Blue Water Vaccines Announces the Appointment of Ronald R. Cobb as the Head of Science and Discovery

CINCINNATI, August 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Blue Water Vaccines, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, announced today that it has appointed Dr. Ronald R. Cobb as its Head of Science and Discovery. Dr. Cobb brings with him not only exemplary research and development expertise, but also expertise in leading early-stage drug development from the lab to market. His understanding of drug development from inception to supply chain and beyond will be crucial for Blue Water Vaccine's onward journey.  

"We welcome Ron as an expert strategist with deep knowledge of developing early-stage drugs into successful assets," said Joseph Hernandez, Chairman and CEO of Blue Water Vaccines.  "We look forward to him leading Blue Water Vaccines' pipeline initiatives, which focus on treating and preventing pathogen infections." 

"I am excited to join the growing team at Blue Water Vaccines and to be involved in the critical process of bringing life-saving vaccines to patients globally," noted Dr. Cobb. "Pathogenic infections like Influenza, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and the norovirus are profound global issues that demand effective solutions. As the head of Blue Water Vaccines' scientific initiatives, I plan to propel these ongoing programs forward and establish their clinical path."

Dr. Ron Cobb is a geneticist and a molecular biologist with over 25 years of pharmaceutical R&D and manufacturing experience. In his previous roles, Dr. Cobb was responsible for various leadership positions. He was most recently, the Chief Scientific Officer at Ology Bioservices. At Tanabe Research Laboratories, he initiated discovery programs seeking small molecule inhibitors of inflammatory diseases while supporting all internal drug discovery screening efforts with protein expression services.  At Berlex Biosciences (U.S. Division of Schering AG) Dr. Cobb led the protein expression division and supported the research and clinical development phase projects. He was also a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee and Worldwide Antibody Development Committee for Schering-Plough Corporation. Dr. Cobb, as principal investigator, has overseen more than $200M in drug development contracts over his career, and has co-authored over 60 peer-reviewed manuscripts. Dr. Cobb earned his BA in Biology from Wake Forest University and his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the Medical College of Georgia.

Blue Water Vaccines is developing a universal influenza vaccine that could potentially provide lifelong protection from influenza, including pandemic strains like the 1918 pandemic and 2009 swine flu.  Scientists from the University of Oxford identified epitopes of limited variability in the head domain of the haemagglutinin protein. These epitopes are targeted naturally by the immune system and vaccination studies have shown that regions of influenza viruses that circulated in 2006 and 1977 were able to protect against infection with an influenza virus that last circulated in 1934. 

About Blue Water Vaccines

Blue Water Vaccines, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing transformational vaccines to address significant health challenges globally. Headquartered in Cincinnati, OH, the company holds the rights to proprietary technology developed at the University of Oxford, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC), and St. Jude Children's Hospital. The company has licensed a novel virus-like particle (VLP) vaccine platform from CCHMC to develop vaccines for multiple infectious diseases. Blue Water Vaccines is developing a Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus) vaccine candidate, designed to specifically prevent middle ear infections, known as Acute Otitis Media (AOM), in children. The live-attenuated vaccine candidate has been shown to effectively prevent colonization of pneumococcus bacteria in the middle ear of chinchillas regardless of serotype. AOM accounts for approximately 20 million physician visits each year in the United States. Globally, AOM caused by pneumococcus accounts for approximately 300 million cases annually. For more information, visit www.bluewatervaccines.com.

Contact Information:
Erin Henderson
Email:  [email protected]
Olipriya Das (media)
Email: [email protected] 

SOURCE Blue Water Vaccines Inc.

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www.bluewatervaccines.com