MADISON, Wis.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Invenra is pleased to announce and welcome back, Mark F. Kubik as Chief Business Officer. Mark will lead the Invenra business development team, developing and managing new business opportunities in addition to leadership of alliance and portfolio management, and overseeing its pipeline of immuno-oncology bispecific (B-Body™) antibodies and strategic partnerships.
Mr. Kubik has over 25 years of experience in business development, alliance and portfolio management and drug discovery and development. The bulk of this work has focused around successfully leading transformative deal creation and productive alliances in the therapeutic monoclonal antibody (mAb) and empowered antibody areas. Previously, Mark had led Invenra’s early business development efforts as SVP, Business Development and was responsible for several important mAb discovery partnerships and strategic guidance. Mark’s leadership also directed Invenra toward its current strategic focus on multispecific mAbs in Immuno-Oncology for its own pipeline and for strategic partners.
In addition to his previous time at Invenra, Mark has held leadership positions in business development and led transformative and award-winning deal making at Abgenix, Protein Design Labs (PDL), XOMA, Seattle Genetics, MacroGenics, Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, and i2 Pharmaceuticals / Velocity Sciences, among others. Deal highlights include a global co-development agreement on behalf of Abgenix (now Amgen) with Immunex for Vectibix® (panitumumab), an ex-US strategic alliance on behalf of Seattle Genetics with Takeda for Adcetris® (brentuximab vedotin) (nominated by Recombinant Capital / Allicense for consideration as 2009 “Alliance of the Year”) and a multi-program bispecific discovery collaboration on behalf of MacroGenics with Gilead (won Licensing Executives Society (LES) Alliance of the Year in Life Sciences Award in 2013).
Mr. Kubik received his MBA in Finance from the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado-Boulder and his BA (cum laude) in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology (MCDB) from CU-Boulder.
“We are very excited to have Mark rejoin the team. Mark has an astonishing depth of knowledge of the antibody therapeutics field derived from his long history in the space, a tremendous work ethic and a proven track record of closing ground-breaking deals,” says Dr. Roland Green, CEO and Founder of Invenra.
“I am delighted at this opportunity and look forward to re-joining and working with the outstanding team at Invenra, as we enter a strategic growth phase for our business,” Kubik states. Kubik further commented, “Invenra’s B-Body™ and SNIPER™ technologies represent “Best-In-Class” technology approaches. The initial crop of product candidates, the OX40 Agonist B-Body™ and the Treg depleting SNIPER™ derived from these technologies, are unique product candidates in areas of high unmet medical need. These, as well as a strong collaborative spirit with our existing and future partners, has Invenra in a compelling position to battle devastating and life-threatening diseases and thereby create value.”
About Invenra, Inc.
Invenra, Inc., is a biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of multispecific antibodies for immuno-oncology. Invenra’s proprietary B-Body™ and SNIPER™ technologies are used to develop novel antibodies that can bind to two or more specific therapeutic targets and mimic the natural IgG antibodies made by the human body. The B-Body™ platform enables the rapid identification of an optimal combination of epitope, affinity and geometry of an antibody using high throughput in-format screening for function in cell-based assays, while maintaining the biophysical characteristics needed for lead development. Importantly, the B-Body™ platform is designed to create advantages for candidate discovery with novel mechanisms of action and ease of manufacturing. Invenra has developed its own pipeline of lead multispecific antibodies and has partnered with several biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies who leverage Invenra’s technologies to identify molecules with biological relevance for drug development. For more information, please visit www.invenra.com.