Vaxcyte names new chief medical and legal officers, moves up OPUS-1 data timing

Vaxcyte, Inc. announced on September 3, 2026 that it has appointed Luis Jodar, Ph.D. as Chief Medical Officer and David McAvoy, J.D. as Chief Legal Officer as the company named the two industry veterans to its leadership team.¹

Alongside the appointments, the company moved up its data timeline. Vaxcyte said topline safety, tolerability and immunogenicity results from the VAX-31 adult Phase 3 OPUS-1 trial are now expected by the end of October, tightening the guidance it had previously given for a fourth-quarter readout.¹

Jodar spent 17 years at Pfizer, where he most recently held the role of Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer for Vaccines and Infectious Diseases, overseeing global medical and scientific functions and acting as a senior decision-maker on clinical development and regulatory strategy for a group of programs that included the vaccines "Prevnar 13," "Prevnar 20," "Abrysvo," "Comirnaty," and the antiviral "Paxlovid."¹ Earlier in his career, he contributed to the World Health Organization's Meningitis Vaccine Project, which produced MenAfriVac, now used by more than 400 million people in sub-Saharan Africa.¹

McAvoy joins from Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, where he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer, running a legal, compliance and government affairs group of 235 people.¹ He also previously worked at Brickell Biotech and Endocyte, and spent 27 years at Eli Lilly in senior legal roles supporting drug development, approval and launch work across six therapeutic areas, including Prozac and Cialis.¹

On the trial itself, the company said the VAX-31 adult Phase 3 program includes three fully enrolled studies, OPUS-1, OPUS-2 and OPUS-3, with a combined total of 6,191 adults dosed, of whom roughly 3,500 received VAX-31.¹ Vaxcyte said data from OPUS-2 and OPUS-3 are expected in the first half of 2027.¹