Protein Sciences CEO Speaks at Goodwin

August 12 breakfast event to focus on FDA announcement for Flublok® vaccine

What: Vital Voices: The T. Boone Pickens Lecture Series for Education, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship

Who: featured guest Dr. Manon Cox, president and CEO of Protein Sciences Corporation

When: Wednesday, August 12; networking and breakfast at 8 a.m.; lecture from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m.

Where: Goodwin College Community Room, One Riverside Drive, East Hartford

As the latest presentation of Vital Voices: The T. Boone Pickens Lecture Series for Education, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship, Goodwin College welcomes Dr. Manon Cox, president and CEO of Protein Sciences Corporation, a Meriden-based company specializing in vaccine development and protein production. In a departure from its usual evening format, Goodwin has scheduled Dr. Cox’s lecture as a breakfast event on Wednesday, August 12, in the College’s Community Room at One Riverside Drive in East Hartford. Networking and breakfast begin at 8 a.m. with the lecture running from 8:30 to 9:30.

Dr. Cox will focus primarily on Flublok®, the world’s first recombinant protein-based vaccine for the prevention of seasonal influenza disease. Flublok is the only flu vaccine made in a 100% egg-free system using modern cell culture technology, making it unnecessary to use an infectious influenza virus or antibiotics in manufacturing.

In a rare move, the US FDA granted Protein Sciences exclusivity to Flublok for a period of 12 years. Flublok is the first vaccine awarded this status, positioning it as a game-changing influenza vaccine. The determination of regulatory exclusivity means that no product similar to Flublok can be approved by the FDA before January 16, 2025.

Goodwin Vice President of Advancement Brooke Penders noted, “We are grateful that Vital Voices can play a role in bringing attention to this step forward in health care. With so many of our students pursuing nursing degrees and education in other health-related fields, we feel it’s important to help keep our neighbors in the community informed of the latest developments.”

This Vital Voices event is open to the public, and is expected to be of particular interest to nurse practitioners and others in the healthcare field, as well as representatives from other colleges and universities. There is no charge for admission, but reservations are required by August 11 by contacting Gretchen Goode at vitalvoices@goodwin.edu.