AnaptysBio Names Director of Cell Biology; Joins from Regeneron, Adds Extensive Therapeutic Antibody Discovery Credentials
Sean Stevens, Co-Creator of VelocImmune Mice, to Lead Multiple Research Programs in Addition to Functional Responsibilities
SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov 17, 2009 - AnaptysBio, Inc., a privately-held therapeutic antibody platform and product company, today announced the appointment of Dr. Sean Stevens as director of cell biology.
Reporting to Dr. David King, vice president of research, Stevens will lead a group of cell biologists involved in the development of AnaptysBio's somatic hypermutation (SHM) technology and its application toward creating new therapeutic antibodies. He joins from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Tarrytown, NY, where he served in various positions of increasing responsibility since 2000, most recently as associate director, inflammation and immune disorder therapeutic focus area, and associate director of technology evaluation.
"Sean has extensive experience in developing and applying technology for the discovery of antibodies, executing research strategies for many drug targets, and managing research programs - all of which are key to developing new therapeutic antibody candidates," said Tom Smart, chairman and chief executive officer. "He will join our talented senior research team and manage the cell biology function across different programs involving our SHM technology."
Stevens has his doctorate in molecular biology from University of Pennsylvania and his undergraduate degree in biology from Bucknell University. He was a post-doctoral fellow at the Roeder Lab, Rockefeller University, before joining Regeneron. He was co-creator of VelocImmune mice, humanized mice which produce human antibodies that can be used as therapeutics. He publishes and speaks frequently on the topic of therapeutic antibody discovery.
About AnaptysBio
Founded in 2005, AnaptysBio, Inc. is a privately-held therapeutic antibody product company and the leader in the use of somatic hypermutation, or SHM, for antibody discovery and optimization. SHM is the body's natural process for generating potent antibodies to fight disease. The Company's SHM-PlatformTM utilizes the key components of SHM and other state-of-the-art techniques such as mammalian cell expression/surface display and flow cytometry to generate antibodies for therapeutic applications through an iterative process of natural evolution and high-throughput selection - a process that has been referred to as "naturalizing" antibodies. This versatile platform can be used both to discover and optimize antibodies directed at specific disease targets and also affinity mature existing antibodies to improve their binding properties. The company has established broad intellectual property around the use of SHM for therapeutic antibody applications, and is currently building a pipeline of novel therapeutic antibody product candidates. For more information, visit www.anaptysbio.com.