MONROVIA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Xencor, Inc. (NASDAQ: XNCR), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing engineered monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of cancer, autoimmune diseases, asthma and allergic diseases, today announced the appointment of Celia Eckert as vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary. Ms. Eckert brings more than 20 years of experience as a corporate attorney in both law firm and in-house roles. At Xencor she will be responsible for all legal matters, including transactions, corporate governance and employment law, as well as overseeing the Company’s intellectual property portfolio.
“It will be critical for Xencor to establish a strong legal infrastructure as we grow and mature as an organization and advance our portfolio programs through the later stages of clinical development,” said Bassil Dahiyat, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer at Xencor. “Celia brings to us a wealth of legal expertise in healthcare and life sciences that will be instrumental to leading our legal strategy, and we are delighted she has joined our team.”
Ms. Eckert joins Xencor from Synthetic Genomics, Inc., where she served as vice president, corporate legal. In this role she negotiated licensing and financial transactions and supported other corporate legal matters. Prior to Synthetic Genomics, Ms. Eckert served as associate general counsel at Sequenom, Inc., and as senior director, legal affairs at Prometheus Laboratories, Inc. At Prometheus, she structured transactions, managed substantial patent litigation and supported the growth of the company’s commercial organization. Earlier in her career, she was an associate at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP and at Jones Day. Ms. Eckert earned a B.A. in political science from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a J.D. from the University of California, Hastings School of Law.
About Xencor, Inc.
Xencor is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing engineered monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of cancer, autoimmune diseases, asthma and allergic diseases. Currently, 14 candidates engineered with Xencor's XmAb® technology are in clinical development internally and with partners. Xencor's XmAb antibody engineering technology enables small changes to the structure of monoclonal antibodies resulting in new mechanisms of therapeutic action. For more information, please visit www.xencor.com.
Forward Looking Statements
Statements contained in this press release regarding matters that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including, but not limited to, the quotations from Xencor's president and chief executive officer and any expectations relating to Xencor's financial expectations and business, the timing and success of clinical trials, future product candidates, Xencor's research and development programs, partnering efforts and capital requirements. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results, performance or achievements and the timing of events to be materially different from those implied by such statements, and therefore these statements should not be read as guarantees of future performance or results. Such risks include, without limitation, the risks associated with the process of discovering, developing, manufacturing and commercializing drugs that are safe and effective for use as human therapeutics and other risks described in Xencor's public securities filings. For a discussion of these and other factors, please refer to Xencor's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018 as well as Xencor's subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements are based on Xencor's current information and belief as well as assumptions made by Xencor. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof. This caution is made under the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement and Xencor undertakes no obligation to revise or update this press release to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof, except as required by law.
