MONROVIA, Calif., Sept. 2, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Xencor, Inc. (NASDAQ: XNCR), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing engineered monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of autoimmune diseases, asthma and allergic diseases, and cancer, today announced the appointment of Debra Zack, M.D., Ph.D., vice president, clinical development and the appointment of Lloyd Rowland, senior vice president, chief compliance officer and general counsel.
"Debra's expertise in biologics clinical development and medical affairs will be of great value to Xencor as we anticipate advancing the clinical development of XmAb5871® and XmAb7195®, and as we progress to the clinic with our lead bispecific candidates," said Bassil Dahiyat Ph.D., president and CEO of Xencor. "And Lloyd brings a wealth of legal, compliance and governance experience working with public companies and is an important addition to the team in our current stage of rapid growth. Their collective experience addresses critical needs and will be of increasing importance as our clinical pipeline steadily grows."
Dr. Zack joins Xencor with more than a decade of experience in drug development. Prior to joining Xencor, Dr. Zack was executive director, medical scientific leader at Novartis Institute for Biological Research where she provided guidance in translational medicine for early project teams in rheumatology and regenerative medicine. Before that, she had a long career at Amgen in various pre-clinical, clinical development, and medical affairs roles, most recently as the executive director, global development lead for Enbrel and executive director, global product area lead for rheumatology and dermatology. She earned her bachelor's degree in math and chemistry from Texas Christian
University and earned her medical and doctoral degrees from University of Texas Southwestern Medical and Graduate School.
Mr. Rowland has more than two decades of biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry legal counsel and transactional experience. Prior to joining Xencor, Mr. Rowland served at Amylin Pharmaceuticals for twelve years, most recently as vice president and chief compliance officer and formerly, as general counsel and secretary. Earlier in his career, he served as vice president, secretary and general counsel for Alliance Pharmaceutical Corp. Mr. Rowland earned his bachelor's degree in economics and political science from Southern Methodist University, and earned his juris doctor from Emory University School of Law.
About Xencor, Inc.
Xencor is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing engineered monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of autoimmune diseases, asthma and allergic diseases, and cancer. Currently, seven candidates are in clinical development internally and with partners that have been engineered with Xencor's XmAb® technology. Xencor's internally-discovered programs include XmAb5871, in Phase 1b/2a clinical trials for the treatment of Rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, XmAb7195 in Phase 1 development for the treatment of asthma, and XmAb5574/MOR208 which has been licensed to Morphosys AG and is in Phase 2 clinical trials for the treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Xencor's XmAb antibody engineering technology enables small changes to the structure of monoclonal antibodies resulting in new mechanisms of therapeutic action. Xencor partners include Amgen, Merck, Janssen R&D LLC, Alexion and Boehringer Ingelheim.
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 the U.S. securities laws, including statements associated with Xencor's research and its expectations regarding future therapeutic and commercial potential of Xencor's technologies, programs, drug candidates and intellectual property related to Xencor's XmAb technology. Because such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, including risks associated with the process of discovering, developing and commercializing drugs that are safe and effective, actual results and the timing of events may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking
statements. These and other risks concerning Xencor's programs and technology are described in additional detail in Xencor's SEC filings. These forward-looking statements speak as of the date on which they were made, are based upon Xencor's current expectations and involve assumptions that may never materialize or may prove to be incorrect. Xencor disclaims any intention or obligation to update such statements to reflect events that occur or circumstances that exist after the date on which they were made.
SOURCE Xencor, Inc.
