People

Garo serves as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Agenus Inc., which he co-founded in 1994. Under his leadership, Agenus has been advancing breakthrough scientific technologies and immunotherapeutic products for 20 years. From mid-2002 through 2004, Garo, in addition to his responsibilities at Agenus, served as Chairman of the Board of Directors for the biopharmaceutical company Elan Corporation, plc, which he successfully restructured. Garo serves as non-executive Chairman of the Board of Protagenic Therapeutics, a biotechnology company focusing on human brain hormones for the treatment of neurological and metabolic disorders. He also serves as Founder and Chairman of the Children of Armenia Fund (COAF), a philanthropic organization he founded in 2000; COAF is dedicated to the development of children and youth in Rural Armenia. He received his PhD in physical chemistry from the City University of New York.

Dr. Buell serves as the Chief Operating Officer and is responsible for organizational operations, including Research, Clinical Development, Manufacturing, Commercial Operations, Communications, Investor Relations and External Affairs.  Since joining Agenus in 2013, Dr. Buell has served as the Head of Global R&D operations, Head of Research, and Chief Communications and External Affairs Officer. During her tenure, she helped advance the expansion of Agenus from a neoantigen vaccine company to a global, fully-integrated platform company with a unique pipeline of immune modulating antibodies, cancer vaccines, adjuvants, and adoptive cell therapies. With 20 years of biopharmaceutical R&D experience, Jennifer has extensive knowledge in advancing discovery candidates through development and experience communicating with external stakeholders including regulators, investors, and collaborators. She has a proven record of success in R&D leadership, most recently at Agenus, where she led high performing teams in advancing candidates into the clinic and delivered on key alliance collaborations. Prior to joining Agenus, Jennifer held leadership positions in R&D operations at Bristol-Myers Squibb and later was responsible for Program and Alliance Management at Harvard Clinical Research Institute (Baim), where she was involved in the development strategy and operations for a portfolio of industry and government sponsored clinical programs. Jennifer obtained her PhD in Cellular, Biochemical, and Molecular Biochemistry with an MS in Biostatistics from Tufts University in Boston.

Julie serves as our Head of Business Development.  Julie has more than 10 years of cross-functional experience in the biopharmaceutical industry with leadership roles in business development, corporate strategy, finance, and program management.  Prior to Agenus, Julie was responsible for strategy and business operations at Baxalta.  Before that, Julie held roles of increasing responsibility at  Amgen, Siamab Therapeutics, McKinsey & Company, and Frankel Group. Julie holds a Master’s of Business Administration from MIT Sloan and a Master’s degree in Biomedical Enterprise from the Harvard/MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology.

Dr. Anna Wijatyk is the Vice President of Clinical Development at Agenus. Dr. Wijatyk comes to Agenus with several years of experience in pharmaceutical, biologics, device and CRO industry, in various global Clinical and Medical strategic functions in USA and Europe. Dr. Wijatyk has provided medical and safety leadership for multiple phase I-IV studies for first in class compounds. Prior to joining Agenus, she served as the Vice President Oncology & Global Development Lead in hematologic cancers at Shire and provided medical leadership to several global programs including design and execution of phase III studies and BLA filings. Prior to Shire, Anna has served in key medical strategy and clinical development roles at Baxter Healthcare, Bristol Myers Squibb, Boston Scientific Corporation, Parexel and Quintiles. Dr. Wijatyk received her M.D from Medical University of Warsaw, Poland.

Dr. Sunil Gupta, MBBS, FRCPC, is the Vice President of Regulatory & Pharmacovigilance at Agenus. In his pharmaceutical industry career of over 30 years in Clinical Development, Medical Affairs and Regulatory Affairs, Dr. Gupta has led several clinical trial programs in oncology. Prior to joining Agenus, he was with with Sanofi and legacy company Rhone Poulenc Rorer for 22 years where he led several development project teams and secured registration of 2 new molecules, Eloxatin (oxaliplatin) for colorectal cancer and Jevtana (cabazitaxel) for advanced prostate cancer, with successful FDA, EMA and other Health Agency interactions across the world. Dr. Gupta obtained his medical education in India followed by Internal Medicine residency and Oncology fellowship at the Ottawa University Hospitals, Ottawa, Canada. Becoming interested in genitourinary cancer he completed additional year of advance fellowship at the Indian University Purdue University Medical Center at Indianapolis.

As Chief Technology Officer and Head of Research, Alex is responsible for closely aligning research and Manufacturing Technology to deliver manufacturable and innovative development candidates across our different drug modalities. In his prior role as Chief Technology Officer, Alex directed the modernization and optimization of our technical platforms and is responsible for all manufacturing and quality systems including those relating to Prophage. Alex is a seasoned antibody research scientist and business leader with over 20 years of experience leading antibody technology and biotherapeutic drug discovery programs in all major therapy areas. He joined Agenus in January 2015 from Actigen, a company focused on development of immunomodulatory antibody compounds, where he was Managing Director. Previously, Alex was CSO and Head of R&D at Affitech A/S (Denmark) and a member of the Astra Zeneca Discovery senior management team, where he served as Senior Vice President Biopharmaceuticals and led the Cambridge UK Discovery site, previously Cambridge Antibody Technology (CAT). Prior to its acquisition by Astra Zeneca, Alex was SVP Drug Discovery at CAT, where he built a recognized world-class antibody discovery capability. Technology developed by CAT was used to create adalimumab, the first fully human antibody blockbuster drug known commercially as Humira. Alex gained his PhD in Dr. Sir Greg Winter’s laboratory at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, University of Cambridge and held post-doctoral positions at the University of California San Diego.

Evan leads our legal and compliance functions. Evan first joined Agenus in 2014 and previously served as our Vice President, Associate General Counsel. Prior to joining Agenus, Evan was with the law firm of Goodwin Procter LLP in Boston, MA, where he advised public and private companies in domestic and international transactions on corporate and securities law matters, merger, acquisition and financing transactions, corporate governance, and other general corporate matters. Evan holds a B.A. in Economics from Colby College and a J.D. degree from the University of Toledo College of Law

Don Vidic is the Vice President, Head of Commercial for Agenus.  Don has 30 years of expertise in pharma distribution, managed care, as well as physician and pharmacy services.  For the majority of that time, he has been committed to commercial endeavors that provide access to all patients who require complex medications that are difficult to access.

Prior to joining Agenus, Don served as the Chief Pharmacy and Growth Officer at Alliance Rx Walgreens Prime (a division of Walgreens Boots Alliance), where he was responsible for pharmacy and manufacturer services, clinical services, regulatory compliance as well as marketing and sales.  Preceding his 10 years at Walgreens where he consistently took on increasing responsibilities, he was the Vice President and General Manager of McKesson Specialty Pharmacy.

Don is a registered Pharmacist having graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a BS in Pharmacy in 1989.  Don also attained his Masters in Business Administration from Waynesburg University.

Al serves as the Chief Manufacturing Officer, Global Biologics Operations and is responsible for process development and manufacturing of our antibodies, vaccine and Cell Therapy manufacturing through commercialization.  Al is an industry veteran with 38 years of broad expertise in process development, process engineering, manufacturing from early stage to commercial and facilities engineering. Before assuming this role, Al was Vice President of Antibody Manufacturing Operations and Site Head of Agenus West.  Under his leadership a record number of 8 antibody programs have been developed and manufactured through successful IND acceptance in less than 2 years. Prior to joining Agenus, Al spent 15 years at XOMA as Vice President, Manufacturing Operations and Facilities Engineering and holds a patent on state-of-the-art modular facility design.   He was part of senior management where his team worked on over 20 antibody programs into the clinic.  Among his key achievements at XOMA was the successful development of XOMA/Servier Gevokizumab antibody to CMC BLA readiness in 2 years. While at XOMA, Al led several successful CMC collaborations with companies like Chiron, Novartis, Pfizer, Aveo Pharmaceuticals, Alexion, Department of Defense and Servier to name a few for antibody process development and manufacturing by XOMA.  Prior to joining XOMA, Al spent 20 years at Bayer Healthcare site in Berkeley as Senior Principal Scientist and was responsible for all upstream clinical process development and manufacturing programs.  He led the CMC team at Bayer for the development and commercialization of Bayer’s first biotechnology drug Kogante®.  Al is a lifetime member of Who is Who in Industry leaders selected by his peers.  In his new role, Al will work across functions and modalities in helping bring out compounds to the market for our patients.

Christine leads our finance, accounting, and corporate treasury functions. Christine joined Agenus in 1996 as Finance Manager and has held several positions of increasing responsibility within our accounting and finance departments. Prior to Agenus, she was at Arthur Andersen from 1987, as an audit manager. Ms. Klaskin received her Bachelor of Accountancy from The George Washington University.

Dr. Armen is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Agenus Inc., the biotechnology company he founded in 1994. He brings to the board a deep historical and practical knowledge of the business and its technologies, as well as years of expertise in the financial and biopharmaceutical arenas. From mid-2002 through 2004, he was Chairman of the Board of Directors for the biopharmaceutical company Elan Corporation, plc. Dr. Armen also serves on the Board of Protagenic Therapeutics, a biotechnology company focusing on human brain hormones for the treatment of mood disorders. He is the founder and President of the Children of Armenia Fund, a charitable organization established in 2000 that is dedicated to the positive development of the children and youth of Armenia.

Mr. Corvese is president and founder of Vencor Capital, a private equity firm with telecommunications and technology investments in the Middle East and Mediterranean regions. Prior to Vencor, Mr. Corvese worked on investments in the US and global equity markets as a managing director and partner at Soros Fund Management, the largest hedge fund in the world at the time. From 1988 to 1996, Mr. Corvese was a partner at Chancellor Capital Management, a $25-billion money management firm. While at Chancellor, Mr. Corvese was a portfolio manager with responsibility for investments made in basic industries, restructurings, and special situations, corporate governance investments, as well as founding and managing his own hedge fund. From 1981 to 1988, Mr. Corvese was with Drexel Burnham Lambert as an equity analyst following the chemical and specialty chemical industries and he participated in a significant number of merger and acquisition activities. While at Drexel, Mr. Corvese was a member of the top chemical and specialty chemical research team, as ranked by Institutional Investor. Mr. Corvese currently serves on the board of the National Telecommunications Company, based in Cairo, Egypt. Mr. Corvese earned degrees in finance and political science from The University of Rhode Island and attended New York University Graduate School.

Mr. Jordan was the founder and President of NearEast Enterprise, L.L.C. from 2011 to April 2015, a company that marketed pharmaceuticals in Near East markets, including Lebanon, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and the Gulf countries. From 1995 to 2011, Mr. Jordan served as President of NearEast Pharma LLC, a company that provided pharmaceutical, biotechnology and equipment for pharmaceutical industries to the Near East and Middle East markets. From 1993 to 1995, Mr. Jordan served as a Vice President of Cyanamid International, a research-based life sciences company, and from 1976 to 1993, Mr. Jordan served as a Managing Director within Cyanamid International. Since December 2003, Mr. Jordan has been a trustee of the Board of Directors of the Lebanese American University, located in Beirut, Lebanon, and incorporated under the Board of Regents in New York State. Mr. Jordan received a bachelor’s degree in agriculture at the American University of Beirut, Lebanon, and a certificate in international business from Columbia University. Mr. Jordan brings to our Board years of expertise in both the biotechnology/pharmaceutical and international arenas.

Mr. Wiinberg has almost 20 years of senior leadership experience, most recently serving as Chief Executive Officer of H. Lundbeck A/S, a global pharmaceutical company developing and marketing treatments for psychiatric and neurological disorders. He previously served on the boards of several healthcare industry associations and held multiple executive roles at Wyeth, one of the world’s largest research-driven pharmaceutical companies that was acquired by Pfizer in 2009. He served as President of Wyeth Europe, Africa and Middle East; President of Consumer Healthcare; Managing Director of Wyeth UK, and in various commercial positions. Mr. Wiinberg currently serves on the boards of UCB SA, a global biopharmaceutical company based in Belgium, Avillion LLP (Chairman), a London-based drug development company, Hansa Medical AB (Chairman), a Swedish biopharmaceutical company, Alfa Laval AB, a Swedish industrial company, and Nestle Health Science.

Mr. Wright is currently the Executive Vice President of Strategy and Global Business Development at Teva Pharmaceuticals, where he is responsible for mergers and acquisitions, licensing and strategic alliances. Additionally, Mr. Wright is the Chairman of The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center’s Drug Development Institute that he founded in 2011. Previously, Mr. Wright was President of the Imaging and Pharmaceutical products sector of Covidien, now Medtronic, as well as President of Elan Pharmaceuticals. Additionally, Mr. Wright has held several executive roles at DuPont Merck. Currently, Mr. Wright serves as Lead Director of Agenus, Inc., and Director of the Ohio State Innovation Foundation and has served on a number of boards in North America, Europe, Asia and Japan over the past 30 years.

Allison Jeynes-Ellis, MD, FFPM (UK), is a trained clinician with more than 25 years of senior leadership experience in the pharmaceutical industry. Currently, she serves as Chief Executive Officer at Avillion LLP, a London-based drug development company focused on co-development and financing of late-stage pharmaceuticals where she is responsible for identifying high-potential opportunities to fund programs to approval. Previously, she led development at Wyeth, BMS, Novartis, and GSK and has secured numerous U.S. and EU drug approvals.

Dr. Hagop Youssoufian brings more than 25 years of drug development expertise with specific experience in the development of protein-based therapeutics. Hagop has served in various senior roles in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry, including tenures as Chief Medical Officer at ImClone-Lilly and as President of R&D at Ziopharm and was involved in the development and approval of several oncology biologic products, including Erbitux® and Cyramza®. He is an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation. Hagop received his Bachelor of Science from Boston College, his medical degree from the University of Massachusetts Medical School and completed training in Internal Medicine and fellowship in Clinical Genetics at Johns Hopkins and in Hematology-Oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital.  Hagop was a Visiting Scientist at Whitehead Institute with subsequent academic positions at Harvard Medical School and Baylor College of Medicine.

Dr. Curiel is a world-renowned physician-scientist and trained immunologist, past chief of hematology and medical oncology and executive director of an NCI-designated cancer center. Drs. Curiel in collaboration with Agenus’ Dr. John Castle, drive the translational and biomarker approaches to select patients most likely to benefit from combination approaches of our vaccines, adjuvants, and checkpoint modulating antibodies targeting T cells, tumor micro-environment conditioning, and regulatory T cell depletion strategies.