Thursday, July 31, 2008

Immunogen promotes senior execs

By Mass High Tech Staff

Biopharmaceuticals firm Immunogen Inc. (Nasdaq: IMGN) has announced two new management position changes.

Daniel Junius, former executive vice president and chief financial officer, has been named president and chief operating officer of Immunogen.

John Lambert, former senior vice president of research and development and chief scientific officer, has been appointed executive vice president. He will continue in his role as chief scientific officer, company officials said.

Junius, who will continue also in his role as CFO until the position is filled, will be responsible for clinical development, research, regulatory, business development and alliance management at Immunogen. He joined the company three years ago.

Prior to that time, he held senior-level positions at New England Business Service Inc. and Nashua Corp.

Junius graduated from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management with a master’s degree in management.

Lambert joined Immunogen in 1987 and has held various positions of incrementally increasing responsibility. Previously, he worked as assistant professor of pathology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Lambert holds a Ph.D. in biochemistry from Cambridge University in the U.K.

Waltham-based ImmunoGen develops anti-cancer therapeutics, including its Tumor-Activated Prodrug technology. In June, the company announced that it had raised $24.7 million through a purchase of 7.8 million shares of common stock at $3.20 per share by Ziff Asset Management LP.

In February, Immunogen announced a $1.5 million milestone payment from Biogen Idec Inc. due to Biogen’s solid tumor treatment using an ImmunoGen-developed molecule. In the same vein, the company received a $1 million milestone payment from French drug giant Sanofi-Aventis SA for ImmunoGen’s compound discovery, SAR3419, used in Sanofi-Aventis’s non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma treatment.

ImmunoGen reported a 2007 net loss of $19 million on $38.2 million in revenue.