About Us
MiNK Therapeutics is a clinical-stage precision oncology company developing allogeneic, invariant natural killer T cell therapies for cancer and other immune-mediated diseases. The lead product is an off-the-shelf, cell therapy based on a targeted platform of invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells. iNKTs have a dual-mechanism of action with an internal targeting and homing device (iTCR) that modulates both arms of immunity, innate and adaptive. iNKTs combine the killing features of natural killer (NK) cells with the durable memory response of T cells. iNKT cells have been demonstrated to be highly effective in treating solid tumor cancers in their native form and MiNK has demonstrated that these cells can be further engineered or edited for super-targeting.
Executive Leadership
Scientific Advisory Board
Board of Directors
Management

Robert Stein, M.D., Ph.D.
Scientific Advisor

Robert Stein, M.D., Ph.D.
Scientific Advisor
Dr. Stein brings over 35 years of biopharmaceutical industry, currently serving as Chief Medical Officer of Protagenic Therapeutics and Executive Vice President of Research and Development of MINDEX. He previously served as President of R&D at Agenus Inc. where he lead Agenus’ research, preclinical development and translational medicine functions. Dr. Stein also previously played a pivotal role in bringing several products to the market including Sustiva®, Fablyn®, Viviant®, PanRetin®, TargRetin®, Promacta® and Eliquis®. He has also held executive management positions at Ligand Pharmaceuticals, DuPont Merck, Incyte Pharmaceuticals, Roche Palo Alto and KineMed. Dr. Stein holds an MD and a PhD in Physiology & Pharmacology from Duke University.

Manuel Hidalgo, M.D., Ph.D.
Scientific Advisor

Manuel Hidalgo, M.D., Ph.D.
Scientific Advisor
Manuel Hidalgo, M.D., Ph.D. is currently the Chief of the Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology at Weill Cornell Medicine/New York Presbyterian Hospital. Dr. Hidalgo received his MD degree from the University of Navarra in Pamplona, Spain in 1992 and a Ph.D. degree from University Autonoma of Madrid in 1997. He trained in medicine and medical oncology at Hospital ¨12 de Octubre¨ in Madrid and at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. He also completed a fellowship program in anticancer drug development at the Institute of Drug Development in San Antonio, TX.
Prior to this position, he served as an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Division of Hematology and Oncology at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio. In 2001, Dr. Hidalgo relocated to Johns Hopkins University to be Director of the Gastrointestinal Oncology Program at the Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins and Associate Professor of Oncology. In 2009 he became Director of the Clinical Research Program at the Spanish National Cancer Center and Vice director of Translational Research in 2011. In 2015 he became the Chief of the Division of Hematology and Oncology and Director of the Rosenberg Clinical Cancer Center at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. He was also the Theodore W. and Evenly G. Berenson Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School.
His main focus of research has been new drug development in pancreatic cancer. His group popularized the use of Avatar mouse models for cancer research and recently contributed to the development and approval of nab-paclitaxel for pancreatic cancer treatment. His current work focuses on strategies for personalized medicine and immunotherapy in pancreatic cancer.

Mark Exley, Ph.D.
Scientific Advisor

Mark Exley, Ph.D.
Scientific Advisor
Dr. Mark Exley is an expert on cell therapy. His areas of research have included immunity to cancers: natural anti-tumor immunity and how to optimize responses directly and through vaccines, protective versus inflammatory immune responses to acute and chronic viral infections, and cells involved in suppressing graft-versus-host disease, obesity-associated and other inflammations.
He has published over 120 mostly peer-reviewed articles in scientific journals, as well as reviews and book chapters, and serves as Associate Editor of Clin. Immunol. He has received numerous research awards and grants from federal and other agencies.
Dr. Exley was Faculty at Harvard Medical School, where he was co-founder of NKT Therapeutics Inc., and Professor at University of Manchester, UK. He retains honorary appointments at both institutions. His post-doctoral fellowship was completed at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School and was a Scientist at Immulogic Inc. He received his Bachelor of Science from Imperial College, London, Master of Science from King’s College, London and his Ph.D. from the Institute of Cancer Research, London.

Jenny Gumperz, Ph.D.
Scientific Advisor

Jenny Gumperz, Ph.D.
Scientific Advisor
Dr. Gumperz received her Ph.D. in 1996 from Stanford University, where she investigated NK cell recognition of HLA molecules. During her postdoctoral studies at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School she turned her attention towards iNKT cells with a view to understanding their antigen recognition and ability to become activated in the absence of microbial antigens. In 2003, she joined the faculty at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, where she is now a Professor of Medical Microbiology and Immunology. Dr. Gumperz’ research currently focuses on developing and using humanized-mouse model systems to further our insight into the molecular interactions and functions of human iNKT cells, MAIT cells, and Vg9Vd2 T cells in vivo.

Lydia Lynch, Ph.D.
Scientific Advisor

Lydia Lynch, Ph.D.
Scientific Advisor
Lydia Lynch received her B.Sc. degree in Cell Biology and Genetics from University College Dublin, Ireland. She received her PhD in Immunology in 2008 from University College Dublin, in the lab of Prof. Cliona O’Farrelly in St. Vincent’s University Hospital. Lydia received a Newman Fellowship for her early post-doctoral studies with Prof. Donal O’Shea in St. Vincent’s University Hospital, Dublin. Here they established the Immunology and Obesity Lab, which coordinates international, collaborative, translational research in obesity and its complications. Lydia then received the prestigious UNESCO-L’Oreal International Women In Science Fellowship, where she moved to Harvard Medical School to study iNKT cells in adipose tissue in the lab of Mark Exley. In 2009, Lydia received an International Marie Curie Fellowship to continue her postdoctoral studies in immunometabolism, in the labs of Prof. Michael Brenner and Prof. Ulrich von Andrian in Harvard. In 2013, she became a junior faculty member at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. In 2014, Lydia started her independent lab with a joint appointment between the Division of Endocrinology and the Division of Rheumatology, Allergy and Immunology, at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

Marcela Maus, M.D., Ph.D.
Scientific Advisor

Marcela Maus, M.D., Ph.D.
Scientific Advisor
Dr. Marcela Maus is the Director of Cellular Immunotherapy at the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center and an Attending Physician in the Bone Marrow Transplant and Cell Therapy division of Hematology/Oncology at the Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Maus is an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School, an Associate Member of the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, and an Associate Member of the Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT, and Harvard.
Dr. Maus is a translational physician-scientist in the field of immunology, particularly as it relates to cancer. Her research program spans basic mechanisms of human immunology to design and test novel immune-based therapeutic interventions in vitro, in mouse models, and in patients. Her group has initiated novel clinical trials of cell therapies in lymphoma, myeloma, glioblastoma, and has ongoing projects to enhance CAR T cells for multiple solid tumors.
Dr. Maus received her S.B. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and her M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Maus trained in internal medicine at University of Pennsylvania and in hematology and medical oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering, and is board-certified in these three disciplines. Her laboratory research training was focused on gene and cell therapies, and occurred in the laboratories of Dr. Katherine High, Dr. Michel Sadelain, and Dr. Carl June.

Garo Armen, Ph.D.
Chairman

Garo Armen, Ph.D.
Chairman
Garo Armen is the Chairman of the Board of MiNK Therapeutics. He is currently the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Agenus Inc. Under his leadership, Agenus has been advancing breakthrough scientific technologies and immunotherapeutic products for more than 20 years. In addition, Garo oversaw the successful restructuring of the biopharmaceutical company Elan Corporation, where he served as Chairman of the Board of Directors. Garo is currently Chairman of the Board of Protagenic Therapeutics, a biotechnology company focusing on human brain hormones for the treatment of neurological and metabolic disorders. He began his research career at Brookhaven National Laboratory subsequent to which he made a transition to Wall Street, as an analyst and investment banker at EF Hutton and then at Dean Witter Reynolds (now Morgan Stanley), cultivating key relationships and stock-market expertise. Garo received his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from the City University of New York.

Peter Behner
Director

Peter Behner
Director
Mr. Behner has been in equity partnership positions for the past 18 years at a number of global strategy and management consulting firms. Since July 2020 Mr. Behner has served as Global Health Sciences & Wellness Strategy and Transactions Leader at Ernst & Young. Mr. Behner joined Ernst & Young in September 2018 as the Global Transaction Services Leader for the Pharmaceutical and Lifesciences Industries. From 2013 to June 2018 Mr. Behner was European Head of Health Industries and Consulting Leader for the Pharma & Lifesciences Industries for the EMEA region for Strategy&, a PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) company. From 2005 until its 2013 acquisition by PwC, Mr. Behner was an equity partner at Booz & Company (BC), together with Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH) prior to BC’s spin-out from BAH. From 2003 to 2005 Mr. Behner was a partner at A.T. Kearney in its German Division, and from 2004 to 2005 he was Head of A.T. Kearney’s European Pharmaceutical and Life Science Industry group. Additionally, since April 2015, Mr. Behner has served as a Principal of Rottendorf GmbH, a pharmaceutical contract development and manufacturing company. He holds a combined BE & ME degree in Mechanical Engineering for RWTH Aachen University in Germany.

Jennifer Buell, Ph.D.
President and CEO

Jennifer Buell, Ph.D.
President and CEO
Dr. Jennifer Buell is the President and Chief Executive Officer at MiNK Therapeutics. She brings more than 25 years of biopharmaceutical experience, leading teams to advance discovery candidates through to clinical development to commercialization. She was previously President and Chief Operating Officer at Agenus, where she was responsible for organizational operations, overseeing research, clinical development, manufacturing, commercial operations, investor relations and external affairs. During her tenure, she transformed Agenus from a neoantigen vaccine company to a global, fully-integrated biotech company with multiple strategic partnerships. Prior to Agenus, Dr. Buell held leadership positions in R&D operations at Bristol-Myers Squibb and Harvard Clinical Research Institute (Baim), where she was involved in the development strategy and operations for a portfolio of industry and government-sponsored clinical programs. She obtained her Ph.D. in Cellular, Biochemical, and Molecular Biochemistry with an M.S. in Biostatistics from Tufts University.

Brian Corvese
Director

Brian Corvese
Director
Mr. Brian Corvese is President and Founder of Vencor Capital, a private equity firm with telecommunications and technology investments in the Middle East and Mediterranean regions. Prior to Vencor, Mr. Corvese worked on investments in the US and global equity markets as a Managing Director and Partner at Soros Fund Management, the largest hedge fund in the world at the time. From 1988 to 1996, Mr. Corvese was a partner at Chancellor Capital Management, a $25 billion money management firm. While at Chancellor, Mr. Corvese was a portfolio manager with responsibility for investments made in basic industries, restructurings, and special situations, corporate governance investments, as well as founding and managing his own hedge fund. From 1981 to 1988, Mr. Corvese was with Drexel Burnham Lambert as an equity analyst following the chemical and specialty chemical industries and he participated in a significant number of merger and acquisition activities. While at Drexel, Mr. Corvese was a member of the top chemical and specialty chemical research team, as ranked by Institutional Investor.
Mr. Corvese currently serves on the board of the National Telecommunications Company, based in Cairo, Egypt. Mr. Corvese earned degrees in Finance and Political Science from The University of Rhode Island and attended New York University Graduate School.

Barbara Ryan
Director

Barbara Ryan
Director
Barbara Ryan is the CEO of Barbara Ryan Advisors, and a Senior Advisor at EY. Previously, Ms. Ryan was a Wall Street research analyst; a Managing Director and Head of Pharmaceutical Research at Deutsche Bank; and began her career covering the pharmaceutical industry at Bear Stearns in 1982. She has been the lead analyst on high-profile IPO’s, including Express Scripts, PSSI, Henry Schein, and Flamel Technologies, and, as a consultant, has provided strategic counsel and tactical support deals, including Shire/Abbvie, Shire/Baxalta, and Allergan/Valeant. Barbara has raised over $1.5 B for emerging biopharma companies in IPOs, follow-ons, PIPEsand convertible debt transactions. She has led the IR/PR programs, or served as senior strategic investor relations counsel, to firms including Shire, Cardinal Health, Zoetis, Agenus, Radius Health, Eloxx, Rafael Holdings, Centrexion, Esperion, ContraFect, Relypsa, Syndax, Allergan, and Perrigo.
In 2012, Barbara formed Barbara Ryan Advisors, a life sciences capital markets strategic advisory firm, and joined FTI Consulting as Managing Director. Ms. Ryan is the Founder of Fabulous Pharma Females, a non-profit dedicated to advancing and mentoring women in biopharma. Barbara is currently a member of the Gilda’s Club NYC Board of Directors, serves on several Advisory Boards, and writes a monthly Finance Column for Pharma Executive Magazine.

Ulf Wiinberg
Director

Ulf Wiinberg
Director
Mr. Wiinberg has 20 years of senior leadership experience, currently serving as Chief Executive Officer of X+Vax Technology A.S., a biotech company committed to developing vaccines against pathogens acquired by mucosal infection such as herpes. Mr. Wiinberg previously served as Chief Executive Officer of H. Lundbeck A.S., a global pharmaceutical company developing and marketing treatments for psychiatric and neurological disorders. His expertise encompasses serving on the boards of several other healthcare industry associations and multiple executive roles at Wyeth, one of the world’s largest research-driven pharmaceutical companies that was acquired by Pfizer in 2009.

Jennifer Buell, Ph.D.
President and CEO

Jennifer Buell, Ph.D.
President and CEO
Dr. Jennifer Buell is the President and Chief Executive Officer at MiNK Therapeutics and the Chairman, Executive Council at Agenus. She brings more than 27 years of biopharmaceutical experience, leading teams to advance discovery candidates through to clinical development to commercialization. She was previously President and Chief Operating Officer at Agenus, where she was responsible for organizational operations, including research, clinical development, manufacturing, commercial operations, investor relations and external affairs. During her tenure, she transformed Agenus from a single-product company to a global, fully-integrated biotech company with multiple strategic partnerships. Prior to Agenus, Dr. Buell held leadership positions in R&D operations at Bristol-Myers Squibb and Harvard Clinical Research Institute (Baim), where she was involved in the development strategy and operations for a portfolio of industry and government-sponsored clinical programs. She obtained her Ph.D. in Cellular, Biochemical, and Molecular Biochemistry with an M.S. in Biostatistics from Tufts University.

Marc Van Dijk, Ph.D.
Chief Scientific Officer

Marc Van Dijk, Ph.D.
Chief Scientific Officer
Marc van Dijk, Ph.D. is the Chief Technology Officer at MiNK Therapeutics. He brings more than 25 years of experience leading platform development. He was previously Chief Technology Officer at Agenus. He was also Chief Technology Officer of 4-Antibody, a subsidiary of Agenus, where he oversaw the development of Retrocyte Display™, Agenus’ proprietary antibody discovery platform. In this role, Dr. van Dijk led the antibody discovery programs in the alliance with the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research branch in New York, including the CTLA4, PD1, GITR and OX40 programs, the resulting antibodies in clinical development. Dr. van Dijk was previously Vice President, Antibody Technology at Genmab, and Director of Applied Research at Innogenetics (now Fujirebio). At Medarex and Genmab, he managed partnerships with Immunex (now Amgen), and Roche, and served as project leader on numerous discovery projects including Humax-CD20 (Arzerra™). He held a tenure track position in the Department of Immunology at the University Medical Center in Utrecht and completed his postdoctoral fellowship in Molecular Biology at the University of California, San Diego. He obtained his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from Utrecht University.

Heather Boussios
General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer

Heather Boussios
General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer
Heather Boussios is General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer at MiNK and has over twenty years of experience in the life sciences industry. Prior to representing MiNK* and its affiliates, she was Vice President and Acting General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer of Aptevo Therapeutics, a spin-off of Emergent BioSolutions. From 2008 to 2016, Heather was in-house counsel for Emergent BioSolutions, including holding the position of Assistant General Counsel where she led a team of patent and licensing professionals. She started her legal career in the D.C. offices of both Cooley and Morgan Lewis and at Gene Logic in Gaithersburg, Maryland. She is admitted to practice in Maryland and the District of Columbia. She is also a registered patent attorney before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Heather graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Master of Science degree in Microbiology from North Carolina State University. She has a Juris Doctorate degree from American University.
* Heather provides legal services to MiNK through Outside GC.

Joy Zhou, Ph.D.
Vice President, Head of CMC

Joy Zhou, Ph.D.
Vice President, Head of CMC
Dr. Joy Zhou is the Vice President, Head of CMC at MiNK Therapeutics to oversee the company’s CMC operations. She brings 20 years of biologics and cell therapy product development industry experience to advance pre-clinical candidates through clinical development to commercialization as well as post commercial global expansion. Prior to joining MiNK, Dr. Zhou was Head of MSAT at Rubius Therapeutics. Dr. Zhou also served as various leadership positions through her industry journey at Pfizer, JNJ and Takeda including as the Head of Takeda Cell Therapy Product Development. She received her Ph.D in Pharmaceutical Chemistry from the University of Kansas.

Thiago Favano
Senior Director, Portfolio Operations

Thiago Favano
Senior Director, Portfolio Operations
Thiago Favano serves as Senior Director, Portfolio Operations, leading MiNK’s clinical operations and portfolio strategy. With over 17 years of extensive experience across clinical development and operations, clinical research, market access, and project management, he is a seasoned industry leader. His expertise spans clinical trial operations, access, and strategic business projects on a global scale, with a remarkable ability to navigate complex regulatory landscapes and drive operational efficiency. He previously served as Senior Director of Clinical Development and Operations, and Senior Strategic Advisor for Orphan DC. He also served various positions in the Pharmaceutical industry, including Clinical Operations Consultant at Atea Pharmaceuticals, as well as roles at Alexion Pharmaceuticals. He is fluent in English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese, and received a PharmD and MBA from Universities in Brazil.
Pipeline
MiNK's lead product candidate AGENT-797 is in multiple Phase 1 clinical trials with clinical and preclinical readouts anticipated later this year and in 2022. Our research team is focused on developing potential first-or best-in-class therapies using a next- generation technology platform to develop novel engineered iNKT cell therapies and bispecific iNKT cell engagers.