Breda, the Netherlands and Ghent, Belgium – arGEN-X, a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of human monoclonal antibodies from its proprietary SIMPLE Antibody™ platform, has strengthened its supervisory board with the appointment of Dr. David L. Lacey.
Dr. Lacey is a former Senior Vice President and Head of Discovery Research at Amgen with over 30 years of basic and clinical research experience. He played a fundamental role in the discovery of the OPG/RANKL/RANK pathway at Amgen as well as the development of the human anti-RANKL mAb denosumab, which was approved in 2010 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under the trade name Prolia to treat osteoporosis in postmenopausal women and as Xgeva for the prevention of skeletal-related events in metastatic bone tumors. He was most recently responsible for leading more than 1,200 scientists in Amgen's discovery research unit across a portfolio of discovery and preclinical projects in hematology/oncology, inflammation, metabolic disorders and neuroscience.
Since Dr. Lacey’s recent retirement, he remains active in the biopharmaceutical industry, advising a number of academic institutions, biotechnology companies and venture capital firms. Dr. Lacey holds an MD from the University of Colorado, USA, and carried out his postgraduate medical education training and research at Washington University, St. Louis, USA.
Tim Van Hauwermeiren, CEO of arGEN-X, said: We are pleased to welcome David to our team, as his experience in antibody discovery and development will prove invaluable as we progress our innovative antibody programs into clinical development. With David on board, we are in an ideal position to further our company ambition as a first-in-class antibody discovery and development enterprise.
