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Saul Marquez:
Hey everybody! Saul Marquez with the HLTH Matters podcast. I want to welcome you back today, and if it’s your first time joining us, welcome. We’re going to have an amazing conversation with Silvia Taylor today. She is the executive vice president and chief communications officer for Novavax. She has the responsibility for investor relations, public relations, and all communications related to the strategy of Novavax. I’m excited to have her here. She actually brings more than 25 years of communications and commercial leadership. So with that introduction, I want to welcome Silvia to the podcast to share more about Novavax’s efforts to improve our access to vaccines and make our world healthier. Silvia, thanks for joining us.
Silvia Taylor:
Thank you, Saul, for having me.
Saul Marquez:
It’s a pleasure. So we’re covering so many things at the HLTH conference and in particular the HLTH Podcast, and one of the things on the tail end of the pandemic, we’ve covered discussions around vaccination, and Novavax is making a huge impact in keeping healthy people healthy, I think is what you guys say, and so I’m excited to dive into those topics. And before we do, I’d love to hear more about you. So what inspires your work in healthcare?
Silvia Taylor:
I have a passion for making complex scientific information accessible to people. I’m not a scientist myself, and so I’d like to say that if I can make it something that I can understand, then I can make it accessible for people who need the information of the thing that we’re doing, whether it’s a pharmaceutical product, whether it’s a vaccine. People aren’t scientists, but they consume science, and so it’s really important that we empower them with the information that they need. And that’s what I’m absolutely passionate about.
Saul Marquez:
I love that. And you’re right, Silvia, there are so many of us, I’ll say us, because there’s a lot of complicated things out there that you just want to, just give me the basics. How does this work? And you’re a master at that.
Silvia Taylor:
I try, I try. Thank you.
Saul Marquez:
And so on the topic of vaccinations, talk to us a little bit about Novavax. What is it that you guys do? How do you add value to the healthcare ecosystem?
Silvia Taylor:
So Novavax is a company that is not new, we’ve actually been in the vaccine space for a while. For about 20 years, we were developing vaccines to fight infectious diseases. And so when the pandemic came around in 2020, it was kind of the perfect storm. The world needed solutions and Novavax knew how to make vaccines. And so very quickly, us and a handful of other companies moved into development mode, and in less than two years we were able to do what normally takes 8 to 10 and get a vaccine not only developed but figure out how to manufacture it and make it available all over the world. So today we are available in many countries around the world and authorized in over 43. So that’s really, really exciting.
Saul Marquez:
That is exciting. Now there’s also a lot of innovation that goes into not just the vaccine-making process but the partaking of it. So talk to us a little bit about that, meaning, what’s the word that I’m looking for here? Is it accessibility? Like the question, is it about accessibility?
Silvia Taylor:
I think what you’re asking about is access to healthcare. So as a company that does vaccines, which as you mentioned, were different than your typical biopharma company, the products that we’re giving to people are given to people who are well, to keep them well to prevent them from getting sick. And so the question of how do you make sure people have the information that they need so they can access the healthcare that they need, in this case, vaccines? During the pandemic, there’s been a lot of, I would say, misinformation about vaccines. At the beginning of the pandemic, the concern was let’s not make them too fast, because if they’re too fast, I might not trust the safety, I might not trust the efficacy. And then it very quickly became we want to get out of the pandemic, how can we get these vaccines expedited? So there was this kind of very strange balance that at the end of the day we said, we’re not going to cut any corners, we’re going to take what we know how to do and let’s make vaccines, and we’re going to put them through the process, we’re going to ensure they’re efficacious and they’re safe, and that’s exactly what we’ve done. We’ve done that, though, with an eye toward access. So it’s not only access to information people need about vaccines, access to choice, we fundamentally believe at Novavax that choice is empowering, choice is motivating, choice can help people get over the hump to get the vaccine they need, whether it be their primary vaccine or their booster. And one of the things that also, when we think about access, is really important to us at Novavax is giving access to people all over the world. So early on in the pandemic, our main focus, even though we’re based in the US and had the support of the US government, was actually making sure that we got vaccine to people all over the world. So the first markets that we went into were actually outside of the United States, it’s something we’re really proud of.
Saul Marquez:
That’s fantastic, and congratulations on the things that you guys have done to enable access. And so how do you guys work with pharma companies? So are you guys a pharma company as well?
Silvia Taylor:
So we’re a, what I’d like to call, biopharma company. We’re a biotechnology company. We’re a company that makes vaccines and that has a platform. Our platform is we make adjuvanted protein-based vaccines. That’s kind of all we do, and we look to figure out how our technology can be applied to different therapeutic areas. So whether it’s COVID-19, which is the vaccine that we’ve developed and we have on the market, or whether it’s a combination product with flu and COVID-19, which we’re now in clinical trials for, or even malaria. We kind of use our technology platform to find solutions to keep people well all over the world.
Saul Marquez:
That’s fantastic, thanks for level setting there. And as you think about this access opportunity, what types of programs has Novavax worked on and made available to the public?
Silvia Taylor:
I think one of the things that I am most proud about is how we’ve partnered across the entire healthcare ecosystem. Part of it is because it’s been a pandemic and partnership is vital. Part of it is because we’re in global public health. But our model is that we work very closely with governments, non-governmental organizations, NGOs, funders. We’ve had the pleasure of enjoying support and funding and partnership from organizations like Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, GAVI, Cepi, the US government, and other governments around the world. And so for us, it’s really about striking those innovative partnerships that can help us get people access to the information that they need. Now, with our vaccine on the market, it’s about how can we make people choose to get vaccinated, how can we give them the information about our vaccine so that they can make an informed choice? So what we’re doing is now striking partnerships with patient advocacy organizations, talking to government partners around the world to ask them, what are your challenges? What are you seeing? How can we partner together to make sure we’re giving people information and motivating them to take action? The pandemic, I think people are really sick of it, they want it to be over. It’s really not done yet and people need to not let their foot off the gas, so to speak. They need to keep the sense of urgency to get themselves and their loved ones vaccinated.
Saul Marquez:
That’s fantastic, thank you. And as far as providers and payers as well, talk to us about some of the initiatives that Novavax and the team has going on with them.
Silvia Taylor:
Well, right now, because we’re in a pandemic, the relationships that we have with the people who are buying our vaccine are actually with governments.
Saul Marquez:
Oh, good.
Silvia Taylor:
So right now the US government is really our customer in the United States, governments around the world in the 43 markets I talked about we’re authorized. The market I think is very soon, probably in ’23, going to move to what we call an endemic, post-pandemic market. And then you’ll find more traditional commercialization where partnering with payers, with pharmacies, that becomes extremely important because then the model will be different and it won’t be governments procuring vaccine and then giving it away for free, essentially in communities across their countries, but it’ll really be more the traditional payer model. In order to make sure that happens, that we’re paving the way for that to be a seamless transition in 23, we’re actually starting to build those relationships now. So we’re making sure that payers have information about Novavax, about our vaccine, and we’re making sure that we’re educating pharmacists. During the pandemic, and I think this is a trend that’s going to continue, into the future, people go to access their vaccination in large numbers in pharmacies and I don’t expect that that’s going to change. We see that in other markets like influenza. You could even get your shingles vaccine if you’re over 50 at a pharmacist. Yeah, absolutely, kind of anywhere, which is great. People need access to vaccines and that’s terrific. And so what we’re doing is really making sure that everybody at that point of care, at that intersection point with the consumer, has the information about who we are and what we do.
Saul Marquez:
Well, that’s fantastic. And let’s use this as a platform to let that information about Novavax be shared with everyone listening. What call to action would you give to all the listeners as we close on our podcast today?
Silvia Taylor:
I think it’s simple: Get informed. That’s kind of the theme of what we’re talking about. Get yourself information. There are a lot of places right now that have information, a lot of places that have misinformation, so I think it’s really important that people go to trusted sources of information. First and foremost, talk to your healthcare provider. You know, they’re the best source of information, kind of helping you cut through the clutter, and there’s a lot of information out there. So I always say, go talk to your healthcare provider, talk to your pharmacist, and then going online to find out information from other trusted sources like CDC. And then you, the ultimate is having people go and get vaccinated, it’s really, really important. So if there’s one message right now I would leave your listeners with, it’s definitely get vaccinated. If you haven’t gotten your primary vaccine, get vaccinated. If you need your booster, get vaccinated. And the best place to go in the US to find that information is vaccines.gov. It’s really simple, you go online, and you enter your zip code and you find out where you can get the vaccine that is right for you and your family.
Saul Marquez:
Love it. Well, Silvia, thank you so much.
Silvia Taylor:
Thank you, Saul.
Saul Marquez:
Really appreciate the insights you’ve shared today, and where can people find you and where can people find Novavax?
Silvia Taylor:
Novavax.com.
Saul Marquez:
That’s easy enough.
Silvia Taylor:
Very easy.
Saul Marquez:
And so folks, there you have it. Novavax.com. Silvia, such a pleasure to have you here, and looking forward to staying in touch.
Silvia Taylor:
It’s my pleasure. Thank you, Saul.
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