John Lepore Joins Moderna as Senior Vice President, Government Engagement

Moderna, Inc., (Nasdaq: MRNA) a biotechnology company pioneering messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics and vaccines to create a new generation of transformative medicines for patients, today announced that John Lepore has joined Moderna as Senior Vice President, Government Engagement effective Monday, August 10, 2020. He will report to Chief Executive Officer, Stéphane Bancel.

"I am pleased to welcome John to Moderna as our Senior Vice President, Government Engagement. John is joining us at a pivotal time as we enroll the Phase 3 study of our COVID-19 vaccine and prepare for the start of the Phase 3 study of our CMV vaccine. Moderna has a large clinical pipeline of first-in-class vaccines," said Stéphane Bancel, Chief Executive Officer of Moderna. "John's experience in developing corporate strategy for vaccines at GSK along with his unique blend of government affairs, public policy, commercial and legal experience at the national, regional and global level will be an important asset as we transition Moderna into a global commercial stage enterprise."

Mr. Lepore joins Moderna from Mastercard (NYSE: MA), where he served as General Counsel, Policy and Advocacy since 2017. At Mastercard, he was responsible for global public policy, regulatory affairs and litigation and led a global team of more than 80 professionals based in North America, Latin America, Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific. Prior to Mastercard, Mr. Lepore was Head of Global Government Affairs at RELX (ReedElsevier LexisNexis) Group (NYSE: RELX).

Previously, Mr. Lepore spent 15 years with GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) where he held a range of commercial and corporate leadership positions in the U.S., Europe and Asia. His most recent position was Vice President, Government Affairs for GSK Emerging Markets where he led government affairs, public policy and patient advocacy across all GSK's commercial divisions including the pharmaceutical, vaccines and consumer subdivisions. His prior roles at GSK included leading the CEO's Office and Corporate Strategy team, managing a vaccines business unit in China, and heading the company's Brussels office for EU government affairs. Before joining GSK, Mr. Lepore served as senior legal counsel in the U.S. Congress and practiced law at Akin, Gump in the firm's Washington and Brussels offices.

"Moderna is in a unique position to rapidly enter worldwide markets with the demonstrated progress of its mRNA platform," said Mr. Lepore. "I look forward to joining the Moderna team to build the global government engagement function and to help ensure that Moderna's mRNA medicines and vaccines are widely available."

Mr. Lepore received a Master of Public Health degree from Johns Hopkins University and Juris Doctorate from Georgetown University. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Boston College.

About Moderna

Moderna is advancing messenger RNA (mRNA) science to create a new class of transformative medicines for patients. mRNA medicines are designed to direct the body's cells to produce intracellular, membrane or secreted proteins that can have a therapeutic or preventive benefit and have the potential to address a broad spectrum of diseases. The company's platform builds on continuous advances in basic and applied mRNA science, delivery technology and manufacturing, providing Moderna the capability to pursue in parallel a robust pipeline of new development candidates. Moderna is developing therapeutics and vaccines for infectious diseases, immuno-oncology, rare diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, independently and with strategic collaborators.

Headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., Moderna currently has strategic alliances for development programs with AstraZeneca PLC and Merck & Co., Inc., as well as the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Defense, and the?Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority?(BARDA), a division of the?Office of the Assistant?Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) within the?U.S. Department of Health and Human Services?(HHS).? Moderna has been named a top biopharmaceutical employer by Science for the past five years. To learn more, visit www.modernatx.com.