Revolutionizing Therapeutic
Antibody Discovery

Experience:

Entrepreneur In Residence, University Health Network
Board Member, PhenoVista
CEO, AlivaMab Discovery Services
SVP, Eurofins
SVP and Chief Commercial Lead, DiscoverX (acquired by Eurofins)

Justin is the Chief Executive Officer of AbTherx. He has served in executive and advisory roles in biotechnology, drug discovery platform, and healthcare investment organizations for over 15 years. His most recent position was CEO of AlivaMab Discovery Services (ADS), where he led the organization through a period of rapid growth. Before ADS, Justin was the Senior Vice President of the Eurofins Drug Discovery division, where his scope included leading strategy across nine global sites, innovation, and M&A. Before Eurofins, Justin led the Drug Discovery Service division of DiscoverX, including the acquisitions of Ambit Bioscience’s KINOMEscan platform and Asterand’s BioSeek platform. In 2017, DiscoverX was acquired by Eurofins.

Justin received his MBA and MS from the University of Delaware and his BSc from Penn State University.

 Experience:

CFO, Ra Medical Systems (NYSE:RMED)
CFO, Switchback Systems
CFO, Quantapore, Inc.
CFO, Imagion BioSystems (ASX:IBX)
Co-founder and CFO, Pyrone Systems
CFO, Verdezyne
Board Member, Biosensis

Brian Conn is the Chief Financial Officer of AbTherx. He has over 20 years of experience as the CFO of numerous public and private biotech companies, spanning all areas of life sciences. During his career, Brian has raised over $300 million in capital and completed more than 20 M&A deals. Brian is an advisor/CFO to several early-stage biotech companies and is a co-founder of the synthetic biology startup, Pyrone Systems. Before AbTherx, Brian completed the merger between Ra Medical Systems (NYSE: RMED) and Catheter Precision. In 2017, he successfully listed Imagion Biosystems (ASX:IBX) on the Australian Stock Exchange and helped organize the company’s first clinical trial, which was completed in 2022. From 2011 to 2016, Brian was the CFO of Verdezyne, a San Diego synthetic biology company where he secured funding and negotiated contracts for a large-scale project in Malaysia.

Experience:

Global Marketing Manager, BD
Market Development Partner, AlivaMab Discovery Services
Director of Marketing, Tonbo Biosciences
Events and Digital Marketing Manager, Eurofins DiscoverX
Product Manager, eBioscience, an Affymetrix company

Stacey is the Marketing and Communications Strategist at AbTherx. She has over 10 years of experience in the biotech industry where her scope has included global marketing, digital marketing, business development, product marketing, and event management. Previously, Stacey worked as Market Development Partner for AlivaMab Discovery Services where she contributed to the company’s marketing efforts. Prior, Stacey served as Director of Marketing at Tonbo Biosciences, where she developed and executed the commercial marketing strategy and managed the business development and sales teams. Stacey spent over 5 years in various marketing roles at eBioscience, an Affymetrix company early in her career.

Stacey received her Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of San Diego.

Experience:

President, The Antibody Society
Advisor, Bioqube Ventures
Scientific Advisory Board member, Cartography Biosciences
Independent Biotech Consultant, Lust for Life Science B.V.
Senior Vice President, Genmab

Dr. Schuurman’s career centers around the antibody molecule as a biological source of inspiration and therapeutic modality. Dr. Schuurman joined Genmab’s R&D team in 2000 as one of the first scientists—her most recent position being Senior Vice President heading Genmab’s Antibody Research and Technologies. She is a co-inventor of many therapeutic antibodies and of the DuoBody^®, HexaBody^®, and HexElect^® technologies, which enable the generation of bispecific and effector-function enhanced antibodies. These technologies are being applied to antibody therapeutic discovery programs at leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies worldwide and have resulted in FDA-approved therapies such as RYBREVANT^® (amivantamab), EPKINLY^® (epcoritamab), TECVAYLY^® (teclistamab), and TALVEY^® (talquatamab). Dr. Schuurman has championed many successful academic and industry partnerships in antibody therapeutics and complementary research fields.

Dr. Schuurman joined The Antibody Society’s Board of Directors in 2020 and currently serves as President of this international, non-profit trade association which represents individuals and organizations involved in antibody-related research and development. Dr. Schuurman is frequently invited to serve as a speaker, as well as a chair, at scientific conferences around the world due to her vision, impactful scientific publication track record, and dynamic presentations. She received her PhD in immunology from the University of Amsterdam. Dr. Schuurman is currently an independent biotech consultant (Lust for Life Science B.V.) and collaborates with many organizations, including Bioqube Ventures and Cartography Biosciences.

Experience:

SVP Oncology Research, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals

Gavin is a Scientific Advisor at AbTherx. He spent the last 22 years of his career at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, his most recent position being SVP of Oncology Research. Gavin has authored over 150 publications and is the inventor on over 50 US patents and ongoing patent applications. His efforts at Regeneron led to the successful clinical development of LIBTAYO^® and ongoing late-stage clinical testing of several other antibodies and bispecific antibodies. In addition to his advisory role at AbTherx, Gavin is also doing consulting work on several other antibody and bispecifc projects. 

Gavin earned a Doctor of Philosophy degree in biophysics from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, and a postdoctoral research fellowship in tumor vasculature at CRC Gray Laboratory, London, England.

Experience:

Assistant Professor and Underwood Prescott Career Development Chair, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Co-founder, BioBits^®
Postdoctoral Fellow, Stanford University
PhD, Northwestern University

Dr. Stark’s career is marked by her pioneering work in developing biological technologies to unlock the vast potential of cell-surface sugars, known as glycans, for immunological discovery and immunotherapy. Glycans form a protective layer on the surface of every cell, influencing immunological processes. Despite their significance, drug developers’ ability to identify the specific glycans that regulate immune responses and design targeted therapies remains limited. Dr. Stark’s lab is at the forefront of efforts to comprehend and manipulate the roles of glycans in the immune system, aiming to 1) bridge crucial gaps in immunobiology and 2) forge the path for next-generation immunotherapies.

As a postdoctoral fellow with Nobel Laureate, Professor Carolyn Bertozzi at Stanford University, Jessica’s work focused on identifying and targeting glycans. She is a co-inventor of antibody-lectin chimeras (AbLecs), a modular platform for glyco-immune checkpoint blockade. She received her PhD in chemical and biological engineering with Professor Michael Jewett at Northwestern University. Dr. Stark is currently an Assistant Professor in the departments of Biological and Chemical Engineering at MIT and an intramural faculty member in MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research.