LEXINGTON, Mass., March 21, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Agenus Inc.
(NASDAQ: AGEN), an immuno-oncology (I-O) company with a pipeline of
immune checkpoint antibodies, cancer vaccines and adoptive cell
therapies1, announced new leadership appointments as its
CTLA-4 and PD-1 programs advance towards a planned BLA filing in
2020.
Dr. Manuel Hidalgo, MD, PhD,
joins as Strategic Advisor. Dr. Hidalgo, an internationally
renowned oncologist, has led clinical development of more than 50
novel anticancer agents including erlotinib, temsirolimus and
nab-paclitaxel, which are FDA approved for the treatment of cancer.
Dr. Hidalgo is the Director of Rosenberg Clinical Cancer Center and
Chief of the Division of Hematology-Oncology at Beth Israel
Deaconess Medical Center. He is also Co-Director of the Pancreas
and Liver Institute, and Co-Director of the Pancreatic Cancer
Research Program, at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
(BIDMC). Dr. Hidalgo's groundbreaking work in experimental cancer
therapy and tumor model development has led to key advances in the
treatment of pancreatic cancer.
Paulo Moreira was appointed as
Global Head of Clinical Operations. Mr. Moreira joins Agenus from
EMD Serono where, as the Head of Global Clinical Operations &
External Innovation, he helped establish the company as a leader in
patient centricity around clinical trials.
"I am thrilled to have Manuel and Paulo as part of our team to
advance our innovative clinical programs," said Dr. Garo Armen, Chairman and CEO. "This is an
exciting time at Agenus. Our lead PD-1 and CTLA-4 programs are in
pivotal trials and our next generation anti-CTLA-4 and multiple
other first-in-class programs are advancing towards the clinic this
year."
Paulo joins Agenus from EMD Serono, where he served for 18 years
in diverse positions within Clinical Development. He was named in
PharmaVoice's 100 Most Inspirational Leaders in both 2015 and 2017,
in recognition of his industry leadership in patient centricity and
the advancement of clinical trials. More recently, he was
recognized by CenterWatch as 2018 Top Innovator, for his work
around the Clinical Trials Registry of the Future.
Agenus' clinical development team is led by industry veteran Dr.
Anna Wijatyk, who has more than 20
years of experience in leading product approvals with the FDA, EMA
and Health Canada.
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, proprietary cancer vaccine platforms, and
adoptive cell therapies (through its AgenTus Therapeutics
subsidiary). 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 and our twitter handle
@agenus_bio. Information that may be important to investors will be
routinely posted on our website and twitter.
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 clinical
development plans and timelines and the anticipated contributions
of new team members. 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