in Enterprise Tech Deals Accelerates27.5.2026 16:00:00 CEST | Press release
As buyers face tighter budgets, Capchase helps technology companies close more deals faster with AI-enabled instant financing Capchase, the leading vendor financing platform for enterprise tech, today announced $200M+ in incremental funding to scale its embedded financing infrastructure globally and deploy more AI-enabled features. The funding, a mix of debt warehouse facilities and equity backed by institutional investors, reflects market validation that vendor financing has become essential infrastructure for enterprise technology companies to sell hardware and software products. As global B2B buyers face tighter budgets and greater scrutiny over large, up-front purchases, financing demand is growing. The Market Shift: Financing as a Growth Lever for B2B Tech Companies The $1.3 trillion vendor financing market has been traditionally dominated by banks and other lenders that utilize multi-thread email chains to manual doc review for underwriting. Capchase replaces those bottlenecks wi
ClickHouse Tops $250M ARR and 4,000 Customers, Launches Claude-Powered Agents at Open House 202627.5.2026 15:00:00 CEST | Press release
Annual run-rate revenue more than tripled year-over-year; new CostBench benchmark shows ClickHouse Cloud at 23x better cost-performance than the nearest cloud data warehouse ClickHouse today opened Open House 2026, its second annual user conference, with a set of announcements that mark one of the company's most active quarters since founding. ClickHouse’s serverless cloud offering has crossed over $250 million in annual run-rate revenue — more than triple a year ago — and added more than 1,000 net new customers since January, bringing its total to 4,000. To meet the demands of AI-era workloads, the company also launched ClickHouse Agents, a fully managed agentic analytics service powered by Anthropic's Claude; published CostBench, an open benchmark comparing the major cloud data warehouses on cost-performance; and introduced House Mates, its first formal partner program. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260527
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom