LEXINGTON, Mass., March 21, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Agenus Inc. (NASDAQ: AGEN), an immuno-oncology (I-O) company with a pipeline of immune checkpoint antibodies, cancer vaccines and adoptive cell therapies¹, announced new leadership appointments as its CTLA-4 and PD-1 programs advance towards a planned BLA filing in 2020.

Dr. Manuel Hidalgo, MD, PhD, joins as Strategic Advisor. Dr. Hidalgo, an internationally renowned oncologist, has led clinical development of more than 50 novel anticancer agents including erlotinib, temsirolimus and nab-paclitaxel, which are FDA approved for the treatment of cancer. Dr. Hidalgo is the Director of Rosenberg Clinical Cancer Center and Chief of the Division of Hematology-Oncology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He is also Co-Director of the Pancreas and Liver Institute, and Co-Director of the Pancreatic Cancer Research Program, at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC). Dr. Hidalgo's groundbreaking work in experimental cancer therapy and tumor model development has led to key advances in the treatment of pancreatic cancer.

Paulo Moreira was appointed as Global Head of Clinical Operations. Mr. Moreira joins Agenus from EMD Serono where, as the Head of Global Clinical Operations & External Innovation, he helped establish the company as a leader in patient centricity around clinical trials.

"I am thrilled to have Manuel and Paulo as part of our team to advance our innovative clinical programs," said Dr. Garo Armen, Chairman and CEO. "This is an exciting time at Agenus. Our lead PD-1 and CTLA-4 programs are in pivotal trials and our next generation anti-CTLA-4 and multiple other first-in-class programs are advancing towards the clinic this year."

Paulo joins Agenus from EMD Serono, where he served for 18 years in diverse positions within Clinical Development. He was named in PharmaVoice's 100 Most Inspirational Leaders in both 2015 and 2017, in recognition of his industry leadership in patient centricity and the advancement of clinical trials. More recently, he was recognized by CenterWatch as 2018 Top Innovator, for his work around the Clinical Trials Registry of the Future.

Agenus' clinical development team is led by industry veteran Dr. Anna Wijatyk, who has more than 20 years of experience in leading product approvals with the FDA, EMA and Health Canada. 

About Agenus

Agenus is a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company focused on the discovery and development of therapies that engage the body's immune system to fight cancer. The Company's vision is to expand the patient populations benefiting from cancer immunotherapy by pursuing combination approaches that leverage a broad repertoire of antibody therapeutics, proprietary cancer vaccine platforms, and adoptive cell therapies (through its AgenTus Therapeutics subsidiary). The Company is equipped with a suite of antibody discovery platforms and a state-of-the-art GMP manufacturing facility with the capacity to support early phase clinical programs. Agenus is headquartered in Lexington, MA. For more information, please visit www.agenusbio.com and our twitter handle @agenus_bio. Information that may be important to investors will be routinely posted on our website and twitter.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the federal securities laws, including statements regarding clinical development plans and timelines and the anticipated contributions of new team members. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. These risks and uncertainties include, among others, the factors described under the Risk Factors section of our most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q or Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Agenus cautions investors not to place considerable reliance on the forward-looking statements contained in this release. These statements speak only 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.

Contact: 
Agenus Inc. 
Jennifer Buell, PhD
781-674-4420 
[email protected]

¹Through AgenTus Therapeutics, a subsidiary of Agenus

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SOURCE Agenus