LEXINGTON, Mass., Oct. 23, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Agenus Inc.
(NASDAQ: AGEN) Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Garo
Armen Ph.D. announces the appointment of Bruno Lucidi as CEO of AgenTus Therapeutics,
Inc., a subsidiary of Agenus that has been established as a
dedicated cell therapy company, which will focus on the discovery,
development, and commercialization of Adoptive Cell Therapy (ACT).
Lucidi brings extensive expertise in drug development and more than
30 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry.
Lucidi's leadership record includes Head of Pediatric Vaccines
at GSK Biologicals, where he was in charge of developing a global
business of more than $3 billion.
Lucidi was Worldwide Vice-President Virology & Oncology at
Johnson & Johnson where he led portfolio strategy from drug
discovery to market and served in senior leadership at
Bristol-Myers Squibb where he was responsible for the strategy and
launch of several new antiviral and oncology products, including
but not limited to Videx® (didanosine), Zerit®
(stavudine), Paraplatin® (carboplatin) and Taxol®
(paclitaxel).
Lucidi was the Founding CEO of Idenix and the Chairman of
Pharmasset, where his contributions at both companies laid the
foundation for successful multi-billion dollar companies, which
were later acquired by Merck and Gilead for approximately
$4bn and $11bn, respectively. Lucidi also served as CEO of
several companies in Europe
including Karolinska Development AB, KDEV Oncology and Aprea AB.
Lucidi is currently an External Expert for the European
Commission and Life Sciences Expert at AWEX, Wallonia trade and
foreign investment agency in Belgium.
As CEO of AgenTus, Lucidi will lead a team of world-class
scientists, while leveraging the proprietary technologies,
intellectual property assets, pipeline, and expertise of parent
company Agenus.
"Bruno has the ideal mix of industry know-how and
business-building expertise to propel AgenTus forward and transform
our powerful cell therapy technology into novel treatments for
patients with cancer," said Garo
Armen, Ph.D. Chairman and CEO of Agenus. "I am delighted to
see Bruno's appointment to this key role to rapidly translate our
cell therapy platforms, novel targets, and innovative delivery
format into a pipeline of effective therapies to drive value to
patients and AgenTus."
"AgenTus has the foundational technology and expertise to
rapidly become a major player in the field of Cell Therapy. I am
honored to work alongside a team of world-class scientists. My
objective is to rapidly advance product innovation and create value
by bringing effective cell therapies to cancer patients," said
Lucidi. "I look forward to further building and developing this
exciting company and to realize the enormous potential of cell
therapy as an emerging class of medicines in the immuno-oncology
field."
About AgenTus Therapeutics, Inc.
AgenTus Therapeutics
is a preclinical-stage biopharmaceutical company that will focus on
the discovery, development, and commercialization of breakthrough
"living drugs" to advance potential cures for cancer
patients. AgenTus will employ naturally-derived and
engineered receptors, specifically T cell receptors (TCRs) and
Chimeric Antigen Receptors (CARs), designed to supercharge human
immune effector cells to seek and destroy cancer. AgenTus
will also aim to advance adoptive cell therapy formats which would
enable off-the-shelf living drugs. AgenTus will have
locations in Lexington, MA and Cambridge, UK. For more information,
please visit www.agentustherapeutics.com.
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 a number of 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 the AgenTus' prospects, business plans,
assets, capabilities, operating plan and expected ability to
leverage the assets and capabilities of Agenus to rapidly become a
major player in the field of Cell Therapy. 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
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SOURCE Agenus Inc.