ApiJect Systems, Corp, a public benefit company based in Stamford, CT, today announced the creation of its new Leadership Advisory Board, along with the appointment of the first six external members of the Board. They will join ApiJect co-founder and president Jay Walker and company CEO Franco Negron at this new Board. Mr. Walker and Mr. Negron will serve as ex officio board members.
ApiJect Systems, Corp., is a global injectable technology company. The company is building the world’s largest pharmaceutical finishing and filling manufacturing facility in Durham, North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park. The ApiJect campus is designed to produce up to 3 billion annual doses of injectable drugs. ApiJect also built, using a $ 138 million grant from the U.S. Department of Defense and the Department of Health and Human Services, an emergency manufacturing capacity in Columbia, South Carolina, to produce up to 45 million pre-syringes monthly single-dose fillings.
The new members of the ApiJect Leadership Advisory Board are:
- Professor Heidi J. Larson, Ph.D., Director of The Vaccine Confidence Project, Professor of Anthropology, Risk and Decision Sciences, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine; Clinical professor, Global Health, University of Washington, Seattle, USA. Professor Larson previously chaired the Global Immunization Communication at UNICEF, chaired the Advocacy Task Force of the Gavi Alliance, and served on the WHO SAGE Working Group on vaccine hesitation.
- Dr. Regina M. Benjamin, Dr. Benjamin was the 18th Surgeon General in the United States. As a surgeon general, she supervised more than 6,500 uniformed public health officers worldwide. She currently serves as the founder and CEO of BayouClinic, Inc. and the chair NOLA.com/Times Picayune Endowed of Public Health Sciences at Xavier University of Louisiana.
- Dr. Edward Kelley, Director of Global Health at the ApiJect Research Foundation. Dr. Kelley most recently served as Director of Integrated Health Services at the World Health Organization, leading WHO’s work in primary health care and patient safety. Prior to joining WHO, Dr. Kelley served for almost a decade as Director of the US National Health Reports for the US Department of Health and Human Services.
- Dr. Michael J. Free, OBE, dedicated 32 years serving as PATH’s vice president of technology. He led PATH’s team of more than 100 scientists, engineers, product designers, public health and marketing experts to a track record of successfully bringing new technologies and products to populations with limited resources. In 2011, Dr. Free was honored as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II for global health services.
- Rueben M. Stokes, former Vice President of Global Diversity and Inclusion at Thermo Fisher Scientific and former senior corporate executive of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). Mr. Stokes’ DEI experience addresses talent acquisition, multicultural marketing, supplier diversity and community involvement. He is a former member of the 100 Black Men of America and a former member of the Advisory Board of the Boston Museum of Science.
- Dr. Marietta Vázquez, MD, Professor, Yale University School of Medicine, attending, Yale Pediatric Primary Care Center Dr. Vázquez is the first Latina to serve as a voting member of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices; she was appointed by the Secretary of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Vázquez studies the clinical epidemiology of infectious diseases, with a focus on assessing the effectiveness of vaccines.
ApiJect CEO Franco Negron commented: “ApiJect is privileged to welcome its first members to our Leadership Advisory Board. We see this Board as an essential part of our company’s mission to be a world leader in the advancement of injectable device technology. . These are the individuals who dream big and seek aggressive changes in US and global public health. “
Mr. Negron continued: “At Rueben Stokes, we have a veteran of the Fortune 500 who knows global sales and how to navigate access to new markets. Rueben’s work on behalf of diversity, equity and inclusion also gives ApiJect a powerful voice. supporting a system of values and culture that will help us attract and retain a workforce proud of our company and its mission, Dr. Marietta Vazquez brings us a broad and deep perspective on public health, her unique combination of experience in clinical epidemiology of infectious diseases and a decade-long public health collaboration with the Dominican Republic increases ApiJect’s understanding of working in regions and communities with limited resources and underdeveloped health networks and infrastructure. “
ApiJect President Jay Walker commented: “Companies always benefit when they look beyond their day-to-day management team for additional leadership and strategic guidance and advice. Our Leadership Advisory Board was created in recognition that identifying and partnering with independent consultants with broad – pooling knowledge and experience will be a significant asset for our company. “
Mr. Walker continued: “At Professor Heidi Larsen, our Council has one of the world’s most recognized experts on vaccination hesitation. His work with WHO, the European Union, FDA and other global health agencies in designing and supporting campaigns vaccination will be to inform ApiJect as we seek to establish our role in global health. Dr. Regina Benjamin is an original American. Her passion for improving access to quality health care for all Americans took her out of service at the highest levels of our federal government, as our nation’s 18th surgeon general, for their work in supporting the community’s health needs. Dr. Ed Kelley and Dr. Michael Free are two of the world’s leading experts in global health. Ed created the first collaboration WHO public-private sector working directly with the pharmaceutical and medical device industries to improve health services and patient safety.Michael helped create the model performance of non-profit organizations in public and global health, working in cooperation with private surprise companies. “
About ApiJect Systems, Corp.
ApiJect Systems, Corp., is a global medical injectable technology company that seeks to change the way medicines and vaccines are packaged and delivered to the world. Its platform is centered around the combination of two globally trusted technologies: pen needle-shaped hubs and Blow-Fill-Seal medicine packaging, or BFS for short. The first device on the ApiJect platform, the pre-filled injector, allows a healthcare professional to rotate on an IM needle hub in a BFS pre-filled container, creating a simple, safe and convenient to use pre-filled injector that provides reliably a single dose of medicine or vaccine.