CAMBRIDGE, MA, Nov. 4, 2009 (Marketwire) --

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- (Marketwire) -- 11/04/09 -- On November 9, the MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge will present a session on the development of new technologies for the research, development and treatment of infectious diseases. The session will feature a keynote presentation by Dr. Andrin Oswald, CEO of the Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics Division, to discuss the global public health concern for infectious disease and the reinvigoration of the market for disease research and vaccine development. Dr. Oswald will also share his thoughts on new vaccine opportunities and the response of the pharmaceutical industry to the H1N1 pandemic.

Following Dr. Oswald's presentation, the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), making a rare public address in Boston, will discuss its Innovation Fund, which features a three-year commitment of $10 million and is supported in part by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The IAVI will share its interest in partnering with companies in the biotechnology space.

Additionally, Dr. David E. Anderson of Variation Biotechnologies and Mustapha Leavenworth Bakali of Genocea Biosciences will each give short presentations about the current state of their respective companies. Both Variation and Genocea are well-funded private companies with investments from leading venture capital firms Clarus Ventures, Arch Venture Partners, 5AM Ventures; and Auriga Partners, Cycad Group, Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Lux Capital Management, Polaris Venture Partners and Morningside Ventures, respectively.

Following the presentations, Dr. Una Ryan, a noted vaccine expert and the former CEO of AVANT Immunotherapeutics, will moderate a panel conversation featuring all of the evening's presenters.

Keynote speaker:

Dr. Andrin Oswald, M.D., is CEO of the Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics Division and a permanent attendee of Novartis' Executive Committee. Dr. Oswald previously held positions of assistant to the chairman and CEO; head of the Country Pharma Organization (CPO) and country president for Novartis in South Korea; and CEO of Speedel and global head of development franchises at Novartis Pharma, all with Novartis. Prior to joining Novartis in 2005, Dr. Oswald worked with McKinsey and Company, Switzerland.

Panelists:

Dr. David E. Anderson, Ph.D. is vice president of immunology and co-founder of Variation Biotechnologies, a leader in the discovery and development of vaccines to fight infectious diseases. Dr. Anderson has extensive training and has published a number of records in many fields of immunology and is a former faculty member at Harvard Medical School.

Mustapha Leavenworth Bakali is CEO at Genocea Biosciences.