argenx SE ARGX

Tim Van Hauwermeiren co-founded our Company in 2008 and has served as our CEO since July 2008. He has served as a member of our Board of Directors since July 2014. Mr. Van Hauwermeiren has more than 20 years of general management and business development experience across the life sciences and consumer goods sectors. He also serves on the boards of directors of iTeos Therapeutics, Inc. and RayzeBio, Inc. Mr. Van Hauwermeiren holds a Bachelor's of Science and Master's of Science in bioengineering from Ghent University and an executive MBA from the Vlerick School of Management.

Karen Massey has served as our COO since March 2023.Ms. Massey has over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry, including in commercial, product development, corporate strategy, and innovation roles. Prior to joining argenx, Ms. Massey was with Genentech (Roche Group) for over nine years, where she most recently served as senior vice president of product development and global clinical operations and previously held various commercial leadership roles across marketing and business operations, including as the vice president of the multiple sclerosis and neuromyelitis optica business. Ms. Massey started her biopharmaceutical career in marketing at Pfizer Inc., and returned there, after two years as a management consultant at Bain & Company, to take on leadership positions in corporate strategy and sales and as a commercial lead in Latin America.

Karl Gubitz has served as our CFO since June 2021.Mr. Gubitz previously worked at Pfizer Inc. for nearly 20 years, most recently as vice president of finance within the global oncology business. Within Pfizer Inc., Mr. Gubitz held country, regional, and global positions, and consistently delivered top-line growth. He managed teams of over 250 colleagues in financial leadership roles within the global internal medicine and global innovative products businesses. Prior to joining Pfizer Inc. in 2003, Mr. Gubitz held various management roles at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.

Brian Kotzin has served as a member of our Board of Directors and as a chairperson of our research and development committee since May 7, 2024.He is a former member of the board of directors at Vera Therapeutics, Inc., Rigel Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Kyverna Therapeutics, Inc. He served as Senior Vice President for Nektar Therapeutics, Inc. from April 2017 to June 2023, and has held various leadership positions at Nektar Therapeutics, Inc., including serving as Chief Medical Officer and Head of Clinical Development from January 2021 to September 2021 and again from May 2022 to June 2023. He currently is the interim chief medical officer at Nektar Therapeutics, Inc. From 2004 to 2015, Dr. Kotzin was Vice President, Global and Clinical Development and Head, Inflammation Therapeutic Area at Amgen Inc., directing the global development efforts for product candidates in the inflammation area. During his employment at Amgen Inc, he also served as Vice President of Translational Sciences and Head of Medical Sciences from 2006 to 2011. Prior to entering the life sciences industry, Dr. Kotzin held several positions as a professor at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, where his research focused on immunopathogenesis of inflammatory diseases. He has also held leadership roles at several national organizations, including as a member of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) Board of Directors, Member and Chairperson of the NIH Immunological Sciences Study Section, Chairperson of the NIH Autoimmunity Centers of Excellence, and Member of the Board of Directors for the Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies.

Donald deBethizy has served as a member of our Board of Directors since May 2015.Dr. deBethizy has 30 years of experience in research and development, as well as financial, business and operating management, and board work in the biotechnology and consumer products industries.He is the president of White City Consulting ApS, also known as Custom Coaching) a consulting company that specializes in advising technology-focused companies. Dr. deBethizy currently serves on the boards of directors of Lophora ApS and Proterris, Inc. and as a board advisor for Cereno Scientific AB.Previously, Dr. deBethizy served as president and CEO of Santaris Pharma A/S until October 2014, when the company was sold to Roche. From March 1997 to June 2012, Dr. deBethizy was co-founder and CEO of Targacept, Inc., a U.S. biotechnology company listed on Nasdaq. From June 2012 to May 2013, he was special advisor to the chairman of Targacept, Inc.'s board of directors. From May 2013 to November 2014, Dr. deBethizy served as executive chairman of Contera Pharma ApS until it was sold to Bukwang Pharma, and from July 2015 to November 2017, he served as chairman of Rigontec GmbH until it was sold to Merck Inc. He previously served as chairman of the boards of directors of Albumedix Ltd (sold to Sartorius AG in September 2022), Saniona AB, and TME Pharma NV and AG. Dr. deBethizy was also a member of the boards of directors of Asceneuron SA, Serendex Pharmaceuticals A/S, Enbiotix Inc., Ligocyte Pharmaceuticals until it was sold to Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd, Biosource Inc., and NOXXON Pharma N.V. Dr. deBethizy has held adjunct appointments at Wake Forest University Babcock School of Management, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, and Duke University.

Ana Cespedes has served as a member of our Board of Directors since December 2022. Dr. Cespedes is currently the chief operating officer of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, a global organization dedicated to developing accessible vaccines and antibodies for infectious diseases. She will resign from the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative as of the end of March 2025 and she will become the chief executive officer of Vitamin Angels at the end of March 2025. Prior to joining the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, Dr. Cespedes held several roles at Merck KGaA, most recently serving as global head of strategy and engagement, government, and public affairs. She founded and led the global market access and pricing function for the company and worked with stakeholders to communicate the clinical, economic, and societal value of innovative medicines. Prior to that, Dr. Cespedes led the first integrated corporate affairs group at Serono Iberia and Merck Spain, was managing director of the Spanish branch of the company's nonprofit organization, and worked as a senior consultant at Arthur Andersen. Dr. Cespedes is a founding member of the National Congress of Corporate Affairs in Spain, the London School of Economics Market Access Academy, and the Cooperation for Oncology Data. She is also the founder of Living Mindfulness S.L. Dr. Cespedes is also a member of the steering committee of ProPatiens Institute.

Pamela Klein has served as a member of our Board of Directors since April 2016. Since 2008, Dr. Klein has been a principal and founder of PMK BioResearch, a company offering strategic consulting in oncology drug development to corporate boards, management teams and the investment community. She has also been a venture partner in Ysios Capital Partners, SGIEC, S.A.U. since 2023. She currently serves as a member of the board of directors of several companies including Shasqi and Patrys Ltd; as well as various scientific advisor boards. In 2023, Dr. Klein also joined the boards of directors of Frontier Medicines Corp, Ona Therapeutics SL, and Sardona Therapeutics, Inc. Previously, Dr. Klein served on the board of directors of Sardona Therapeutics, Inc., F-Star Therapeutics, Inc. until March 2023, Jiya Acquisition Corp, and Spring Bank Pharmaceuticals, Inc. until its merger with F-Star Therapeutics in July 2020. Dr. Klein previously spent seven years at the National Cancer Institute as research director of the NCI-Navy Breast Center, after which she joined Genentech as vice president of development until 2001. She also served as chief medical officer for Intellikine, Inc., which was acquired by Takeda American Holdings.

Andria Wilk joined argenx as global head of quality in January 2020. Ms. Wilk has more than 25 years of experience in quality assurance within the pharmaceutical industry. Most recently, Ms. Wilk served as senior director, head of medical, regulatory & clinical quality assurance at H Lundbeck A/S, where she managed the global medical, regulatory & clinical quality assurance group based in the EU, U.S., and Asia. In this role, she was responsible for the global audit programs and quality assurance support for all clinical trial and post-marketing activities and related computerized systems.Prior to H Lundbeck A/S, she held various quality assurance positions of increasing responsibility within AstraZeneca plc, Takeda Global Research, Development Centre Europe, and Astellas Pharma Inc.

Peter Ulrichts has served as our chief scientific officer since January 2023. In this role, he oversees the development of all clinical and pre-clinical compounds within our pipeline.Dr. Ulrichts previously served in various roles at the Company since he joined us in 2010, including, most recently, as our head of clinical science. As a research scientist, Dr. Ulrichts was involved in the development of various therapeutic antibodies for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune diseases. In 2013, he headed the development of our FcRn antagonist efgartigimod until the first-in-human clinical trial. He subsequently transitioned to become the lead scientist of our efgartigimod program.

Malini Moorthy has served as our general counsel since February 2022. She has over 25 years of extensive global legal and compliance experience in the biopharmaceutical and medical device industries. She was most recently senior vice president and chief deputy general counsel of legal, compliance, and government affairs at Medtronic plc, where she played a pivotal role in shaping and driving enterprise and functional strategies. Before joining Medtronic plc, Ms. Moorthy spent four years at Bayer Corporation as the head of global litigation and investigations and 10 years at Pfizer Inc., where she progressed to lead civil litigation globally. Ms. Moorthy began her career as a law firm associate, first with McCarthy Tetrault LLP and Genest Murray Desbrisay Lamek LLP in Toronto, Canada and then Salans LLP (now Dentons US LLP) in New York City.

Luc Truyen has served as our chief medical officer since April 2022 and previously served as our head of research and development operations management from September 2021 to April 2022.Prior to this, Dr. Truyen was with Johnson & Johnson (and its subsidiary companies) for over 20 years holding various leadership positions, primarily within neuroscience. In his most recent position prior to joining argenx, Dr. Truyen was global head of development and external affairs for neuroscience, managing the strategy and delivery of the early and late portfolio of assets for mood disorders, schizophrenia, and neurodegenerative and neuroinflammatory disorders. Besides Dr. Truyen's strong track record in clinical development resulting in several globally innovative drug approvals, his broad-based experience also includes leading global clinical development operations for the whole Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical group as well as serving as the head of research and development and chief medical officer of Janssen Alzheimer Immunotherapy Research & Development LLC, an internal spin-out from Johnson & Johnson.