LEADERSHIP

Dr. Garo Armen 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. In addition, Garo oversaw the successful restructuring of the biopharmaceutical company Elan Corporation, plc, where he served as Chairman of the Board of Directors. Garo currently acts as Chairman of the Board of Protagenic Therapeutics, a biotechnology company focusing on human brain hormones for the treatment of neurological and metabolic disorders. He began his research career at Brookhaven National Laboratory subsequent to which he made a transition to Wall Street, as an analyst and investment banker at EF Hutton and then at Dean Witter Reynolds ( now Morgan Stanley) , cultivating key relationships and stock-market expertise. Garo received his PhD in physical chemistry from the City University of New York.

Dr. Jennifer Buell serves as Agenus’ President and Chief Operating Officer. Since joining Agenus, Jennifer has served as the Head of Global R&D operations, Head of Research, and Chief Communications and External Affairs Officer. She has expanded Agenus from a neoantigen vaccine platform company to a global, fully-integrated company with an extremely productive R&D engine. With 25 years of biopharmaceutical R&D experience, Jennifer has led the development of therapeutic candidates from discovery to the market and established productive partnerships and alliances. Prior to joining Agenus, she held leadership positions at Bristol-Myers Squibb and at the Harvard Clinical Research Institute (Baim). Jennifer received her PhD in Cellular, Biochemical, and Molecular Biochemistry from Tufts University in Boston.

Dr. Steven O’Day serves as Agenus’ Chief Medical Officer. He is responsible for leading the expansion of the company’s presence in the I-O field. A pioneer in CTLA-4 inhibition, Steven played key roles in the advancement of cancer therapies Yervoy and Opdivo, and has been the principal investigator in more than 200 clinical trials. Prior to joining Agenus, he was Executive Director of the John Wayne Cancer Institute and Cancer Clinics at Providence St. John’s Health Center, and Director of the Melanoma and Cutaneous Oncology Research Center. Steven was a visiting scholar in philosophy and medical ethics at Oxford, received his MD from Johns Hopkins, and was a Fellow at the Dana Farber/Harvard Cancer Center.

Dr. Marc van Dijk serves as Chief Technology Officer and leads our discovery and innovation center in Cambridge, UK. Marc is a molecular biologist and technologist whose work helping to design drug discovery platforms at Agenus has led to the advancement of more than 15 clinical stage antibodies in our pipeline. Prior to joining Agenus, he was Vice President of Antibody Technology at Genmab, Head of Applied Research at Innogenetics (now Fujirebio), and led antibody discovery programs in alliance with the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, NY. Marc completed his postdoctoral fellowship in Molecular Biology at the University of California, San Diego, and received his PhD in Molecular Biology from Utrecht University.

Julie DeSander serves as the Chief Business Officer. She has led Agenus’ transactions with BMS, Gilead, UroGen, Betta Pharmaceuticals, as well as multiple clinical and research collaborations. She also oversees Agenus’ strategic alliances and portfolio strategy.  Prior to joining Agenus, Julie had more than 10 years of cross-functional experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, with leadership roles in business development, corporate strategy, finance, and program management at Baxalta, Amgen, Siamab Therapeutics, McKinsey & Company, and the Frankel Group. Julie holds an MBA from MIT Sloan, and a Master’s degree in Biomedical Enterprise from the Harvard/MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology.

Andy Hurley serves as Agenus’ Chief Commercial Officer. He leads the company’s commercial launch strategy and is a key member of our BLA filing team. Andy specializes in product branding, commercial operations, reimbursement, and payer-focused marketing. Prior to joining Agenus, he was Commercial Senior Vice President at Syneos Health and Chief Commercial Officer with Ocular Therapeutix. Andy holds a BA from the University of Vermont and studied Marketing and Finance at Bentley College’s Elkin B. McCallum Graduate School of Business.

Dr. Marc Wiles serves as Agenus’ Vice President of Regulatory Affairs. He heads both our US and international regulatory efforts, and is Agenus’ resident nonclinical development expert, with a focus in toxicology. Marc brings to Agenus a career specializing in 505(b)(2) submissions, strategy development, and IND, NDA/sNDA, BLA, CTA, and MAA filings. Prior to joining Agenus, he was a Senior Director at Baxter International, and Vice President of Scientific and Regulatory Affairs at Camargo Pharmaceutical Services. Marc received a PhD in Cell Biology, Microvascular Physiology from Boston University.

Alfred Dadson serves as Chief Manufacturing Officer in our Global Biologics Operations. Al is responsible for process development of our antibodies, vaccines, and cell therapies, from manufacturing through to commercialization. Previously, he was Vice President of Antibody Manufacturing Operations and Site Head of Agenus West, leading the team who developed a record number of eight antibody programs through to successful IND acceptance in under two years. Prior to joining Agenus, Al was Vice President of Manufacturing Operations and Facilities Engineering at XOMA. Al holds a patent on a state-of-the-art modular facility design and was named a lifetime member of Industry Leaders’ Who is Who by his peers.

Christine Klaskin serves as Agenus’ Vice President, Finance and Principal Financial Accounting Officer. She leads Agenus’ finance, accounting, corporate treasury functions, and is instrumental in negotiating our upfront licensing fees and distribution of revenue. Christine is Agenus’ public-facing financial representative and has helped the company make long-term financial decisions since its inception. Prior to joining Agenus, she served as an audit manager at Arthur Andersen. Christine received her Bachelor of Accountancy from George Washington University.