Management Team - Auro Vaccines

Alan M. Gordon, Esquire

Senior Patent Counsel

Alan M. Gordon is Senior Patent Counsel at Auro Vaccines LLC where he focuses on intellectual property and technology transfer matters. From 2010-2020 he performed the same role as Corporate Counsel for Profectus BioSciences, Inc. Prior to joining Profectus in 2010, Mr. Gordon headed the Vaccines Patent Group for 10 years at Wyeth, where he supervised attorneys handling patent matters for a $3 billion business unit. Prior to entering corporate practice, Mr. Gordon was an associate at a New York City patent firm specializing in litigation. Mr. Gordon has a J.D. from the Syracuse University College of Law and a B.S. in Biochemistry from the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (both degrees with honors).

Stefan Hamm, Ph.D.

Vice President & Site Head

Dr. Hamm earned his Ph.D. from the University of Muenster, Germany, in the laboratory of Dr. Werner Risau at the Max-Planck Institute for Physiological and Clinical Research in Bad Nauheim, Germany, where he studied various aspects of the blood-brain barrier. His training as a molecular virologist began with his post-doctoral work under the guidance of Dr. Yoshihiro Kawaoka at University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he used reverse genetics to study the pathogenicity of influenza viruses, including H5N1. From 2003 to 2009, Dr. Stefan Hamm was a Principal Scientist at Wyeth Vaccines where he developed vaccine vector platforms (pDNA, VSV, VRP, live attenuated influenza virus) and generated vaccine candidates for HPV, HCV, RSV and Influenza viruses. Afterwards he joined Profectus BioSciences Inc. and was responsible for the discovery and construction of all vector-based vaccines within the company’s portfolio. After the transition into Auro Vaccines in 2020, Dr. Stefan Hamm and his team continue to explore novel vaccine candidates through their innovative research and discovery work.

Victor Leyva-Grado, DVM, Ph.D.

Director of pre-clinical Immunology

Dr. Leyva-Grado earned his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree at the National Autonomous University of Mexico where he performed virology research on small ruminant lentiviruses as models for HIV. After working at the university and private practice he completed his Ph.D. at Washington State University under the mentorship of Dr. James Krueger. His doctoral work was focused on elucidation of the mechanisms involved in the acute phase response induced by influenza virus infection. Dr. Leyva- Grado’s postdoctoral training was in the laboratory of Dr. Peter Palese at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai where he later joined the faculty. His most recent research focused on the development of universal influenza vaccine as well as in the discovery and preclinical testing of novel antiviral compounds, working with internal discovery teams as well as external partners. During this time, he acted as project leader for an NIH contract focused on evaluation of novel vaccines and antivirals using animal models. Most recently, Dr. Leyva-Grado was at Applied Biological Laboratories where he was the research director. He led the preclinical testing and was instrumental in the development of Biovanta, the first company’s commercial product in the market. Dr. Leyva-Grado joined Auro Vaccines to function as the director of the pre-clinical immunology group. He and his team are responsible for developing, establishing and performing the preclinical evaluation of our vaccine candidates.

Demetrius Matassov, Ph.D.

Director of Viral Vaccine Development

Dr. Matassov has over 19 years of research experience working with negative stranded RNA viruses. As a post-doctoral fellow, he was involved in developing the virus-like particle technology into a viable vaccine platform against viral pathogens such as seasonal and avian influenza viruses. As a founding virology Team member at Profectus BioSciences, he has been integral in developing the recombinant Vesicular Stomatitis virus (rVSV) vector-based vaccine platform to express foreign antigens that protect against a multitude of infectious diseases. In recent years he has transitioned into Upstream and Downstream development of the VSV vectored vaccines. After the formation of Auro Vaccines, he continues to develop new methods in both upstream production and downstream purification of the VSV vectored vaccines. This newly formed Process Development group provides material and instructs the CMO’s on the GMP production of the VSV vectored vaccines.

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