Rockville, MD, Sept. 20, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --
MacroGenics, Inc. (NASDAQ: MGNX), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing innovative monoclonal antibody-based therapeutics for the treatment of cancer, as well as autoimmune disorders and infectious diseases, announced that it has promoted three executives: Ezio Bonvini, M.D., to Senior Vice President, Research and Chief Scientific Officer; Eric Risser to Senior Vice President, Business Development and Portfolio Management and Chief Business Officer; and Thomas Spitznagel, Ph.D., to Senior Vice President, BioPharmaceutical Development and Manufacturing.
Dr. Bonvini joined MacroGenics in 2003 and has led the company's discovery and preclinical activities, which has included the successful advancement of several programs from early discovery to IND submission as well as the development of the Company's Fc Optimization, DART® and Trident™ antibody-based engineering platforms. Previously, Dr. Bonvini held roles with the Food and Drug Administration in the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, ultimately serving as Acting Deputy Director, Division of Monoclonal Antibodies and Chief, Laboratory of Immunobiology. Dr. Bonvini received his M.D. and Specialty Certification in Clinical Hematology from the University of Genoa, School of Medicine and has authored over 90 scientific publications.
Mr. Risser joined MacroGenics in 2009 and has played an instrumental leadership role in sourcing, structuring, and negotiating the company's collaboration partnerships. He is also responsible for MacroGenics' alliance and program management and new product planning functions. Prior to joining MacroGenics, Mr. Risser held the position of Senior Director, Business Development in the pharmaceutical group at Johnson & Johnson, where he worked from 2003 to 2009. Mr. Risser holds a B.A. from Yale University and an M.B.A. from Stanford University.
Dr. Spitznagel joined MacroGenics in 2013 and has overall responsibility for biopharmaceutical process development and manufacturing of MacroGenics' product candidates, including several Fc-optimized monoclonal antibodies and DART molecules, as well as oversight of the facilities and engineering functions. Prior to joining MacroGenics, he was at Human Genome Sciences, most recently serving as Vice President of BioPharmaceutical Development, where he was responsible for oversight of Analytical Development, Formulation and Drug Delivery, Purification Sciences, and Fermentation and Cell Culture Sciences. Dr. Spitznagel earned his B.S. in Chemical Engineering at MIT, and his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering at the University of California, Berkeley.
"Ezio, Eric and Tom have been effective and strategic leaders within MacroGenics. The creation of these new positions, in addition to the promotion of Jon Wigginton, M.D., to Senior Vice President, Clinical Development and Chief Medical Officer earlier this year, reflects our confidence in the judgment, ability and leadership of these individuals to create value for our company," said Scott Koenig, M.D., Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of MacroGenics. "We have benefited greatly from their contributions to date and we are delighted to recognize the broader role each executive will play as MacroGenics continues to expand and execute on our mission to develop breakthrough biologics that represent life-changing medicines for patients."
About MacroGenics, Inc.
MacroGenics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing innovative monoclonal antibody-based therapeutics for the treatment of cancer, as well as autoimmune disorders and infectious diseases. The Company generates its pipeline of product candidates primarily from its proprietary suite of next-generation antibody-based technology platforms. The combination of MacroGenics' technology platforms and protein engineering expertise has allowed the Company to generate promising product candidates and enter into several strategic collaborations with global pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. For more information, please see the Company's website at www.macrogenics.com. MacroGenics, the MacroGenics logo, DART and Trident are trademarks or registered trademarks of MacroGenics, Inc.
Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements
Any statements in this press release about future expectations, plans and prospects for the Company, including statements about the Company's strategy, future operations, clinical development of the Any statements in this press release about future expectations, plans and prospects for the Company, including statements about the Company's strategy, future operations, clinical development of the Company's therapeutic candidates, milestone or opt-in payments from the Company's collaborators, the Company's anticipated milestones and future expectations and plans and prospects for the Company and other statements containing the words "subject to", "believe", "anticipate", "plan", "expect", "intend", "estimate", "project", "may", "will", "should", "would", "could", "can", the negatives thereof, variations thereon and similar expressions, or by discussions of strategy constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including: the uncertainties inherent in the initiation and enrollment of future clinical trials, expectations of expanding ongoing clinical trials, availability and timing of data from ongoing clinical trials, expectations for regulatory approvals, other matters that could affect the availability or commercial potential of the Company's product candidates and other risks described in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In addition, the forward-looking statements included in this press release represent the Company's views only as of the date hereof. The Company anticipates that subsequent events and developments will cause the Company's views to change. However, while the Company may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, the Company specifically disclaims any obligation to do so, except as may be required by law. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing the Company's views as of any date subsequent to the date hereof.
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CONTACT: Jim Karrels, Senior Vice President, CFO MacroGenics, Inc. 1-301-251-5172, info@macrogenics.com Karen Sharma, Senior Vice President MacDougall Biomedical Communications 1-781-235-3060, ksharma@macbiocom.com