Robin Taylor, MBA, Ph.D., Appointed Chief
Commercial Officer
Homa Yeganegi Appointed Chief Product Strategy
and Global Medical Affairs Officer
Stephanie Fagan Appointed Chief Communications
Officer
Immuno-oncology leader, Agenus Inc. (“Agenus”) (Nasdaq: AGEN),
today announced the appointment of Robin Taylor, Ph.D., Homa
Yeganegi and Stephanie Fagan to its executive team. The newly
appointed leaders bring a wealth of industry experience to drive
the company’s next phase of growth in the development and planned
commercialization of botensilimab and a deep pipeline of
immuno-oncology programs, which offer potential breakthroughs in
cancer therapeutics.
Chief Commercial Officer, Robin Taylor, Ph.D., is an
accomplished leader with demonstrated success in global commercial
development in oncology. His expertise in commercialization
strategies, market access, and product launches will accelerate
Agenus’ growth and ultimately enable the delivery of the company’s
therapies to patients as the company evolves to a multi-product
organization.
Chief Product Strategy and Global Medical Affairs Officer, Homa
Yeganegi, brings expertise in medical affairs and a passion for
advancing patient care. Her success in building and leading global
medical affairs teams will play a pivotal role in deepening
physicians’ understanding of the transformational potential of
botensilimab. By fostering strong relationships with the medical
community, she will contribute to the development and future
commercialization of the company’s immuno-oncology programs.
Chief Communications Officer, Stephanie Fagan, brings extensive
experience working with leading healthcare companies and executing
successful communication, investor relations and advocacy
strategies. Her proven record in building strong brands and
engaging stakeholders will shape Agenus’ communication efforts and
drive patient-centered initiatives to enhance the potential role of
botensilimab in the treatment of cancer.
"We are at an incredibly exciting juncture in our company's
history, with a portfolio of promising therapies showing
significant clinical activity across a range of hard-to-treat
cancers in patients who have not responded to previous therapies,"
said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Garo Armen, Ph.D. "With
the addition of Robin, Homa, and Stephanie to our team, Agenus is
poised to accelerate our growth and, most importantly, deliver
novel therapies that we believe will enhance and extend the lives
of patients in need."
Agenus has a growing body of robust clinical data from trials
studying botensilimab in approximately 600 patients. Botensilimab
alone, or the botensilimab/balstilimab combination has shown
clinical responses across nine metastatic solid tumor cancers. The
company is in late-stage development in highly prevalent cancers of
the colon, lung, and skin with an estimated market opportunity of
150,000 patients across the United States (U.S.), United Kingdom,
France, Spain, Italy, Germany, and Japan1. Agenus plans to submit
its first Biologics License Application to the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) for the approval of the combination in
patients with refractory non-MSI-H metastatic colorectal cancer in
2024. The ongoing global randomized phase 2 trial for patients with
non-active liver metastases has been granted Fast Track designation
from the FDA.
About Robin Taylor
Robin Taylor, Ph.D. has extensive experience across oncology
global development and commercialization, with a proven track
record in building the commercial foundation to execute successful
launches. Most recently, Taylor was an independent consultant
providing strategic commercial advice to biotechnology companies.
Taylor was previously the chief commercial officer at Seagen, where
he led the organization through a period of significant growth in
preparation for the launches of PADCEV® (enfortumab vedotin), and
TUKYSA® (tucatinib). Prior to this role Taylor served as vice
president and immuno-oncology franchise head in the oncology
business unit at AstraZeneca, where he led the global medicine and
product teams responsible for IMFINZI® (durvalumab), and IMJUDO®
(tremelimumab). Before joining AstraZeneca, Taylor served in
commercial roles of increasing responsibility at Genentech, a
member of the Roche Group, contributing to the launch and
commercialization of HERCEPTIN® (trastuzumab) and AVASTIN®
(bevacizumab), and ultimately serving as vice president, lung and
cancer immunotherapy franchise head, global product strategy,
responsible for the development and commercialization of ALECENSA®
(alectinib) and TECENTRIQ® (atezolizumab) across multiple
indications. He received a Doctor of Philosophy in molecular and
medical genetics from the University of Toronto; a Master of
Business Administration from the University of California,
Berkeley; and a Bachelor of Science from the University of British
Columbia.
About Homa Yeganegi
Homa Yeganegi is an expert leader in building and leading
oncology-focused global product strategy and medical affairs, with
a strong commitment to medical excellence and patient care.
Yeganegi joins Agenus from her position as senior vice president
and global program leader at Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) where she
led the global regulatory submission for repotrectinib in non-small
cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Prior to BMS, she was senior vice
president and head of medical affairs for Turning Point
Therapeutics, directing development and commercialization
strategies for the U.S. approval of repotrectinib in NSCLC. Prior
to that role, Yeganegi was senior vice president and head of global
medical and scientific affairs at Halozyme responsible for medical
commercialization strategy and operational planning for the
company’s investigational oncology drug candidate. Yeganegi
previously served as vice president of global medical affairs at
Clovis Oncology where she directed pre-launch activities for
rociletinib in NSCLC in the U.S. and Europe. She also built and led
oncology-focused global medical affairs teams at Exelixis, and at
Onyx Pharmaceuticals where she led launch planning for carfilzomib
in multiple myeloma. She received her Bachelor of Science in
biology from the University of Tehran, Iran; her Master of Science
in neuroanatomy from the University of Western Australia; and is
completing a doctorate in health sciences.
About Stephanie Fagan
Stephanie Fagan brings a breadth of expertise across corporate
affairs and communications, leading the development and execution
of multi-stakeholder communication strategies. She joins Agenus
from Pillar Communication, LLC, a consulting firm providing
fractional chief communications officer leadership. Prior to that,
she was senior vice president and chief communications officer at
Acadia Pharmaceuticals, overseeing all internal and external
communications. Fagan joined Acadia from bluebird bio, Inc., where
she was senior vice president, corporate communications, and built
the first communications function as the company transitioned from
a clinical-stage to commercial-stage company. Prior to bluebird,
Fagan led the corporate affairs functions at Alexion, Shire and
West Health and has experience overseeing corporate, financial,
product and internal communications as well as corporate social
responsibility, patient advocacy, and government affairs. Over the
course of her career, Fagan has served in positions of increasing
influence and impact in the healthcare industry, including roles at
Johnson & Johnson, Allergan, Pharmacia, Inc. (now Pfizer), and
Boston Scientific Corporation. Fagan earned a Master of Science in
communications from Boston University and a Bachelor of Arts in
English from Wheaton College.
About Botensilimab
Botensilimab, an investigational multifunctional CTLA-4
antibody, is designed to extend immunotherapy benefits to "cold"
tumors, which have not historically responded to standard of care
or other investigational therapies. Besides binding to the CTLA-4
receptor, its Fc-enhanced structure induces a memory immune
response, downregulates regulatory T cells, and activates T cells,
thereby enhancing immune responses. Approximately 600 patients have
been treated with botensilimab in phase 1 and phase 2 clinical
trials. Botensilimab alone, or in combination with Agenus’ PD-1
antibody, balstilimab, has shown clinical responses across nine
metastatic, late-line cancers. For more information about
botensilimab trials, visit www.clinicaltrials.gov with the
identifiers NCT05608044, NCT05630183, and NCT05529316.
About Agenus
Agenus is a leading immuno-oncology company targeting cancer and
infectious diseases with a comprehensive pipeline of immunological
agents. The company’s mission is to expand patient populations
benefiting from cancer immunotherapy through combination
approaches, using a broad repertoire of antibody therapeutics,
adoptive cell therapies (through MiNK Therapeutics) and adjuvants
(through SaponiQx). Agenus is headquartered in Lexington, MA. For
more information, visit www.agenusbio.com or follow us on LinkedIn
and Twitter @agenus_bio.
Forward-Looking
Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements under the
safe harbor provisions of federal securities laws. These include
statements related to botensilimab’s and balstilimab’s regulatory
strategy and use, such as anticipated therapeutic benefit,
efficacy, mechanism of action, potency, durability, and safety
profile of the company's therapeutic candidates. Any statements
containing "may," "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "hopes,"
"intends," "plans," "forecasts," "estimates," "will," “establish,”
“potential,” “superiority,” “best in class,” and similar
expressions signify forward-looking statements. Actual results
could differ materially due to risks and uncertainties, including
those described under the Risk Factors section in our most recent
Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q or Annual Report on Form 10-K filed
with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Agenus urges investors
not to place significant reliance on the forward-looking statements
in this release. These statements only reflect the views 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.
1 Data/information supplied by Kantar Health, LLC.
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