Dr. Janine Schuurman’s career centers around the antibody molecule as a biological source of inspiration and as a therapeutic modality. She holds a PhD in molecular immunology from the University of Amsterdam (1997). After a few post-doctoral positions she joined Genmab in the year 2000 to develop antibody therapeutics, as one of the first ten employees on the R&D team. Throughout her Genmab years, she significantly helped propel the discovery and development of investigational therapies to help people with cancer and other diseases.
She is a co-inventor of many therapeutic antibodies, including FDA-approved amivantamab (RYBREVANT® Janssen), epcoritamab (EPKINLY® Genmab/Abbvie), and others in clinical and pre-clinical stages of development. She is also a co-inventor of the successful clinically translated bispecific antibody platform DuoBody® and effector function-enhanced HexaBody® platform and the pre-clinical stage HexElect® technology. In addition, she championed many successful academic and industry partnerships in the field of antibody therapeutics and complementary fields of research.
Now an independent biotech consultant (Lust for Life Science B.V.) and thought leader, Dr. Schuurman is as passionate and active as ever, collaborating with many organizations and speaking at scientific conferences around the world. She is increasingly focussed on the impact of leadership and organizational culture on innovation, and it is her strong belief that being curious and valuing different expertise and capabilities is key to driving innovative research and new technologies.
