Tal Zaks
Vision, Collaboration, and Communication: Lessons Learned from Developing Moderna’s COVID Vaccine
The Harold and Helen Bernstein Memorial Lecture
Tal Zaks will describe the development of Moderna’s COVID vaccine, from its roots as a broad-based preclinical company through the advancement of its clinical pipeline in 2015-2019, and culminating in the development and global launch of the COVID vaccine. This will be discussed in the context of a biotechnology company launching its first ever “proof of concept” for a new platform (mRNA) as the most impactful medicine of our generation.
Tal Zaks, M.D., Ph.D., is a Partner with OrbiMed. Dr. Zaks was recently the Chief Medical Officer at Moderna, where he led the development of the company’s COVID-19 vaccine and other key programs. Previously, Dr. Zaks held senior leadership positions in drug development at major pharmaceutical companies, including Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline. Dr. Zaks received his M.D. and Ph.D. from the Ben Gurion University and conducted post-doctoral research at the U.S. National Institutes of Health