• Lakshmi Srinivasan, PhD, former Executive Director and Head of Oncology Translational Medicine at Moderna, and Brandon Coder, PhD, former Research & Early Translational Lead, Cancer Vaccines at Moderna, join Everest Medicines
• Appointments support continued advancement of Everest's mRNA pipeline, including a planned Phase 1b investigator-initiated trial of EVM16 in Q4 2026, U.S. IND submission in early 2027, and EVM14 Phase 1 study completion in Q1 2027

Everest Medicines (HKEX 1952.HK, "Everest", or the "Company"), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, clinical development, manufacturing, and commercialization of innovative therapeutics, announced the appointments of Lakshmi Srinivasan, PhD, as Senior Vice President, Head of Translational Medicine, and Brandon Coder, PhD, as Vice President, Translational Sciences & Discovery. The appointments further strengthen the Company's global R&D capabilities in mRNA therapeutics, and support the continued advancement of its proprietary mRNA platform and pipeline. The Company will continue to invest in world-class talent to accelerate the development of its mRNA programs and to realize the platform's potential for global innovation.

Both executives are seasoned scientists in mRNA cancer vaccines, with deep experience spanning early discovery through clinical development and leadership roles in oncology vaccine research at Moderna and other leading biopharmaceutical companies. At Everest, they will drive clinical development of the Company's mRNA programs and expand Everest's presence in the United States, in line with the Company's global mRNA R&D strategy, while working closely with the China R&D team.

"We are very pleased to welcome Dr. Srinivasan and Dr. Coder to Everest as we continue to strengthen our global mRNA R&D capabilities," said Mr. Yifang Wu, Chairman of the Board of Everest Medicines. "Their deep experience in cancer vaccine research, translational medicine, and clinical development will be highly valuable as we advance our proprietary mRNA platform and broader pipeline. Their appointments reflect our continued commitment to investing in world-class talent and advancing our global mRNA strategy."

Lakshmi Srinivasan, PhD

Dr. Srinivasan is a seasoned immunologist with 20 years of experience advancing innovative immuno-oncology therapeutics from discovery through clinical development. Her expertise spans cancer vaccines, mRNA-LNP technologies, T-cell therapies, and translational development from preclinical research through clinical proof of concept.

Prior to joining Everest Medicines, Dr. Srinivasan served as Executive Director and Head of Oncology Translational Medicine at Moderna Therapeutics from 2023 to 2025. She previously held leadership roles at Repertoire Immune Medicines, Neon Therapeutics (later acquired by BioNTech), and Sanofi Oncology.

Dr. Srinivasan has played a key role in the clinical translation of personalized neoantigen vaccines and has authored multiple high-profile publications in the field. She served as corresponding author on Phase 1b studies of NEO-PV-01 published in Cell (2020)^[1] and Cancer Cell (2022),^[2] and co-authored publications on Moderna's intismeran autogene (mRNA-4157/V940), including the Phase 1 KEYNOTE-603 study published in Cancer Discovery (2024)^[3]  and the three-year follow-up of the randomized Phase 2b KEYNOTE-942 study published in JCO Oncology Advances (2026).^[4] 

Dr. Srinivasan conducted postdoctoral research at the Immune Disease Institute at Harvard Medical School. She holds a PhD in Microbiology and Cell Biology from the Indian Institute of Science, a master's degree in biotechnology from Jawaharlal Nehru University, and a bachelor's degree in biochemistry from Delhi University.

Brandon Coder, PhD

Dr. Coder brings more than 11 years of industry experience advancing T cell immunotherapies from discovery through investigational new drug (IND) submissions and early clinical proof of concept, with expertise in cancer vaccines, mRNA/LNP platform technology, and in vivo CAR therapies.

Prior to joining Everest Medicines, Dr. Coder held scientific roles at Moderna from 2019 to 2025, most recently as Associate Scientific Director of Cancer Vaccine Research. He served as research and global pharmacology lead for intismeran autogene (mRNA-4157/V940), where he co-authored the Phase 1 KEYNOTE-603 study of mRNA-4157/V940 published in Cancer Discovery (2024).^[3]  He also co-invented and led development of the shared-antigen discovery and vaccine design framework for mRNA-4359 and mRNA-4106.

Previously, Dr. Coder served as Associate Director of Immuno-Oncology Research at Advaxis Immunotherapies, where he developed personalized and off-the-shelf cancer vaccines. He holds a PhD in Biomedical Sciences, with a focus on immunology and genetics, from the University of North Texas Health Science Center and a bachelor's degree in biology from Texas Tech University.