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 a postdoc, Assistant and Associate Professor at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, where he studied correlates of protection against viruses by human antibodies. From 2002-2017, he led research and preclinical development of therapeutic antibodies for the treatment of cancer, auto-immune and inflammatory diseases at Genmab, leading to six product approvals to date. He is an inventor of ofatumumab (Arzerra, 2009; KESIMPTA, 2020), daratumumab (DARZALEX, 2015), teprotumumab (Tepezza, 2020), the bispecific antibody amivantamab (RYBREVANT, 2021), the antibody-drug conjugate 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, Prof. Parren 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. He played a key role in transforming LAVA Therapeutics into a NASDAQ-listed clinical-stage company. He also provides drug development, patent and investment advice as an independent biotech consultant.
