“She is a skilled executive with exactly the right experience in leading an organization, making partnerships and monetizing assets in biotech. Helen knows Evaxion from her time on the Board and we have seen her leadership quality and have already established a working relationship. It is with great faith that we welcome her to a new role in the company,” says Marianne Søgaard, Chairman of the Board at Evaxion.

Helen Tayton-Martin

Holding a Ph.D. in molecular immunology, and an MBA from London Business School, Helen Tayton-Martin was a co-founder of cancer-focused biotech company Adaptimmune, where she served as Chief Operating Officer and later Chief Business & Strategy Officer during her 17 years with the company. Through this time, she oversaw transatlantic growth, multiple clinical, academic and commercial collaborations and private and public financing through to its Nasdaq IPO. Dr. Tayton-Martin was responsible for all Adaptimmune’s strategic partnerships including those with Astellas, Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, GlaxoSmithKline and Galapagos NV.

Prior to Adaptimmune, Dr. Tayton Martin spent 15 years working within the pharma, biotech and consulting environments for various companies. She also previously served as a non-executive director of Trillium Therapeutics Inc. from October 2017 through to the sale of the company in November 2021 to Pfizer Inc.

“I am very excited to be joining Evaxion as CEO at an incredibly exciting time for the company. I have seen first-hand from my time on the Company’s Board the strength of its AI-Immunology platform to deliver real potential products, exemplified with the recent out-licensing of EVX-B3 to MSD and the presentation of unprecedented data for EVX-01 at ESMO, demonstrating Evaxion is in a very strong position for further future value generation. I am looking forward to working with the highly skilled and committed team of employees to build from this extraordinary scientific, medical and commercial potential of Evaxion,” says Helen Tayton-Martin.

Changes to the Board of Evaxion

Helen Tayton-Martin will step down from the Board of Evaxion when taking up the CEO position. Seasoned life science executive Jens Bitsch-Norhave will join the Board of Directors as adviser and observer with the intention of seeking election as board member at the Annual General Meeting in 2026.

Jens Bitsch-Norhave

Jens Bitsch-Norhave is currently Corporate Vice President and Global Head of Corporate Development at Hengrui Pharmaceuticals, where he is responsible for strategy, business development, licensing, M&A, and alliance management, advancing the company’s globalization and growth. He holds an MSc and Ph.D. in neuropharmacology from the University of Copenhagen and an Executive MBA in Technology & Innovation from Copenhagen Business School.