Biography
Prof. Paul W.H.I. Parren is dedicated to translating antibody biology and immunotherapy knowledge into innovative therapeutics and technologies. He holds a PhD in molecular immunology from the University of Amsterdam (1992). Prof. Parren was an Associate Professor at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California. From 2002-2017, he led research and preclinical development at Genmab, leading to seven product approvals to date. He is an inventor of ofatumumab (Arzerra, 2009; KESIMPTA, 2020), daratumumab (DARZALEX, 2015, DARZALEX-Faspro, 2021), teprotumumab (Tepezza, 2020), amivantamab (RYBREVANT, 2021), tisotumab vedotin (Tivdak, 2021) and two clinically translated technologies to generate bispecific (DuoBody) and effector-function enhanced (HexaBody) antibodies. In 2015, he became a Professor of Molecular Immunology at the Leiden University Medical Center in Leiden. In 2018, he joined LAVA Therapeutics, a biotechnology company focused on developing bispecific gamma-delta T cell engagers to transform cancer therapy, as its Executive Vice President and Head of R&D.