Agenus Inc (NASDAQ: AGEN), an immuno-oncology company with clinical stage checkpoint antibodies, a pipeline of IND ready antibodies and bispecifics, cancer vaccines, and adoptive cell therapies, announced yesterday that it has appointed I-O drug development experts to key leadership positions.

These appointments are intended to help advance multiple clinical programs and planned BLA filings by 2020.

The company has named Dr Sunil Gupta as its vice president of regulatory and pharmacovigilance. He is a trained oncologist with around 30 years in senior leadership positions in clinical development and regulatory affairs. He joins Agenus from Sanofi where he had a career for 22 years including leading the approvals of Cemiplimab (anti-PD-1), Iniparib (PARP inhibition), Oxaliplatin and Taxotere.

The firm has also appointed Dr Anna Wijatyk as its vice president of clinical development. She was earlier vice president oncology & global development lead in hematologic cancers at Shire. She is a clinician with more than 20 years of experience in leadership positions at Bristol-Myers Squibb, Baxter, and Shire in oncology and rare diseases, leading to approvals of products with the FDA, EMA and Health Canada.