DNA Plasmid Vaccine Manufacturing

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VGXI Leadership


Bryan Byong Jin Kim, D.M.D.
,
President and CEO


Dr. Kim has had extensive experience in building successful organizations throughout his career. During his tenure as Director and Senior Director of Corporate Development at VGX Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Kim has played an important role in the acquisition of VGX International, Inc. in 2005 as well as the day-to-day management of this publicly-traded bio-pharmaceutical company in Korea. VGX International was added to a KOSPI 200 index in 2007. He also successfully launched 3 business units: new drug development, CMO and cGMP consulting at VGX International.

Currently, he is a CEO of VGX International in Korea. Prior to joining VGX, Dr. Kim was a successful private clinician and a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, School of Dental Medicine, where he developed innovative clinical programs and directed important research projects granted by NIDH in microbiology and immunology.

Dr. Kim holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and a Bachelor of Science degree in Biological Science, both from University of California at Irvine and a Doctor of Dental Medicine degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

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Henry Hebel,
Chief Operating Officer, Vice President


Mr. Hebel joined VGX (Advisys) in 2001. He was previously employed by Qiagen Inc., where he served as Key Account Manager for a strategic joint venture known as the “pAlliance.” Mr. Hebel worked on the team that launched this venture and was responsible for sales, marketing, and project management activities. For six years prior to his work at Qiagen, Mr. Hebel worked for GeneMedicine Inc., which eventually merged to become Valentis, Inc. During this period, Mr. Hebel served as Senior Manager of Bioprocessing. The Bioprocessing team designed, built and operated a cGMP manufacturing facility that was responsible for human clinical batches through Phase II trials, as well as developed novel manufacturing techniques to allow for the scale up of plasmid processes. Mr. Hebel has additional development and manufacturing experience from Tanox Biosystems, Inc. In his position at Tanox, Mr. Hebel worked on antibody product development.

Mr. Hebel holds a Bachelor of Science degree in zoology from Texas A&M University.

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Jerry Brandewie,
Director of Manufacturing

Mr. Brandewie came to VGXI, Inc. with 26 years experience in product manufacturing. He joins VGXI from Vivante GMP Solutions (formerly Introgen Therapeutics) where he held the position of Vice President of Production. At Vivante he set up the systems and procedures for the production of live viral products for the treatment of cancer. He has extensive experience in start-up and scale-up of production facilities. Specifically, developing manufacturing procedures and strategies to increase production, improve productivity, product quality and efficiency.

Mr. Brandewie holds a Bachelor's degree in Chemistry from the University of Texas – Austin. He is also a member of the International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering.

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Dorothy Peterson, Sr. Director of Quality


Ms. Peterson comes to VGX with over 20 years experience in the medical device industry, complying with FDA regulations in both start up and established organizations. Ms. Peterson recently relocated to Houston, TX from San Diego, CA where she was VP of Operations at Qualigen, Inc. which included the responsibility for quality and regulatory. While at Qualigen, she successfully submitted several 510(k) applications and led the company through multiple regulatory agency audits including ISO 13485 to gain the CE mark. Prior to Qualigen, Ms. Peterson was at Hybritech, Inc. (a subsidiary of Beckman-Coulter) for 14 years where she held multiple positions in both the quality and manufacturing organizations.

Ms. Peterson received her Bachelor of Science in Biology from Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas. She is also a member of the Regulatory Affairs Professional Society.

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Sandra Jones, Director of Validation


Ms. Jones comes to VGXI from Beckman-Coulter, Inc. where she managed the Validation Program and served as the Calibration Manager. She has 17 of years experience in FDA regulated industries, including food, pharmaceutical and medical devices. Her experience spans R&D, Project Engineering, Commercial Operations, Manufacturing, and Quality.  

Ms. Jones holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from Prairie View A&M University and an Executive Management Certification in Finance & Accounting from Cornell University.

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