immune systems of young children don’t respond to the sugar polymer alone. Chemically linking a protein to the polysaccharide allows young children to make protective antibodies against the bacteria. Lees’ genius was in devising a new and easier method to make conjugate vaccines. “I love what I do,” says Lees, the founder of Fina BioSolutions, a vaccine development company based in in Rockville, Md., where he and his team of eight employees, mostly scientists, work. Lees didn’t set out to improve global health when he graduated with a degree in chemistry from Harvey Mudd College. He pursued a Ph.D. in biophysics at Johns Hopkins University. After graduate school, he worked for two years as a professional magician (a childhood hobby) and found himself featured on the cover of Baltimore Magazine as one of its “People to Watch.” He then took a job in an immunology lab at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md. In the university library one night, he hit upon a novel idea for linking proteins and polysaccharides. This resulted in a better method for synthesizing conjugate vaccines, some of the most complex and expensive to manufacture but known for producing stronger and longer-lasting results than vaccines consisting of polysaccharides alone. “It was a Eureka moment,” he says. “A lot of dumb luck came together.” The university licensed Lees’ discovery to the pharmaceutical company SmithKline (the company later became GlaxoSmithKline). “That changed my life,” he says. “It was very satisfying to see my work move from the lab to vaccine products that save lives.” Lees’ chemistry is used in several GlaxoSmithKline conjugate vaccines, including MenHibrix—a combination vaccine against Haemophilus influenza-type b and several strains of meningococcal disease—and Synflorix, a vaccine that protects against Streptococcus pneumoniae and is sold in more than 100 countries. So that he could put all of his energy into developing conjugate vaccines, Lees started his own company, Fina BioSolutions, in 2006. With more than 20 patents on conjugate vaccine development to his name, Lees partners with several international organizations, including the Serum Institute of India, one of the largest vaccine manufacturers in the world. The Serum Institute works to produce affordable vaccines to underserved populations. This philosophy appeals to Lees. “Because I don’t have investors and don’t need to make a lot of money, I’m able to run a cooper-
ative company,” he says. And one with a sense of humor: The company is named after the family cat, and its mission statement is “Doing good while having fun and trying not to go bankrupt.” Lees also partners with the Chengdu Institute of Biological Products in China to advance global vaccine development. The Chengdu Institute joined with a U.S.-based nonprofit global health organization known as PATH and the Gates Foundation to develop an affordable pneumococcal vaccine for China. Pneumonia remains the leading killer of children under 5 years of age worldwide. While a single dose of the pneumoniae conjugate vaccine can cost $100 in the United States, a dose may cost as little as $5 in the emerging-market countries Lees works to serve. “These products are among the most expensive and complicated of the pediatric vaccines,” he says. “To work with companies that are trying to make affordable vaccines is very gratifying.” Lees also works with colleagues at the Center
for Vaccine Development at the University of Maryland in Baltimore, where he is an associate professor of medicine. The group focuses on diarrheal diseases in children, which are, globally, the second-leading cause of death for those age 5 and under. A major objective of that research is to develop a salmonella conjugate vaccine, now nearing a phase-one clinical trial. Lees credits his success to the support he received while at Harvey Mudd, namely from his mentors, Robert Borrelli and Stavros Busenberg, who took him under their wing and helped a rather eccentric student—“I wore tortoise-shell glasses, dressed poorly, had crappy social skills and studied all the time”—develop into a focused, responsible adult. “People believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself, and that really helped,” says Lees.
“ This is the chemistry that made my career.” –Andrew Lees ’75
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