LEXINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Immuno-oncology leader, Agenus Inc. (“Agenus”) (Nasdaq: AGEN), today announced the appointment of Robin Taylor, Ph.D., Homa Yeganegi and Stephanie Fagan to its executive team. The newly appointed leaders bring a wealth of industry experience to drive the company’s next phase of growth in the development and planned commercialization of botensilimab and a deep pipeline of immuno-oncology programs, which offer potential breakthroughs in cancer therapeutics.
Chief Commercial Officer, Robin Taylor, Ph.D., is an accomplished leader with demonstrated success in global commercial development in oncology. His expertise in commercialization strategies, market access, and product launches will accelerate Agenus’ growth and ultimately enable the delivery of the company’s therapies to patients as the company evolves to a multi-product organization.
Chief Product Strategy and Global Medical Affairs Officer, Homa Yeganegi, brings expertise in medical affairs and a passion for advancing patient care. Her success in building and leading global medical affairs teams will play a pivotal role in deepening physicians’ understanding of the transformational potential of botensilimab. By fostering strong relationships with the medical community, she will contribute to the development and future commercialization of the company’s immuno-oncology programs.
Chief Communications Officer, Stephanie Fagan, brings extensive experience working with leading healthcare companies and executing successful communication, investor relations and advocacy strategies. Her proven record in building strong brands and engaging stakeholders will shape Agenus’ communication efforts and drive patient-centered initiatives to enhance the potential role of botensilimab in the treatment of cancer.
"We are at an incredibly exciting juncture in our company's history, with a portfolio of promising therapies showing significant clinical activity across a range of hard-to-treat cancers in patients who have not responded to previous therapies," said Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Garo Armen, Ph.D. "With the addition of Robin, Homa, and Stephanie to our team, Agenus is poised to accelerate our growth and, most importantly, deliver novel therapies that we believe will enhance and extend the lives of patients in need."
Agenus has a growing body of robust clinical data from trials studying botensilimab in approximately 600 patients. Botensilimab alone, or the botensilimab/balstilimab combination has shown clinical responses across nine metastatic solid tumor cancers. The company is in late-stage development in highly prevalent cancers of the colon, lung, and skin with an estimated market opportunity of 150,000 patients across the United States (U.S.), United Kingdom, France, Spain, Italy, Germany, and Japan1. Agenus plans to submit its first Biologics License Application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the approval of the combination in patients with refractory non-MSI-H metastatic colorectal cancer in 2024. The ongoing global randomized phase 2 trial for patients with non-active liver metastases has been granted Fast Track designation from the FDA.
About Robin Taylor
Robin Taylor, Ph.D. has extensive experience across oncology global development and commercialization, with a proven track record in building the commercial foundation to execute successful launches. Most recently, Taylor was an independent consultant providing strategic commercial advice to biotechnology companies. Taylor was previously the chief commercial officer at Seagen, where he led the organization through a period of significant growth in preparation for the launches of PADCEV® (enfortumab vedotin), and TUKYSA® (tucatinib). Prior to this role Taylor served as vice president and immuno-oncology franchise head in the oncology business unit at AstraZeneca, where he led the global medicine and product teams responsible for IMFINZI® (durvalumab), and IMJUDO® (tremelimumab). Before joining AstraZeneca, Taylor served in commercial roles of increasing responsibility at Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, contributing to the launch and commercialization of HERCEPTIN® (trastuzumab) and AVASTIN® (bevacizumab), and ultimately serving as vice president, lung and cancer immunotherapy franchise head, global product strategy, responsible for the development and commercialization of ALECENSA® (alectinib) and TECENTRIQ® (atezolizumab) across multiple indications. He received a Doctor of Philosophy in molecular and medical genetics from the University of Toronto; a Master of Business Administration from the University of California, Berkeley; and a Bachelor of Science from the University of British Columbia.
About Homa Yeganegi
Homa Yeganegi is an expert leader in building and leading oncology-focused global product strategy and medical affairs, with a strong commitment to medical excellence and patient care. Yeganegi joins Agenus from her position as senior vice president and global program leader at Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) where she led the global regulatory submission for repotrectinib in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Prior to BMS, she was senior vice president and head of medical affairs for Turning Point Therapeutics, directing development and commercialization strategies for the U.S. approval of repotrectinib in NSCLC. Prior to that role, Yeganegi was senior vice president and head of global medical and scientific affairs at Halozyme responsible for medical commercialization strategy and operational planning for the company’s investigational oncology drug candidate. Yeganegi previously served as vice president of global medical affairs at Clovis Oncology where she directed pre-launch activities for rociletinib in NSCLC in the U.S. and Europe. She also built and led oncology-focused global medical affairs teams at Exelixis, and at Onyx Pharmaceuticals where she led launch planning for carfilzomib in multiple myeloma. She received her Bachelor of Science in biology from the University of Tehran, Iran; her Master of Science in neuroanatomy from the University of Western Australia; and is completing a doctorate in health sciences.
About Stephanie Fagan
Stephanie Fagan brings a breadth of expertise across corporate affairs and communications, leading the development and execution of multi-stakeholder communication strategies. She joins Agenus from Pillar Communication, LLC, a consulting firm providing fractional chief communications officer leadership. Prior to that, she was senior vice president and chief communications officer at Acadia Pharmaceuticals, overseeing all internal and external communications. Fagan joined Acadia from bluebird bio, Inc., where she was senior vice president, corporate communications, and built the first communications function as the company transitioned from a clinical-stage to commercial-stage company. Prior to bluebird, Fagan led the corporate affairs functions at Alexion, Shire and West Health and has experience overseeing corporate, financial, product and internal communications as well as corporate social responsibility, patient advocacy, and government affairs. Over the course of her career, Fagan has served in positions of increasing influence and impact in the healthcare industry, including roles at Johnson & Johnson, Allergan, Pharmacia, Inc. (now Pfizer), and Boston Scientific Corporation. Fagan earned a Master of Science in communications from Boston University and a Bachelor of Arts in English from Wheaton College.
About Botensilimab
Botensilimab, an investigational multifunctional CTLA-4 antibody, is designed to extend immunotherapy benefits to "cold" tumors, which have not historically responded to standard of care or other investigational therapies. Besides binding to the CTLA-4 receptor, its Fc-enhanced structure induces a memory immune response, downregulates regulatory T cells, and activates T cells, thereby enhancing immune responses. Approximately 600 patients have been treated with botensilimab in phase 1 and phase 2 clinical trials. Botensilimab alone, or in combination with Agenus’ PD-1 antibody, balstilimab, has shown clinical responses across nine metastatic, late-line cancers. For more information about botensilimab trials, visit www.clinicaltrials.gov with the identifiers NCT05608044, NCT05630183, and NCT05529316.
About Agenus
Agenus is a leading immuno-oncology company targeting cancer and infectious diseases with a comprehensive pipeline of immunological agents. The company’s mission is to expand patient populations benefiting from cancer immunotherapy through combination approaches, using a broad repertoire of antibody therapeutics, adoptive cell therapies (through MiNK Therapeutics) and adjuvants (through SaponiQx). Agenus is headquartered in Lexington, MA. For more information, visit www.agenusbio.com or follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter @agenus_bio.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements under the safe harbor provisions of federal securities laws. These include statements related to botensilimab’s and balstilimab’s regulatory strategy and use, such as anticipated therapeutic benefit, efficacy, mechanism of action, potency, durability, and safety profile of the company's therapeutic candidates. Any statements containing "may," "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "hopes," "intends," "plans," "forecasts," "estimates," "will," “establish,” “potential,” “superiority,” “best in class,” and similar expressions signify forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially due to risks and uncertainties, including those described under the Risk Factors section in our most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q or Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Agenus urges investors not to place significant reliance on the forward-looking statements in this release. These statements only reflect the views as of the date of this press release, and Agenus undertakes no obligation to update or revise the statements, other than to the extent required by law. All forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement.
1 Data/information supplied by Kantar Health, LLC.
