Zymeworks’ suite of complementary therapeutic platforms and its fully integrated drug development engine provide the flexibility and compatibility to precisely engineer and develop highly differentiated product candidates.
Zymeworks’ lead product candidate, ZW25, is a HER2-targeted bispecific antibody developed using Zymeworks proprietary Azymetric™ platform. ZW25 is currently being evaluated in global Phase 1 and Phase 2 clinical trials as a best-in-class treatment for patients with HER2-expressing cancers, including biliary tract, gastroesophageal adenocarcinomas, breast, and other tumor types. Zymeworks’ second candidate, ZW49, is a HER2-targeted antibody drug conjugate (ADC) developed using Zymeworks’ proprietary Azymetric™ and ZymeLink™ platforms. ZW49 is currently being evaluated in a Phase 1 clinical trial as a treatment for patients with HER2-expressing cancers.
Zymeworks is also advancing a deep pipeline of preclinical product candidates and discovery-stage programs in oncology (including immuno-oncology agents) and other therapeutic areas. In addition to Zymeworks’ wholly owned pipeline, its therapeutic platforms have been further leveraged through strategic partnerships with global biopharmaceutical companies.
Dr. Tehrani is one of our co-founders and has served as our President and Chief Executive Officer and as a member of our Board of Directors since the Company’s inception in September 2003. He has been an integral part of many of our corporate achievements including raising seed and angel financing and overseeing our technical operations and patent filings. Dr. Tehrani holds both Bachelor’s and Master’s of Science degrees in Biochemistry from the University of Massachusetts, and has a Doctoral degree in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of British Columbia. While completing his Ph.D. degree he co-founded the Student Biotechnology Network, for which he received the UBC Faculty of Science Achievement Award for Outstanding Leadership in 2002. Dr. Tehrani has served as a board director for the Student Biotechnology Network, CQDM, LifeSciences British Columbia, on the MITACS Industrial Advisory Board, and on BIOTECanada’s Industrial and Environmental Committee. He was a Council Member on British Columbia’s Premier’s Technology Council from 2016 to 2018. Currently, he is a member of the board of directors of Creatus Biosciences Inc.
Dr. Polverino joined Zymeworks in September 2018 and currently serves as our Executive Vice President, Early Development and Chief Scientific Officer. Prior to joining Zymeworks, from 2015 until 2018, Dr. Polverino was at Kite Pharma, Inc., which was acquired by Gilead Sciences, Inc. in 2017. While at Kite, he served as the interim Chief Scientific Officer and, before that, as Vice President of Research. During his tenure, Yescarta®, Kite’s lead chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapy, was approved for relapsed or refractory B cell lymphoma, and multiple programs were advanced to the clinic. Dr. Polverino also assembled an innovative chimeric antigen receptor discovery and development team. Prior to Kite, he was at Amgen Inc. from 1994 to 2014, serving in a number of research leadership roles of increasing responsibility. While at Amgen he managed and advanced numerous research programs utilizing multiple therapeutic modalities, including immunotherapy, oncolytic viruses, bispecific antibodies, antibody-drug conjugates, and small molecules. He also played a key role in the development of over 12 novel antigens for antibody therapeutics. Dr. Polverino has served as a member of the board of directors of BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics Inc. since February 2018. Dr. Polverino earned his undergraduate degree in pharmacology from Adelaide University and his Ph.D. in biochemistry from Flinders University, both in Adelaide, Australia.
Ms. O’Driscoll joined Zymeworks in October 2019 and currently serves as Chief People Officer. She brings a wealth of experience in the software and global health sectors. Prior to joining Zymeworks, she held a variety of Human Resource leadership positions for Microsoft and served as Chief Human Resources Officer for PATH, a global organization working to accelerate health equity. Most recently, she served as VP of People for Snowflake, the data warehouse built for the cloud, located in San Mateo, California. Ms. O’Driscoll recently served on the Board of Social Venture Partners as part of her long and continuing engagement with that organization. She invests time and resources to support organizations working toward equity and inclusion. She is a graduate of Pacific University in Oregon.
Dr. Dixit has held various roles at Zymeworks since joining the Company in July 2007, and currently serves as our Vice President, Technology. Dr. Dixit is responsible for the advancement of our various proprietary technology platforms, including ZymeCAD, Azymetric and AlbuCORE. Prior to joining Zymeworks, Dr. Dixit was the coordinator of Computational Molecular Biophysics at Wesleyan University, Connecticut from January 2005 to July 2007, where he was instrumental in the development of novel methods for management and mining of high throughput molecular dynamics simulation data. Dr. Dixit obtained his Ph.D. at the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, researching methods for computing the binding and interaction energies in protein DNA complexes. Subsequently, from October 1999 to February 2001 he was a postdoctoral research associate at the Université Henri Poincaré, Nancy, France, working on the development and implementation of highly accurate methods for the prediction of binding energies in drug discovery research.
Dr. Josephson joined Zymeworks in April 2019 as our Vice President of Clinical Research. Prior to joining Zymeworks he was a Vice President in Clinical Development at Seattle Genetics where he worked on multiple early and late stage programs from 2013-2019, including leading the frontline approval of ADCETRIS® in Hodgkin Lymphoma. From 2002-2013 Dr. Josephson was a full time faculty member of the Division of Hematology at the University of Washington and the Puget Sound Blood Center, serving as an Associate Professor of Medicine and the Director of Hemophilia Care Program. He completed fellowship training in Hematology and Oncology at the University of Washington and holds an M.D. degree from Columbia University and an A.B. in biology from Dartmouth College.
Dr. Steven Xanthoudakis joined Zymeworks in September 2019 and currently serves as the Vice President of Global Search and External Scientific Strategy. Dr. Xanthoudakis brings over 27 years of pharmaceutical industry experience, holding various positions at Merck in discovery research, in external partnering, and as Research Investigator in the Department of Neurogenetics at Hoffman La Roche (NJ, USA). He also served as the Chief Business Development Officer for the Quebec Consortium for Drug Discovery (CQDM) where he managed the execution of numerous R&D deals involving pharma, biotech, and academia. Dr. Xanthoudakis continues to participate as a member of the Research Management Committee of BioCanRx and Glyconet. He received a doctoral degree from the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at McGill University.
Ms. Zoth has served as the Chair of the Board of Directors since September 2019 and has served as a member of our Board of Directors since November 2016. Ms. Zoth is a Certified Public Accountant and has served as Chief Financial Officer, Chief Accounting Officer and Controller for various publicly traded companies, including MedImmune, Inc. and PSINet, Inc., and as a financial executive in various roles at Sodexho Marriott, Marriott International, Pepsi-Cola International and PepsiCo. Ms. Zoth began her career as an auditor with Ernst & Young. Ms. Zoth serves on the boards and audit committees of Nasdaq-listed biopharmaceutical companies (Inovio Pharmaceuticals, Inc., and NewLink Genetics Corporation). Previously, Ms. Zoth served on the boards of six other biopharmaceutical companies (Aeras, Circassia Pharmaceuticals, plc, Hyperion Therapeutics, Inc., Ikaria, Inc. Orexigen Therapeutics, Inc., and Spark Therapeutics, Inc.).
Troy Cox served as Chief Executive Officer of Foundation Medicine, Inc. (“Foundation Medicine”) from February 2017 through February 2019 as CEO and member of the Board of Directors from February 2017 until July 2018, and in the additional role of President of Foundation Medicine from February 2018 until July 2018. Prior to Foundation Medicine, Mr. Cox served as Senior Vice President, Sales & Marketing at Genentech, Inc. (“Genentech”) from February 2010 until February 2017. Before joining Genentech, Mr. Cox served as President of CNS operations at UCB S.A. (“UCB BioPharma”) with responsibility for developing and commercializing therapeutics for diseases primarily related to the central nervous system. Prior to UCB BioPharma, Mr. Cox held senior commercial leadership roles with Sanofi-Aventis and Schering-Plough. Mr. Cox received a B.B.A. in finance from the University of Kentucky and an M.B.A. from the University of Missouri.
Dr. Sue Mahony is an executive with over 30 years of experience in pharmaceutical and life sciences companies. Dr. Mahony served as Senior Vice President of Eli Lilly and Company and President of Lilly Oncology from February 2011 until August 2018. She joined Lilly in 2000, holding senior leadership positions in product development, marketing, human resources, and general management. Prior to joining Lilly, Dr. Mahony served in sales and marketing roles in Europe for over a decade for Schering-Plough, Amgen, and Bristol-Myers Squibb. Dr. Mahony has served on the Board of Directors of Assembly Biosciences, Inc. since December 2017 and on the Board of Directors for Vifor Pharma since May 2019. Dr. Mahony received a B.Sc. and a Ph.D. from Aston University and an M.B.A. from London Business School.
Dr. Sacks has served as a member of our Board of Directors since August 2017. Dr. Sacks is a trained oncologist, and has served as the Chief Medical Officer of Harpoon Therapeutics, Inc. since October 2018 and on the board of directors of Caribou Biosciences, Inc., a genome editing company, since May 2018. Prior to joining Harpoon, Dr. Sacks served as Chief Medical Officer of Aduro Biotech and as an advisor on development strategy for multiple firms. Previously, she was Vice President of Clinical Development at Onyx Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Amgen) from 2011 to 2014, where she played a key role in the development and approval of Kyprolis®, an FDA-approved therapy for the treatment of multiple myeloma, and in business development strategy. Prior to that, she served as Vice President of Clinical Research for Exelixis where she directed the development of a portfolio of small molecules, with responsibilities ranging from IND filings to late-stage development, including late-stage development of Cometriq™, an FDA-approved therapy for the treatment of medullary thyroid cancer. Earlier in her career, Dr. Sacks served as Vice President of Clinical Development at Cell Genesys, a company focused on the development of cancer vaccines and engineered chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell. In addition to her industry experience, Dr. Sacks held an active faculty appointment at the University of California, San Francisco, as an assistant clinical professor of medicine in the Division of Hematology/Oncology from 2003 to 2016. She received her M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, her M.S. in Biostatistics from Harvard University School of Public Health and her B.A. in Mathematics from Bryn Mawr College.