Peregrine
Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a clinical-stage
biopharmaceutical company developing first-in-class monoclonal antibodies for
the treatment of cancer and viral infections, today announced the appointment
of Jeffrey L. Masten as Vice President, Quality. In this newly created
position, Mr. Masten will be a member of Peregrine's executive committee and
will report to Steven W. King, president and chief executive officer. Mr.
Masten will be responsible for the overall quality assurance program for
Peregrine as it advances its Phase II clinical programs for bavituximab and
Cotara as well as for Peregrine's subsidiary Avid Bioservices, which provides
integrated biomanufacturing services to third party clients.
For the
last decade, Mr. Masten has served as senior director, head of quality
assurance at two Genentech manufacturing sites. At Genentech, he designed and
implemented quality programs, spanning the bulk formulation and aseptic
processing and fill/finish of biologics, and led regulatory inspections from
domestic and international agencies.
"Jeff
is a proven leader with experience leading robust quality programs and
navigating regulatory inspections," said Steven W. King, president and
chief executive officer of Peregrine. "As our bavituximab and Cotara
programs progress into later-stage clinical development, Jeff's leadership will
help us become commercial-ready for our product candidates. He will also be a
valuable resource for our biomanufacturing subsidiary Avid and its third-party
clients as we aim to provide the highest caliber of quality for their clinical
and commercial product materials."
During
Mr. Masten's 30-year career, he has held senior positions of increasing
responsibility at Genentech, a member of the Roche Group, Aventis Behring,
which was acquired by CLS Behring, and Eli Lilly and Company. He earned a
Master of Business Administration from the University of Notre Dame, a Bachelor
of Science from Salisbury University, and completed chemistry and pharmacology
graduate-level courses at Indiana University and Butler University,
respectively.
"This is an
exciting time to join Peregrine, as bavituximab advances through numerous Phase
II clinical trials and Cotara's registrational path is being outlined,"
said Mr. Masten. "I look forward to working with CEO Steve King, head of
regulatory affairs Rob Garnick, and the extended teams at Peregrine and Avid to
drive industry-leading quality programs and facilitate regulatory agency
inspections as we support Avid's third-party clients and prepare for potential
launch of Peregrine's products."