Xencor Announces Bassil Dahiyat as Its New Chief Scientific Officer; Dahiyat Launched Xencor's Biotherapeutic Programs and Protein Design Platform.Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers BIOWIRE2K MONROVIA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 9, 2003 Xencor today announced that its Board of Directors has appointed Bassil Dahiyat, Ph.D., to serve as its new Chief Scientific Officer, effective November 3, 2003. Dr. Dahiyat, Xencor's founding CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. , will step down as President and CEO and will remain a director of the company. He will report to Harry Stylli, Ph.D., who the Board appointed as President and CEO of the Company November 3. "Since Xencor's founding, Bassil Dahiyat has led the company and the development of its paradigm shifting Protein Design Automation(R) (PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) A handheld computer for managing contacts, appointments and tasks. It typically includes a name and address database, calendar, to-do list and note taker, which are the functions in a personal information manager (see PIM). (R)) technology and innovative engineered protein therapeutics," said Dr. Stylli. "The PDA platform uniquely addresses the complexity of protein structure and function to simultaneously optimize multiple properties important for creating biotherapeutics that are both safer and more efficacious, allowing a Medicinal Chemistry for Proteins(TM) approach. Xencor's novel Dominant Negative cytokine Cytokine Any of a group of soluble proteins that are released by a cell to send messages which are delivered to the same cell (autocrine), an adjacent cell (paracrine), or a distant cell (endocrine). modulators and XmAb(TM) optimized antibodies herald this approach. Dr. Dahiyat's continued scientific leadership and vision will be central to Xencor's future success." "I am thrilled by the opportunity to work with Harry and to focus on leading the scientific strategy of the company and developing new applications for proteins in medicine," said Dr. Dahiyat. "Our goal of creating the next generation of biotherapeutics has motivated us to understand how to control the biological activity, physical properties and immune profile of proteins. By combining advanced molecular biology molecular biology, scientific study of the molecular basis of life processes, including cellular respiration, excretion, and reproduction. The term molecular biology was coined in 1938 by Warren Weaver, then director of the natural sciences program at the Rockefeller with our proprietary in silico protein modeling, we can very efficiently create optimal drug candidates and define broad intellectual property." Dr. Dahiyat was recently 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. He lead Xencor from its beginning and raised $65.8 million in private equity financing Equity Financing The act of raising money for company activities by selling common or preferred stock to individual or institutional investors. In return for the money paid, shareholders receive ownership interests in the corporation. and established the Company's technology and therapeutics programs resulting in over 250 patents and patent applications. Following his work at Caltech on the initial development of PDA technology, Dr. Dahiyat co-founded Xencor in 1997 with the goal to develop novel biotherapeutics that have all critical properties, physical and biological, tuned for clinical and commercial success. Dahiyat is an inventor on 60 patents and patent applications and a co-author of 18 scientific papers. He has received awards from the American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a learned society (professional association) based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has over 160,000 members at all degree-levels and in , the Controlled Release Society and Caltech. About Protein Design Automation(R) technology PDA(R) technology combines high performance computing with proprietary molecular biology processes and assays to create broader protein diversity with far greater control and efficiency than other optimization technologies, such as directed evolution and phage display phage display n. A technique using recombinant DNA technology to create bacteriophages with a desired peptide embedded in the surface of their protein shells. . The technology takes advantage of the information embedded in protein structure to optimize key protein properties, such as binding affinity and selectivity, stability, expression level, safety, and efficacy. This process also creates new intellectual property, continually broadening Xencor's patent portfolio by generating sets of novel protein sequences that are distinct from naturally occurring proteins. About XmAb(TM) technology Xencor is designing the constant Fc domains of monoclonal antibodies using PDA technology to improve their biochemical and cell biological characteristics, an approach applicable to antibodies against any target antigens. The XmAb platform improves numerous properties of antibodies including enhanced antibody mediated tumor cell killing, improvement of structural stability and reduced immunogenicity immunogenicity /im·mu·no·ge·nic·i·ty/ (-je-nis´it-e) the property enabling a substance to provoke an immune response, or the degree to which a substance possesses this property. . The Company has already created a suite of Fc variants with improved tumor cell killing that can be inserted into any antibody. About Dominant Negative Cytokine Modulators Xencor has created inhibitors of Tumor Necrosis Factor tumor necrosis factor n. Abbr. TNF A protein that is produced in the presence of an endotoxin, especially by monocytes and macrophages, is able to attack and destroy tumor cells, and exacerbates chronic inflammatory diseases. (TNF TNF abbr. tumor necrosis factor TNF, n an abbreviation for tumor necrosis f ), a key target in arthritis and other rheumatic rheu·mat·ic adj. Relating to or characterized by rheumatism. n. One who is affected by rheumatism. rheumatic pertaining to or affected with rheumatism. disorders, that have a unique and proprietary Dominant Negative (DN) mechanism of action, distinct from existing soluble receptor and neutralizing antibody approaches. The DN mechanism enables a broad new opportunity to compete in the rich TNF superfamily superfamily /su·per·fam·i·ly/ (soo´per-fam?i-le) 1. a taxonomic category between an order and a family. 2. of drug targets for autoimmune disease and cancer, which includes BAFF/BLyS, CD40L, RANKL RANKL Receptor Activator of NF-B Ligand and OX40L. DN molecules offer receptor and ligand specificity, high stability, ease of production, and a distinct intellectual property position. About Xencor Xencor is a pre-clinical stage company that discovers and develops protein therapeutics using its proprietary rational protein design platform. Xencor's platform applies high performance computing and advanced molecular biology to rapidly discover drug candidates with novel mechanisms and improved safety and efficacy. Xencor is a privately held biopharmaceutical company located in Monrovia, CA. Additional information is available at www.xencor.com. |
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