Experience:

VP, Antibody Discovery, Zai Lab
Senior Director, Antibody Center of Excellence, Bristol Myers Squibb
Director, Antibody Discovery, Medarex
Senior Scientist, Biogen Idec

Peter is the Chief Scientific Officer of AbTherx. He has spent his career focused on the generation of clinical-grade human antibodies, e.g., Opdivo (anti-PD1), Ofatumumab (anti-CD20), Ulocuplomab (anti-CXCR4), and  anti-CCR8 antibodies in clinical trials¹ for BMS and Zai Lab. Peter grew the antibody-generating unit at Medarex from seven people using hybridoma and only manual protocols, to a multi-site, multidisciplinary, highly automated unit, supplying all antibodies to meet the needs of the entire Bristol Myers Squibb corporation. Peter was involved at all levels of the pursuit, adding novel conceptual approaches to antigen design, automation strategies, immunization developments, and electrofusion protocols, as well as single cell antibody cloning and antibody gene analysis. He has authored over 100 submitted and approved patents.

Peter has worked with some of the most disruptive thinkers in the field: Lennard Olson (first human human hybridoma), Robert Gallo (advanced HIV research on all fronts), Ivor Royston (human antibody pioneer), Nabil Hannah (identified CD20 as clinical antibody target: Rituximab was the first curative anti-cancer antibody), Nils Lonberg (generated the HuMAb Mouse^® platform at Medarex), and Alan Korman (moved immuno-oncology from lab bench to bedside).  

Peter received his PhD from the University of Aarhus in Denmark.

¹Campbell JR et al, Cancer Res 2021;81:2983–94. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-20-3585

Experience:

Senior Director, Zai Lab
Senior Director, Bristol Myers Squib
Member, Biotech Industry Advisory Council, Cal Poly SLO
Senior Director, Medarex
Senior Scientist, Chiron Corp.
Board Member, Aldar Academy
Scientist, Roche Bioscience
Postdoctoral Fellow, Stanford University

Dan is the Chief Technology Officer of AbTherx. He has over 25 years of broad experience in therapeutic drug discovery. Over the last 20 years, Dan and his scientific teams have specialized in creating therapeutic antibody discovery platforms in transgenic mice, including managing and refining the HuMAb Mouse^® platform – the most successful platform based on the number of FDA approvals to date. Updating this technology to meet new antibody therapeutic modality needs has resulted in the creation of the novel and differentiated Atlas™ Mice antibody platform which is poised to address the evolving antibody therapeutics market. Dan has an established background and publication record in transgenic methodologies and G-protein coupled receptors, and he is recognized throughout the industry for his leadership of therapeutic discovery campaigns.

Experience:

Independent IP Consultant, Kara Patents
Chief Patent Counsel, Medarex, Inc. 
Associate, Lahive & Cockfield, LLP

Catherine is the Head of IP at AbTherx. She has over 25 years of experience in strategic and supervisory roles for intellectual property management in both law firm and in-house positions, including over 15 years providing IP consultancy in a wide range of biotechnology fields. Her technical background is in immunology, and she has been involved in the development of IP protection for immunotherapeutic approaches from the earliest fully human antibodies. She has extensive expertise in patent portfolio development and prosecution, IP considerations for early-stage companies, and strategic IP advice in the immunotherapy space. 

 Catherine received a PhD from Harvard University, a JD from Suffolk University Law School, and a BSc from McGill University. 

Experience:

Senior Vice President Therapeutic Discovery Strategies, Alloy Therapeutics
Senior Vice President of Therapeutic Discovery Strategies, AlivaMab Discovery Services
Director of Research Operations, Ablexis LLC
Vice President of Antibody Discovery, LakePharma
Director of Antibody Discovery, Igenica
Senior Principal Scientist, Pfizer
Post-Doctoral Associate, GNF (Novartis)

Lippy is the Chief Strategy Officer at AbTherx. He is a recognized leader in therapeutic antibody discovery with more than two decades of experience advancing antibody generation and characterization from in vivo systems. Throughout his career, he has built and led high-performing discovery organizations focused on the identification and advancement of therapeutic antibody candidates across a broad range of modalities and disease areas.

Most recently, Lippy served as the Senior Vice President of Therapeutic Discovery Strategies at Alloy Therapeutics, where he lead their transgenic antibody discovery strategy and partner programs. Prior to Alloy, he held senior scientific leadership roles at AlivaMab Discovery Services and LakePharma, where he built and led teams responsible for delivering high-quality therapeutic antibody discovery programs using in vivo transgenic platforms. Earlier in his career, Lippy established and led the hybridoma group at Pfizer’s San Diego site, serving as project leader for both internal and partnered therapeutic discovery efforts. At Igenica, he spearheaded the successful implementation of a novel in vivo discovery platform and developed high-throughput systems for hybridoma generation, screening, and lead candidate identification.

Over the course of his career, Lippy has always been at the forefront of building and implementing next-generation transgenic antibody discovery technologies and deploying operational strategies that improve the speed, quality, and scalability of therapeutic antibody generation. His experience spans multiple leading platforms, platform implementation, antibody characterization, hybridoma technologies, and translational discovery, making him a highly sought-after scientific leader in the field.

Lippy received his PhD in Cell Biology from Harvard Medical School and completed postdoctoral research at the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation in San Diego.

Experience:

Scientific Director, MindWalk Corp (formerly ImmunoPrecise Antibodies)
Lab Instructor, University of Victoria

Andra Li is Senior Director of Alliance and Project Management at AbTherx, bringing more than a decade of experience in therapeutic antibody discovery, scientific leadership, and cross-functional program execution. At AbTherx, she oversees alliance and project management, driving stakeholder alignment and collaboration across internal teams and external partners to advance differentiated therapeutic antibody programs.

Prior to joining AbTherx, Andra held multiple scientific and operational leadership roles at ImmunoPrecise Antibodies (now MindWalk Corp.), ultimately serving as Scientific Director, where she led antibody discovery and engineering teams and helped drive innovation across research, business development, and operations. Andra led initiatives in next-generation platform and service development, process optimization, and continuous improvement to enhance the speed, quality, and scalability of therapeutic antibody discovery. She also played an active role in scientific business development, supporting partner collaborations through conference engagement, scientific presentations, client interactions, and cross-functional program leadership.

Andra received her Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of Victoria, where her research focused on epigenetics and chromatin structure in DNA repair.

Experience:

Associate Director, Amunix Pharmaceuticals, Inc. a Sanofi Company
Principal Scientist, Zai Lab
Specialist, OHSU Knight Cancer Early Detection Advanced Research Center
Staff Scientist, The Scripps Research Institute

Viktoriya is the Senior Director of Antibody Discovery at AbTherx. She is an innovative scientist with an extensive background in antibody discovery, immuno-oncology, infectious diseases, vaccine design, and preclinical drug development. In her most recent role at Amunix Pharmaceuticals, Viktoriya served as the Associate Director of the Discovery Group where she led the preclinical program for conditionally activated T-cell engagers. Viktoriya’s skillset includes protein engineering, phage display, single B-cell cloning, antigen generation (including GPCRs), T-cell engager optimization, and NGS sequencing.

Viktoriya received her PhD from the State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology in Koltsovo, Russia and her MS from Novosibirsk State University in Novosibirsk, Russia.

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:

Senior Director BD, Ginkgo Bioworks
VP Strategic Partnerships, Synthego
Director of Product Management and Marketing, DiscoverX (acquired by Eurofins)
Senior Global Product Manager, Sigma Life Science (acquired by Millipore Sigma)

Abhi is the Chief Business Officer of AbTherx. He has been leading corporate strategy, business development, and alliance management functions to drive the adoption of novel technology platforms for over 15 years. His most recent position was Senior Director of Business Development at Ginkgo Bioworks, where he led the organization’s enterprise partnering strategy for the top 20 pharmaceutical companies. Before Ginkgo, Abhi was the Vice President of Strategic Partnerships at Synthego, where his scope included leading the end-to-end business development, enterprise sales and alliance management functions. Before Synthego, Abhi led the research and commercialization strategy behind the launch and rapid expansion of DiscoverX’s biologics portfolio.

Abhi received his PhD from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, MO and his BA from College of Wooster in Ohio.