BOTHELL, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Seattle Genetics, Inc. (SGEN) today announced that Jonathan Drachman, M.D., has been promoted to Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President, Research and Development. Dr. Drachman joined Seattle Genetics in November 2004, serving most recently as Senior Vice President, Research and Translational Medicine. In this new role, he will lead the companys clinical development and regulatory affairs teams, in addition to his continued oversight of research and translational medicine. The company also announced that it has promoted Eric Sievers, M.D., to Senior Vice President, Clinical Development. Dr. Sievers will be responsible for clinical development and life cycle management activities for ADCETRIS (brentuximab vedotin), and many of the companys clinical development programs.

Jonathan has been a vital member of the management team for several years, demonstrating his passion for patients and a creative, science-based approach to research and drug development, said Clay B. Siegall, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Seattle Genetics. This promotion allows him to bring his vision and leadership to a broader scope of activities, including our ADCETRIS clinical development program as well as our robust clinical and preclinical antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) pipeline.

Prior to joining Seattle Genetics, Dr. Drachman was Associate Professor in the Hematology Division, Department of Medicine at the University of Washington in Seattle, where he remains a Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine. He also served as Senior Investigator in the Division of Research and Education and Medical Director of the Umbilical Cord Blood Program at the Puget Sound Blood Center. Dr. Drachman received a B.A. in Biochemistry from Harvard University and an M.D. from Harvard Medical School. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine and fellowship in Medical Oncology at the University of Washington.

Eric Sievers joined Seattle Genetics in July 2006, and has focused primarily on directing, planning and executing clinical development activities for ADCETRIS. Previously, Dr. Sievers served as Medical Director at Zymogenetics (acquired by Bristol-Myers Squibb in 2010). His academic research focused on improving treatment outcomes for patients with acute myeloid leukemia, including clinical development of an anti-CD33 ADC. Dr. Sievers performed his training in pediatric hematology and oncology at the University of Washington and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and served on the faculty of both institutions for more than a decade. Dr. Sievers received both a B.A. in Biology and an M.D. from Brown University.

For the past seven years at Seattle Genetics, Eric has shown his tremendous commitment to bringing innovative new drugs to patients in need, particularly through his leadership of the ADCETRIS clinical development program, added Dr. Siegall. As SVP, Clinical Development, Erics medical expertise will continue to be instrumental in the development of ADCETRIS and our other pipeline programs.

About Seattle Genetics

Seattle Genetics is a biotechnology company focused on the development and commercialization of monoclonal antibody-based therapies for the treatment of cancer. The companys lead program, ADCETRIS (brentuximab vedotin), received accelerated approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in August 2011 and approval with conditions from Health Canada in February 2013 for two indications. In addition, under a collaboration with Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Company, ADCETRIS received conditional approval from the European Commission in October 2012. Seattle Genetics is also advancing a robust pipeline of clinical-stage ADC programs: SGN-75, ASG-22ME, SGN-CD19A, SGN-CD33A, ASG-15ME and SGN-LIV1A. Seattle Genetics has collaborations for its ADC technology with a number of leading biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, including AbbVie, Agensys (an affiliate of Astellas), Bayer, Celldex, Daiichi Sankyo, Genentech, GlaxoSmithKline, Millennium, Pfizer and Progenics, as well as ADC co-development agreements with Agensys and Genmab. More information can be found at http://www.seattlegenetics.com.

Link:
Seattle Genetics Announces Clinical Leadership Appointments

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