Breda, the Netherlands and Ghent, Belgium October; 25 October 2012 – arGEN-X, a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of human monoclonal antibodies from its proprietary SIMPLE Antibody™ platform, has strengthened its supervisory board with the appointment of Dr. David L. Lacey.
Dr. Lacey is a former Senior Vice President and Head of Discovery Research at Amgen with over 30 years of basic and clinical research experience. He played a fundamental role in the discovery of the OPG/RANKL/RANK pathway at Amgen as well as the development of the human anti-RANKL mAb denosumab, which was approved in 2010 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under the trade name Prolia to treat osteoporosis in postmenopausal women and as Xgeva for the prevention of skeletal-related events in metastatic bone tumors. He was most recently responsible for leading more than 1,200 scientists in Amgen's discovery research unit across a portfolio of discovery and preclinical projects in hematology/oncology, inflammation, metabolic disorders and neuroscience.
Since Dr. Lacey’s recent retirement, he remains active in the biopharmaceutical industry, advising a number of academic institutions, biotechnology companies and venture capital firms. Dr. Lacey holds an MD from the University of Colorado, USA, and carried out his postgraduate medical education training and research at Washington University, St. Louis, USA.
Tim Van Hauwermeiren, CEO of arGEN-X, said: “We are pleased to welcome David to our team, as his experience in antibody discovery and development will prove invaluable as we progress our innovative antibody programs into clinical development. With David on board, we are in an ideal position to further our company ambition as a first-in-class antibody discovery and development enterprise.”
About arGEN-X – www.arGEN-X.com
arGEN-X is a preclinical stage biopharmaceutical company that is rapidly leveraging the power of its broadly applicable, proprietary SIMPLE Antibody™ platform to generate fully human antibodies with differentiated qualities and outstanding therapeutic potential. The platform excels in delivering large panels of ultra-potent, functionally diverse antibodies against complex disease targets, especially cell surface receptors and highly conserved proteins.
The superior choice that arGEN-X brings to antibody discovery enables it to prioritise leads with best-in-class therapeutic properties, thereby increasing the probability of development success. Antibody leads generated from the SIMPLE Antibody™ platform have outstanding physicochemical properties and consistent manufacturability, enabling a seamless transition from discovery into development. arGEN-X has validated its technology on multiple diverse classes of target to date and has successfully delivered in its collaboration with Eli Lilly & Co. Early in 2012, arGEN-X announced a strategic alliance with Shire, focused on the discovery and development of monoclonal antibody therapeutics to treat rare diseases. In October 2012, arGEN-X granted a worldwide exclusive license to RuiYi (formerly Anaphore) to develop and commercialize ARGX-109, a novel anti-IL-6 SIMPLE Antibody™ discovered and developed by arGEN-X.
The SIMPLE Antibody™ platform is covered by broad patent claims, enjoys an independent, unencumbered patent position and is free of target gatekeeping restrictions.
In March 2012, arGEN-X obtained an exclusive global license to technology known as NHance™, to optimize the pharmacokinetic half-life of monoclonal antibodies and maximize their therapeutic utility.
SIMPLE stands for Superior Immunodiversity with Minimal Protein Lead Engineering. arGEN-X™, SIMPLE Antibody™ and NHance™ are deposited trademarks of arGEN-X BV.
For further information, please contact:
Tim Van Hauwermeiren, MSc, eMBA
Chief Executive Officer
T: +31 6 122 85 257
E: gvz.iu@neTRA-K.pbz
Debbie Allen, Ph.D.
Senior Director, Business Development
T: +44 7974 979479
E: qnyyra@neTRA-K.pbz
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