Kara Bickham, M.D., has left Merck to take up the chief medical officer role at Affinivax. The appointment gives the person who led clinical development of Merck’s pneumococcal conjugate vaccine Vaxneuvance a starring role in a push to bring a rival jab to market. Merck hired Bickham in 2014. Over the following years, Bickham won a series of promotions, culminating in the title of executive director, vaccines clinical research and responsibility for clinical trials of 15-valent pneumococcal conjugate jab Vaxneuvance. With the FDA approving Vaxneuvance, a rival to Pfizer’s Prevnar 13, last month, Bickham has left Merck to take up a position at Affinivax. Bickham will now oversee development of a 24-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine that could go on to challenge Vaxneuvance and Prevnar for a blockbuster market. Affinivax recently presented data from a phase 2 trial that compared its Astellas-partnered vaccine to Pfizer’s Prevnar 13 and successor Pneumovax 23. The data caught t