Argos Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company, engages in developing immunotherapy treatments for cancer, infectious and autoimmune diseases, and transplantation rejection. The company has clinical trial programs in cancer and human immunodeficiency virus. Its products include AGS-0031 for metastatic renal cell carcinoma; AGS-0041 for HIV; CD83 soluble protein for transplant rejection/autoimmune disorders; Anti IFN-alpha monoclonal antibody2 for lupus; and regulatory T cell therapy3 for autoimmune disorders. The company was formerly known as MERIX Bioscience, Inc. Argos Therapeutics was founded in 1997 and is based in Durham, North Carolina.
Jeffrey Abbey joined Argos Therapeutics in 2002.
Before joining Argos, Mr. Abbey was Vice President of Business Development and Finance for Internet Appliance Network (IAN), a venture-backed information technology company based in New York City.
Prior to joining IAN, he was a partner in Eilenberg and Krause, a boutique corporate law firm, where he acted as business counsel for a number of life sciences and other emerging technology companies.
Mr. Abbey has extensive experience in structuring and negotiating licenses, joint ventures and other technology transfer agreements, as well as mergers, acquisitions and financing transactions.
He holds an A.B. in Mathematical Economics from Brown University and received an M.B.A. and J.D. from the University of Virginia.
Frederick Miesowicz joined Argos Therapeutics in 2003.
Prior to this, Dr. Miesowicz was the Vice President of U.S. Operations for Gamida-Cell, a stem cell company.
He was Senior Vice President and General Manager of Hybridon Specialty Products.
He served as Vice President and General Manager of Cellcor, a subsidiary of Cytogen, Inc., from 1995 to 1998, where he directed all operations related to Cellcors cellular immunotherapy programs.
He also served as Senior Vice President of Scientific Affairs at Cellcor from 1992 to 1995.
Dr. Miesowicz has an extensive background in cellular therapies and medical devices.
Prior to joining Cellcor, he managed the U.S. and European SteriCell Division of Terumo Medical Corporation after it was acquired from DuPont, and was with E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Company for over 14 years managing both immunotherapy and immunodiagnostic R&D groups.
Dr. Miesowicz holds a B.S. degree in Chemistry from Siena College and received a Ph.D.
Charles Nicolette joined Argos Therapeutics in 2003.
Dr. Nicolette has extensive experience in the field of cancer immunotherapy and is the inventor on dozens of patent applications and issued patents relating to the development of personalized immunotherapeutics for cancer and infectious diseases.
He was formerly the Director of Antigen Discovery at Genzyme Molecular Oncology where he developed SPHERE technology, the subject of one of the largest biotechnology deals ever done in the field of tumor antigen discovery.
He is an expert in cellular immunology and brings substantial immunological sophistication to Argos.
Dr. Nicolette received his Ph.D. in biochemistry and cellular and developmental biology from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, completing his doctoral dissertation and post-doctoral fellowship at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
Sander van Deventer has had a critical role in the development of the first commercial monoclonal antibody (Remicade) and the first gene therapy to be granted market authorization in the Western world (Glybera). He currently is a General Partner at Forbion Capital Partners and Professor of Translational Gastroenterology Leiden University Medical Center. He is a member of the Boards of Argos Therapeutics (Durham, USA), Uniqure (Amsterdam, The Netherlands), Cardoz (Stockholm, Sweden) gICare (Montreal, Canada) en Hookipa (Vienna, Austria).
He was trained as an internist and board vertified gastroenterologist, received doctorate of philosophy from the University of Amsterdam, worked as a scientist at Rockefeller University and became director of the laboratory for Experimental Internal Medicine at the Academic Medical Center in Amsterdam in 1995.
Phil Tracy joined Intersouth in 1997. His pharmaceutical background provides Intersouth with extensive experience in the healthcare industry. He serves on the boards of directors of two Intersouth portfolio companies and has served as interim CEO of an Intersouth portfolio company.
The majority of Phil’s career was spent at Burroughs Wellcome Co., a major research-based pharmaceutical company with $1.2 billion in sales and 5,000 employees. At Burroughs Wellcome, he served as President and CEO from 1989 until the company’s merger with Glaxo in 1995.
Doug Plessinger joined Argos Therapeutics in 2011 after serving as a clinical consultant for the company for the previous 4 years.
Prior to joining Argos, Mr. Plessinger was an original founder and served as the Executive Vice President and Managing Director for Axcelo MSL Solutions, a Medical Affairs and MSL consulting company.
Prior to this, he served as Senior Vice President of Client Services at The Navicor Group and in other roles with Navicor and affiliated inVentiv Health companies from 2003 to 2007.
Mr. Plessinger also served as a lead Medical Science Liaison (MSL) for Millennium Pharmaceuticals and held various roles of increasing responsibility for Bristol-Myers Squibb in Oncology Medical Affairs and Oncology Global Marketing from 1997 – 2003.
Lori R. Harrelson has served as our Vice President of Finance since July 2011.
Ms. Harrelson served as our Director of Finance and Accounting from January 2007 to June 2011 and as our Director of Accounting and Financial Reporting from September 2004 to January 2007.
Prior to joining us, Ms. Harrelson was Finance Manager at LipoScience, Inc., a diagnostic company, from 2001 to 2004.
Prior to joining LipoScience, Ms. Harrelson worked in the audit department of Ernst & Young LLP from 1997 to 2001.
Ms. Harrelson received her B.S. in finance from East Carolina University and is a C.P.A.
Dr. Cheng of Morningside Technology Advisory LLC focuses on life science and technology investments. Prior to joining Morningside, Dr. Cheng was Director of Research and Development at Serica Technologies, a Morningside portfolio company. In addition, Dr. Cheng was previously an Associate Director at Novartis Pharmaceuticals in Clinical Development and Medical Affairs.
Dr. Cheng received his M.D. from Tufts University School of Medicine. He is the recipient of numerous honors and awards including the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Research Fellowship, which supported his research under Dr. Rudy Tanzi in the Genetics and Aging Unit of the Massachusetts General Hospital / Harvard Medical School. He has worked with many start ups and currently sits on the Board of Directors of Traversa Therapeutics and is a board observer to Argos Therapeutics.
Brian Underdown joined Lumira Capital (formerly, MDS Capital Corp) in 1997.
His focus has been on new company formation in both Canada and the United States.
Prior to joining MDSCC, Dr. Underdown held a number of senior management positions in the biopharmaceutical industry and in universities.
Dr. Underdown obtained his Ph.D. in immunology from McGill University and undertook post-doctoral studies at Washington University School of Medicine.
During his academic career, he focused on immune-mediated diseases as well as vaccine development.
During his tenure at MDSCC, Dr. Underdown has focused on new investment opportunities and building value as a board member in a number of companies including, ID Biomedical, Trillium Therapeutics and Cytochroma Inc.
He has been actively involved in policy development and grant administration with a number of government and non-governmental organizations that support research, especially as it applies to commercial development.
David W. Gryska has been a member of our Board since November 2010.
From May 2012 until December 2012, Mr. Gryska served as Chief Operating Officer of Myrexis Inc., a biotechnology company.
From December 2006 to October 2010, Mr. Gryska served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Celgene Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company.
From October 2004 to December 2006, he was a principal at Strategic Consulting Group, where he provided strategic consulting to early-stage biotechnology companies.
Prior to that time, Mr. Gryska held positions at Scios, Inc. and Cardiac Pathways Corporation and served as a partner at Ernst & Young LLP.
Mr. Gryska currently serves as a member of the board of directors of Seattle Genetics, Inc.
Mr. Gryska holds an M.B.A. from Golden Gate University and a B.A. in accounting and finance from Loyola University.
Dr. Birner joined TVM Capital in 2000, and is a General Partner for life sciences in the firms Munich office.
He currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Argos Therapeutics Inc. (Durham, North Carolina) and is a member of the Board of Directors of Evotec AG (Hamburg, Germany), BioXell SA (Milan, Italy), Spepharm Holding BV (Amsterdam, Netherlands), Proteon Therapeutics, Inc (Kansas City, Missouri), Transmolecular Inc.(Boston, Massachusetts) and Nitec Pharma SA (Basel, Switzerland).
Over many years, he was the Chairman/Vice Chairman of Direvo Biotech AG (Cologne, Germany) and Jerini AG (Berlin, Germany) which were acquired in 2008 by Bayer HealthCare AG and Shire Ltd.
Dr. Birner also represents the interests of TVM Capital with Ardana Bioscience plc (Edinburgh, Scotland).