Rajeev Venkayya
"Rajeev Venkayya, M.D., is the president of the Global Vaccine Business Unit at Takeda, reporting to the CEO, Christophe Weber. He manages a vertically integrated business with all functions necessary for the development, manufacturing, and commercialization of Takeda’s vaccines. Takeda’s development pipeline includes vaccine candidates for dengue, norovirus, Zika (funded by the U.S. government), and Sabin-strain inactivated polio vaccine (funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation).
Previously, Venkayya was director of Vaccine Delivery at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where he oversaw the foundation’s top priorities of polio eradication and new vaccine introduction. Prior to that, Venkayya was the special assistant to the president and senior director for biodefense at the White House, where he led biodefense policy development and implementation including the National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza. He first came to Washington in 2002 through the nonpartisan White House Fellows program. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and an independent board member of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI)."[1]
"Prior to Takeda, Dr. Venkayya served as Director of Vaccine Delivery in the Global Health Program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, where he was responsible for the Foundation’s efforts in polio eradication and new vaccine introduction, and a grant portfolio of $500M/year. While at the Foundation, he served on the Board of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI).
"Dr. Venkayya was previously the Special Assistant to the President for Biodefense at the White House. In this capacity, he oversaw U.S. preparedness for bioterrorism and biological threats and was responsible for the development and implementation of the National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza. He first came to Washington though the non-partisan White House Fellowship program in 2002." [1]
- Director, International AIDS Vaccine Initiative
