LEXINGTON, Mass., July 16, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Agenus Inc.
(NASDAQ: AGEN), an immuno-oncology company with clinical stage
checkpoint antibodies, a pipeline of IND ready antibodies and
bispecifics, cancer vaccines, and adoptive cell
therapies1, today announced the appointment of I-O drug
development experts into key leadership positions. These
appointments will help advance multiple clinical programs and
planned BLA filings by 2020.
"Our CTLA-4 and PD-1 antibodies have generated compelling early
clinical activity and we expect to be in the clinic with our novel
antibodies this year and next. Drs. Gupta and Wijatyk have had
successful careers leading the approvals of immune therapies and
chemotherapies," said Garo H. Armen,
Ph.D., Chairman and CEO of Agenus. "Their expertise will help
accelerate our commitment to bring novel I-O therapies to patients.
These include our efforts to launch our CTLA-4 and PD-1 molecules
as early as 2020. We are also readying the clinical launch of our
Nextgen CTLA-4 as well as 2 additional IND filings of our tumor
microenvironment conditioners this year."
Dr. Sunil Gupta joins Agenus as
Vice President of Regulatory and Pharmacovigilance. Dr. Gupta
is a trained oncologist with nearly 30 years in senior leadership
positions in clinical development and regulatory affairs. He joins
Agenus from Sanofi where he had a distinguished career for 22 years
including leading the approvals of Cemiplimab (anti-PD-1), Iniparib
(PARP inhibition), Oxaliplatin and Taxotere.
Dr. Anna Wijatyk joins Agenus as
the Vice President of Clinical Development from Shire, where she
was the Vice President Oncology & Global Development Lead in
hematologic cancers. Dr. Wijatyk is a clinician who brings with her
more than 20 years of experience in leadership positions at
Bristol-Myers Squibb, Baxter, and Shire in oncology and rare
diseases leading to approvals of products with the FDA, EMA and
Health Canada.
In connection with these appointment, Agenus is granting Dr.
Gupta and Dr. Wijatyk inducement equity awards in accordance with
NASDAQ Listing Rule 5635(c)(4). These awards are being granted
pursuant to Agenus' 2015 Inducement Equity Plan and were approved
by the Compensation Committee of Agenus' Board of Directors, made
up entirely of independent directors, as an inducement material to
Drs. Gupta and Wijatyk entering into employment with Agenus. The
awards to Dr. Gupta consist of (i) nonqualified options to
purchase 40,000 shares of Agenus common stock with a 10-year term,
an exercise price equal to the closing price of Agenus' common
stock on the first day of Dr. Gupta's employment with Agenus, and
vesting over four years in equal annual installments, (ii) 30,000
restricted stock units that vest over four years in equal annual
installments and (iii) up to 24,910 restricted stock units that are
part of a company-wide performance equity program and are eligible
to vest in 2020 and 2021 based upon the achievement of key company
milestones. The awards to Dr. Wijatyk consist of
(i) nonqualified options to purchase 60,000 shares of Agenus
common stock with a 10-year term, an exercise price equal to the
closing price of Agenus' common stock on the first day of Dr.
Wijatyk's employment with Agenus, and vesting over four years in
equal annual installments, (ii) 80,000 restricted stock units that
vest over two years in equal annual installments and (iii) up to
37,370 restricted stock units that are part of a company-wide
performance equity program and are eligible to vest in 2020 and
2021 based upon the achievement of key company milestones.
About Agenus
Agenus is a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company focused on the
discovery and development of therapies that engage the body's
immune system to fight cancer. The Company's vision is to expand
the patient populations benefiting from cancer immunotherapy by
pursuing combination approaches that leverage a broad repertoire of
antibody therapeutics and proprietary cancer vaccine platforms. The
Company is equipped with a suite of antibody discovery platforms
and a state-of-the-art GMP manufacturing facility with the capacity
to support early phase clinical programs. Agenus is headquartered
in Lexington, MA. For more information, please
visit www.agenusbio.com; information that may be important to
investors will be routinely posted on our website.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements that are
made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the federal
securities laws, including statements regarding Agenus' clinical
trial plans and activities and timelines for filing INDs, filing
BLAs and initiating commercial launch of candidates. These
forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties
that could cause actual results to differ materially. These risks
and uncertainties include, among others, the factors described
under the Risk Factors section of our most recent Quarterly Report
on Form 10-Q or Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission. Agenus cautions investors not
to place considerable reliance on the forward-looking statements
contained in this release. These statements speak only as of the
date of this press release, and Agenus undertakes no obligation to
update or revise the statements, other than to the extent required
by law. All forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in
their entirety by this cautionary statement.
Contact:
Agenus Inc.
Jennifer Buell, PhD
781-674-4420
Jennifer.Buell@agenusbio.com
1Through AgenTus Therapeutics, a subsidiary of
Agenus
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SOURCE Agenus Inc.