Industry Experts

Ann Lao is Senior Director, Protein Upstream Development at Vaxcyte, where she leads upstream process development for the company's cell-free synthesis platform, overseeing late stage process development for the company's pneumococcal conjugate vaccine pipeline. With 19 years of industry experience spanning CMC, biotherapeutics, and fermentation-based manufacturing, Ann has advanced programs from early development through pivotal clinical supply. At Codexis, she served as CMC lead for an IND-stage biotherapeutic, securing FDA Orphan Drug and Rare Pediatric Disease designations. She holds a PhD in Chemical and Environmental Engineering.