Senior Leadership Team
Vaxcyte’s team of preeminent vaccinologists and vaccine developers is led by biotech and pharma industry veterans who bring decades of experience and a track record of success developing commercially successful healthcare products.
Grant Pickering, MBA
Chief Executive Officer, Director and Co-Founder
Grant Pickering, MBA
Chief Executive Officer, Director and Co-Founder
Jim Wassil, MS, MBA
Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
Jim Wassil, MS, MBA
Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer
Jim brings over three decades of extensive experience developing and commercializing vaccines intended to treat or prevent diseases that impact children and adults around the world. During this time, he held significant leadership positions in the vaccine divisions of Pfizer, Novartis and Merck. Prior to joining Vaxcyte, Jim served as the business unit lead for Pfizer Vaccines with a span of responsibility across market access, policy, pricing, tender negotiations, epidemiology and health outcomes for the entire portfolio, including the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine franchise (Prevnar 13®). Jim was also a long-tenured leader at Novartis where he led the development and launch of Menveo, a meningococcal conjugate vaccine; Bexsero®, a meningitis B vaccine; and the meningococcal ABCWY vaccine candidate. Previously, he led international marketing for the pediatric vaccine franchise at Merck Vaccines where he launched RotaTeq®, a vaccine for rotavirus gastroenteritis in infants, and held other technical and operational roles of increasing responsibility within research, manufacturing, quality, regulatory and technology transfer.
Jim earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry/biology, with high honors, from the University of Notre Dame. He went on to get a Master of Science degree in bio-organic chemistry and a Master of Business Administration degree from Lehigh University. In 2014, James received the VIVA Award as Novartis’ top scientist in 2014 for development and approval of Bexsero®. He also was an ACE Finalist (Secretary of State Award for Corporate Excellence) for his role in conducting an effectiveness study of RotaTeq in Nicaragua.
Andrew Guggenhime, MBA
President and Chief Financial Officer
Andrew Guggenhime, MBA
President and Chief Financial Officer
Andrew’s 30-year career spans the biotech and financial services industries, with broad leadership expertise across strategy, finance, operations, investor relations and corporate development. He also brings significant capital markets and business development transaction experience. Prior to joining Vaxcyte in May 2020, he served as Chief Financial Officer of Dermira, Inc. through its acquisition by Eli Lilly and Company. During his tenure at Dermira, Andrew successfully led a series of private, public and alternative financings and helped scale the company, including through its initial public offering and pivotal transition into a commercial-stage organization. Previously, Andrew served as Chief Financial Officer at several fast-growing biotech companies, including Calistoga Pharmaceuticals, Inc., which was acquired by Gilead Sciences, Inc., and Facet Biotech Corporation, which was acquired by Abbott Laboratories.
Earlier in his career, Andrew served as Chief Financial Officer of PDL BioPharma, Inc. until Facet Biotech was spun off from PDL BioPharma. Prior to joining PDL BioPharma, he served as Chief Financial Officer of Neoforma, Inc., which was acquired by Global Healthcare Exchange, LLC. Andrew began his career in financial services at Merrill Lynch & Co. and Wells Fargo & Company.
Andrew serves as the Board Chair of Caribou Biosciences, Inc. and is a member of the board of directors of Metacrine, Inc. He earned his BA in international politics and economics from Middlebury College and his MBA from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.
Nathan Cracraft
Senior Vice President, IT and Facilities
Nathan Cracraft
Senior Vice President, IT and Facilities
Harp Dhaliwal, MBA
Senior Vice President, Commercial Manufacturing & Supply Chain
Harp Dhaliwal, MBA
Senior Vice President, Commercial Manufacturing & Supply Chain
Mr. Dhaliwal has 25 years of experience in engineering, operations strategy, manufacturing and supply chain, with significant expertise in the healthcare industry. During his career, he has led commercial manufacturing and supply chain for multiple products. Most recently, Mr. Dhaliwal served as Senior Vice President of Supply Chain, Manufacturing and Procurement at Dermira and transitioned to Eli Lilly following the company’s acquisition. In this role, he supported Dermira’s first product launch and successfully transitioned the cGMP manufacturing network from clinical to commercial. Previously, Mr. Dhaliwal was the Head of Manufacturing and Supply Chain at Medivation, an oncology-focused company. Following Pfizer’s acquisition of Medivation, Mr. Dhaliwal led the operations integration. Previously, Mr. Dhaliwal had a long career at Biogen where he ultimately served as Biogen’s Chief Procurement Officer, responsible for managing $3 billion of enterprise-wide spend. While at Biogen, he was also instrumental in transforming the manufacturing network, initiating the biosimilar business and other strategic initiatives.
Mr. Dhaliwal has an MBA in Science and Technology from Queen's University and a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering from the University of British Columbia.
Mikhail Eydelman, JD
Senior Vice President, General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer & Corporate Secretary
Mikhail Eydelman, JD
Senior Vice President, General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer & Corporate Secretary
Jeff Fairman, PhD
Vice President of Research and Co-Founder
Jeff Fairman, PhD
Vice President of Research and Co-Founder
Janet Graesser
Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications & Investor Relations
Janet Graesser
Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications & Investor Relations
Sam Iki
Senior Vice President, Project Management
Sam Iki
Senior Vice President, Project Management
Whitney Jones
Chief People Officer
Whitney Jones
Chief People Officer
Paul W Sauer, MBA
Senior Vice President, Development and Manufacturing
Paul W Sauer, MBA
Senior Vice President, Development and Manufacturing
Mark Wiggins, MBA
Chief Business Officer
Mark Wiggins, MBA
Chief Business Officer
Board of Directors
Carlos Paya, MD, PhD
Former CEO and President, Immune Design Corp Chairman, Vaxcyte
Carlos Paya, MD, PhD
Former CEO and President, Immune Design Corp Chairman, Vaxcyte
Annie Drapeau
Former Chief People Officer, Toast
Annie Drapeau
Former Chief People Officer, Toast
John Furey
Chief Executive Officer, Imvax
John Furey
Chief Executive Officer, Imvax
Halley Gilbert, JD
Chief Legal Officer, CARGO Therapeutics
Halley Gilbert, JD
Chief Legal Officer, CARGO Therapeutics
Peter Hirth, PhD
Former Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Plexxikon, Inc.
Peter Hirth, PhD
Former Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Plexxikon, Inc.
Jacks Lee
Former Senior Vice President of Global Manufacturing and Supply, Merck & Co., Inc.
Jacks Lee
Former Senior Vice President of Global Manufacturing and Supply, Merck & Co., Inc.
Teri Loxam
Chief Financial Officer, Compass Pathways
Teri Loxam
Chief Financial Officer, Compass Pathways
Heath Lukatch, PhD
Founder and Managing Partner, Red Tree Venture Capital
Heath Lukatch, PhD
Founder and Managing Partner, Red Tree Venture Capital
Grant Pickering, MBA
Chief Executive Officer, Director and Co-Founder
Grant Pickering, MBA
Chief Executive Officer, Director and Co-Founder
Scientific Advisory Board
Jeffrey Almond, PhD
Jeffrey Almond, PhD
Emmanuel Hanon, PhD, DVM
Emmanuel Hanon, PhD, DVM
Tony Ford-Hutchinson, PhD
Tony Ford-Hutchinson, PhD
William Hausdorff, PhD
William Hausdorff, PhD
Emmanuel Walter, MD, MPH
Emmanuel Walter, MD, MPH
Careers
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Investors & Media
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