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 is the President and Chief Executive Officer of MiNK Therapeutics. She also serves on the Executive Council at Agenus, where she was previously President & Chief Operating Officer. Prior to this, 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.

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.

Julie DeSander serves as the Chief Business Officer, responsible for business development, alliance management, investor relations and corporate communications.  She led Agenus’ transactions with BMS, Gilead, UroGen, Betta Pharmaceuticals, as well as multiple clinical and research collaborations. 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.

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.

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.

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.

Eric Humes serves as Agenus’ Chief Quality Officer (CQO). He heads our Global Quality Control laboratories (QCU), Product Development and Clinical Quality Assurance (QA), and Quality System Risk Management & Process Improvement. Eric’s leadership enables  our product development innovation and research to move with speed through a phase appropriate lifecycle focused on building quality into our products and research for the patients we serve. Eric joined Agenus as Vice President, Quality Systems, leading CMC and Clinical Research teams through successful completion of FDA inspections of balstilimab (AGEN2034) in 2021. Prior to joining Agenus, Eric was Executive Director, Quality Assurance at Medpace and Sr. Director QA at ICON Clinical Research, where Eric and his teams provided quality oversight, governance and inspection management in support of nine marketing applications in oncology, cardiovascular, orphan disease and biosimilars. Eric has served as a Director on the Society of Quality Assurance (SQA) Board of Directors, Chairman of SQA Education Committee, and Editorial Board of DIA Peach Initiative. Eric has a B.S. in Biochemistry and Applied Molecular Biology from University of Maryland.

Tracy Mazza Clemente serves as the Chief People Officer, holding prior positions as Head of Talent Acquisition and Global Head of HR. As the architect of the Agenus Talent Strategy, Tracy leads Agenus’ mission to discover and inspire the world’s greatest minds. By cultivating a workplace ethos of curiosity and ambition, Tracy empowers employees to harness their full potential and radically innovate on behalf of patients everywhere. Previously, Tracy led the US Scientific Talent Acquisition practice at Randstad. She holds a BA in Government and International Relations from Saint Mary’s College in Moraga, CA.

Craig Winter serves as the Chief Information Officer, responsible for overseeing data management, IT strategy and operations across all areas of Agenus. Craig has over 30 years of experience in transforming organizations and enhancing their business efficiency by building and supporting their IT infrastructure. Prior to joining Agenus, Craig was the President and Founder of Teracom Networks. Craig has a B.S. in Economics and Business Administration from Albright College.