Debbie Allen

Senior VP, Business Development at argenx NV

Speaker

Dr. Debbie Allen has worked since 2009 as VP Business Development at argenx, a publicly traded biotech company discovering and developing a pipeline of human therapeutic antibody products. Established as a business development consultant in 2003, she has worked with around 30 companies at all stages of the dealmaking process, in particular in strategic planning and competitive positioning. With experience acquired through 16 years' practical research management and over 15 years developing strategic R&D partnerships, Debbie has developed an in-depth understanding of the commercialization of early stage biotech.

Debbie's experience in biotech dealmaking originated at Cambridge Antibody Technology (CAT; now Medimmune) in the late nineties, where she had direct responsibility for multiple strategic alliances, including technology, intellectual property and product out-licensing; corporate equity; co-development and cross-license agreements. She structured and negotiated the alliance with Human Genome Sciences (HGS) in 1999 which led to the development of BENLYSTA®, now FDA approved for the treatment of lupus.

Originally trained as an oncologist and molecular biologist at Cancer Research UK and in antibody engineering at the University of Cologne, she is one of the CAT team of inventors of HUMIRA®, marketed by AbbVie Inc.