Board of Directors
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Bassil I. Dahiyat, Ph.D.
President and Chief Executive Officer, Director
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Bassil I. Dahiyat, Ph.D. has served as our President and Chief Executive Officer since February 2005 and as a member of our Board since August 1997. Dr. Dahiyat has more than 25 years of experience in the biotechnology business, having co-founded Xencor in 1997. From 1997 to 2003, he served as our Chief Executive Officer, and from 2003 to 2005, served as our Chief Scientific Officer. Dr. Dahiyat currently serves on the board of directors of Kodiak Sciences Inc., a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company. In 2017, Dr. Dahiyat was awarded the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in Technology for the Los Angeles Region and in 2005 was recognized as a technology pioneer by the World Economic Forum. Additionally, Dr. Dahiyat was named one of 2003’s Top 100 Young Innovators by MIT’s Technology Review magazine for his work on protein design and its development for therapeutic applications and has received awards from the American Chemical Society, the Controlled Release Society and the California Institute of Technology. Dr. Dahiyat holds a Ph.D. in chemistry from the California Institute of Technology and B.S. and M.S.E. degrees in biomedical engineering from Johns Hopkins University. We believe that Dr. Dahiyat’s experience in the pharmaceutical industry and as one of our founders qualifies him to serve on our Board.
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Ellen G.
Feigal, M.D.
Director
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Ellen G. Feigal, M.D. joined our Board in November 2018. Dr. Feigal has more than 30 years of drug development and healthcare regulatory experience. Dr. Feigal has served as a partner at NDA Partners, a strategy consulting firm, since November 2014, where she leads efforts in designing and executing product development and regulatory strategies in the areas of cell therapies, medical imaging, hematology and oncology. She also currently serves as a member of the board of directors of NextCure, Inc., a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company, which she joined in October 2021. Dr. Feigal is also adjunct faculty at the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, Arizona State University, a position she has held since April 2015, where she teaches Food & Drug Administration drug law and medical research ethics and law. Dr. Feigal previously served as senior vice president of research and development at the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine from 2011 to 2014; executive medical director, global development, at Amgen, Inc. (“Amgen”) from 2008 to 2011; and chief medical officer at Insys Therapeutics from 2007 to 2008. She was a founding director of the American Course on Drug Development and Regulatory Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco (“UCSF”), which she began in 2006 and directed through 2011. Dr. Feigal’s positions also included director of medical devices and imaging at the Critical Path Institute from 2006 to 2007, and vice president of clinical sciences at the Translational Genomics Research Institute from 2004 to 2007. From 1992 to 2004, she held leadership roles at the National Cancer Institute, where she directed the Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis after serving as deputy director of the division and as a senior investigator in the Cancer Therapy Evaluation Program. Dr. Feigal received her B.S. in biology and M.S. in molecular biology and biochemistry from University of California, Irvine, her M.D. from the University of California, Davis School of Medicine, completed an internal medicine residency at Stanford University and a hematology/oncology fellowship at UCSF. We believe that Dr. Feigal’s leadership and experience in regulatory affairs and drug development and her educational background qualify her to serve on our Board.
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Kevin C.
Gorman, Ph.D.
Director
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Kevin C. Gorman, Ph.D. joined our Board in April 2017. He has more than 25 years of experience in the life science business including senior roles in finance, business development and operations. Dr. Gorman is a founder of Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc., a publicly traded biotechnology company (“Neurocrine”). He was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of Neurocrine in January 2008 after having served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer since September 2006 and prior to that, as Executive Vice President and Chief Business Officer and Senior Vice President of Business Development. He has served on the board of directors of Neurocrine since January 2008. From 1990 until 1993, Dr. Gorman was a principal of Avalon Medical Partners, L.P., where he was responsible for the early-stage founding of the company and several other biotechnology companies such as Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Metra Biosystems, Inc., Idun Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Dr. Gorman received his Ph.D. in immunology and M.B.A. in finance from the University of California, Los Angeles and did further post-doctoral training at The Rockefeller University. We believe that Dr. Gorman’s experience in biotechnology company leadership roles and his educational background qualify him to serve on our Board.
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Kurt A.
Gustafson
Director
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Kurt A. Gustafson joined our Board in July 2014. Mr. Gustafson has more than 25 years of diverse experience in corporate finance, with 20 years in senior management roles leading the finance departments of multi-faceted, dynamic and growth-oriented biopharmaceutical industry organizations. Mr. Gustafson has served as Chief Financial Officer of OmniAb Inc., a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company, since March 2022. From June 2013 to March 2022, he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company, and from April 2009 to June 2013, he served as Chief Financial Officer at Halozyme Therapeutics, Inc. (“Halozyme”), a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company. Before Halozyme, Mr. Gustafson worked at Amgen for over 18 years holding various positions in finance including Treasurer, Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer of Amgen International based in Switzerland. Mr. Gustafson holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in accounting from North Park University in Chicago and an M.B.A. from University of California, Los Angeles. We believe Mr. Gustafson’s experience in biotechnology company leadership and finance and his educational background qualify him to serve on our Board.
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A. Bruce
Montgomery, M.D.
Lead Independent Director
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A. Bruce Montgomery, M.D. joined our Board in March 2015. Dr. Montgomery has more than 30 years of drug development, operations and financing experience, including positions at Genentech, Inc., Pathogenesis Corporation, Corus Pharma and Gilead Sciences, Inc. (“Gilead”). From February 2017 to October 2022, he served as Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board of directors of Avalyn Pharma Inc. (formerly Genoa Pharmaceuticals Inc.), a private biotechnology company. From April 2011 to December 2016, he was Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board of directors of Cardeas Pharma Corporation, a private biotechnology company that he founded in 2010. From August 2006 to May 2011, Dr. Montgomery served as Senior Vice President of Gilead and prior to that, served for six years as Chief Executive Officer of Corus Pharma, Inc., a specialized biotechnology company that he founded, which was acquired by Gilead in 2006. While at Gilead, Dr. Montgomery successfully led the development of CAYSTON® as a treatment for cystic fibrosis patients. Dr. Montgomery also served as Executive Vice President of Research and Development at PathoGenesis Corporation until its acquisition by Chiron Corporation in 2000. Dr. Montgomery previously served as a board member for the following publicly traded companies: ZymoGenetics, Inc. (acquired by Bristol-Myers Squibb Company in 2010), Alder BioPharmaceuticals, Inc. (acquired by Lundbeck A/S in 2019) and Cytodyn, Inc. Dr. Montgomery is a board-certified internist and pulmonologist. Dr. Montgomery received his B.S. in chemistry (magna cum laude, Outstanding Chemistry Major (Merck Award)), and M.D. (Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society) from the University of Washington, Seattle. We believe that Dr. Montgomery’s executive leadership experience in pharmaceutical and biotechnology company drug development and his educational background qualify him to serve on our Board.
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Richard J.
Ranieri
Director
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Richard J. Ranieri joined our Board in December 2017. Mr. Ranieri has more than 40 years of senior level biopharmaceutical human resource experience. He has served as a senior advisor to BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc. (“BioMarin”) since January 2019, and from September 2013 through December 2018, he served as executive vice president of human resources and corporate affairs at BioMarin. Previously Mr. Ranieri served as executive vice president, human resources at Dendreon Pharmaceuticals from 2010 to 2013, and as executive vice president, human resources and administration at Sepracor, Inc. from 2008 to 2010. Earlier in his career, Mr. Ranieri served in executive positions at Neurocrine, Genencor International, and SmithKline Beecham. He received a B.A. in social science and accounting from Villanova University, and an M.A. in organizational development from Rider University. We believe that Mr. Ranieri’s leadership experience in human resources with biotechnology organizations qualifies him to serve on our Board.
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Dagmar
Rosa-Bjorkeson
Director
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Dagmar Rosa-Bjorkeson joined our Board in December 2019. Ms. Rosa-Bjorkeson has more than 25 years of global experience in the pharmaceutical industry, including executive leadership in corporate and product strategy, market development and operational execution. Since June 2020, Ms. Rosa-Bjorkeson has served as Chief Operating Officer of Mesoblast Limited, a publicly traded cell therapy company. She also currently serves on the board of directors of Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company, which she joined in February 2021. From April 2018 to January 2020, she was executive vice president and chief strategy and development officer at Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals (“Mallinckrodt”), where she was responsible for corporate and therapeutic area strategy, business development and new product commercialization. She joined Mallinckrodt in May 2017 as senior vice president of new product commercialization, in which she was responsible for shaping the company’s pipeline programs for optimal patient benefit and access. From November 2014 to June 2016, Ms. Rosa-Bjorkeson was executive vice president and president of biosimilars at Baxalta Incorporated, a role in which she developed the biosimilars strategy, managed post spin-off efforts from Baxter and oversaw a fully integrated unit including program management, research, clinical development, manufacturing, commercialization and business development. From 1997 to 2014, she held various roles of increasing responsibility at Novartis Pharmaceuticals Inc., including vice president and head of its multiple sclerosis business unit, USA; vice president, business development and licensing, U.S.; vice president, respiratory, U.S.; and country head and president for Novartis Sweden. Ms. Rosa-Bjorkeson’s experience spanned sales, marketing, general management and country operations, and she led multiple launches including the successful launch of GILENYA®. Ms. Rosa-Bjorkeson earned an M.B.A., an M.S. in chemistry and a B.S. in chemistry from the University of Texas, Austin. We believe that Ms. Rosa-Bjorkeson’s experience in pharmaceutical industry leadership and her background in product strategy, market development and operational execution qualify her to serve on our Board.
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Barbara J.
Klencke, M.D.
Director
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Barbara J. Klencke, M.D. joined our Board in September 2023. Dr. Klencke has more than 20 years of biopharmaceutical product development experience, and she most recently served as chief medical officer and chief development officer at Sierra Oncology through mid-2023. While at Sierra Oncology, she built a highly effective clinical development organization and led its strategy and execution, culminating in the approval of Ojjaara™ for myelofibrosis after the company’s acquisition by GSK. Before joining Sierra Oncology in 2015, Dr. Klencke served as senior vice president of global development at Onyx Pharmaceuticals, where she led development and execution for Onyx’s pipeline programs, including the approval of Kyprolis® for multiple myeloma, through the company’s acquisition by Amgen. Between 2003 and 2011, she served as a group medical director at Genentech, where she led product development strategies for several early- and late-stage oncology programs, including Kadcyla®, Avastin® and Tarceva®. Earlier in her career, Dr. Klencke was an assistant clinical professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), where she focused on clinical research in oncology. Dr. Klencke also serves on the Boards of Directors of eFFECTOR Therapeutics, Immune-Onc Therapeutics and TScan Therapeutics. Dr. Klencke earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Indiana University and an M.D. from the University of California, Davis. She completed her internal medicine residency and a hematology and oncology fellowship at UCSF. We believe that Dr. Barbara J. Klencke’s biopharmaceutical product development and strategic experience qualify her to serve on our board.