MONROVIA, Calif., June 8, 2017 /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 Raphael Clynes, M.D., Ph.D., as vice president of translational biology. Dr. Clynes fills a new position created by Xencor to study the biological mechanisms of XmAb® antibody drug candidates, particularly in immuno-oncology.

"It is with great pleasure that we welcome Raphael, a recognized leader in immunotherapy research, to Xencor," said Bassil Dahiyat, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of Xencor. "His experience in drug discovery and development in immuno-oncology is of tremendous value as we explore the new mechanisms enabled by our XmAb® Bispecific Technology. Raphael is a great addition to Xencor's team and I am looking forward to working with him."  

Dr. Clynes has more than 25 years of medical research experience with expertise in immuno-oncology discovery and development with several patents and more than 80 publications including in prestigious journals such as Science, Nature Medicine, Journal of Clinical Investigation and the Journal of Experimental Medicine.  Dr. Clynes has contributed to significant translational advances in medicine, including studies providing the rationale for engineering Fc domains to enhance the efficacy of antibody therapeutics in cancer, as well as proof-of-concept studies establishing the clinical utility of JAK and Syk protein tyrosine kinase inhibitors in T-cell-mediated autoimmunity.

Prior to joining Xencor, Dr. Clynes served as group medical and scientific director of immuno-oncology in early clinical development at Bristol Myers Squibb. He was a co-founder of Vixen Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Aclaris Pharmaceuticals). Prior to joining BMS, he served as associate professor at Columbia University in the departments of medicine, microbiology, pathology and dermatology, where he was an NIH investigator with more than 20 years of continuous funding in cancer and autoimmunity. At Columbia, Dr. Clynes held several leadership positions, including head of the Laboratory of Cellular Immunology and Immunogenetics, head of the Flow Cytometry Translational Research Core, head of the Clinical Flow Cytometry/HLA laboratory and co-director of Tumor Immunology in the Irving Cancer Center.

Dr. Clynes earned his medical degree and doctorate in biochemistry from Stony Brook University, and earned his bachelor's degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He also was a resident in internal medicine at the Barnes Hospital, St. Louis and a fellow in hematology and oncology at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and Rockefeller University in New York. Dr. Clynes has participated as a consultant and scientific advisory board member with several biopharma companies and on numerous NIH and Research Foundation Scientific Review Committees. Dr. Clynes is the recipient of numerous honors including the Kimmel Scholar, Lupus Scholar, Arthritis Investigator and Cancer Research Institute Awards.

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, 11 candidates engineered with Xencor's XmAb® technology are in clinical development internally and with partners. Xencor's internal programs include: XmAb®5871 in Phase 2 development for the treatment of IgG4-Related Disease, and also for the treatment of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus; XmAb®7195 in Phase 1 development for the treatment of asthma and allergic diseases; XmAb®14045 in Phase 1 development for acute myeloid leukemia; XmAb®13676 in Phase 1 development for B-cell malignancies; XmAb®18087 in pre-clinical development for the treatment of neuroendocrine tumors; and XmAb®20717 in pre-clinical development for the treatment of multiple cancers. 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 Novartis, Amgen, MorphoSys, Merck, CSL/Janssen, 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 applicable securities laws, including any expectations relating to Xencor's staff composition, future growth trajectory, and intellectual property related to XmAb® Technology. 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. All forward-looking statements are based on Xencor's current information and belief as well as assumptions made by Xencor. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such statements and Xencor disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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SOURCE Xencor, Inc.