Seagen President, CEO and Chairman Clay Siegall Takes Leave of Absence

BOTHELL, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The Board of Directors of Seagen Inc. (Nasdaq: SGEN) today announced that President, CEO and Chairman Clay Siegall, Ph.D. is on a leave of absence. The company is aware of an alleged incident of domestic violence that occurred recently at Dr. Siegall’s home. Dr. Siegall has denied these allegations and has informed the company that he is engaged in a divorce. The Board of Directors has formed a committee of independent directors and is conducting a thorough investigation with the assistance of an independent law firm. Roger Dansey, M.D., Seagen’s Chief Medical Officer since 2018, has been appointed Interim CEO.

“We have high standards for employee conduct, we condemn domestic violence in all its forms, and we are treating these allegations with the utmost seriousness,” said Nancy Simonian, M.D., Chair of the Seagen Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. “At this time, the facts are still uncertain, and our decisions will be guided by the outcome of our investigation.”

Felix J. Baker, Ph.D., Lead Independent Director of Seagen, added, “The Board has full confidence in Dr. Dansey, the Executive Committee and the entire Seagen team, which has demonstrated outstanding performance over the past several years with four approved drugs, a robust pipeline, leadership in antibody-drug conjugates, and an international footprint. We have substantial momentum and remain steadfast in our belief that Seagen is a strong and unique company that is well-positioned to advance our mission to improve the lives of cancer patients around the world.”

“Seagen is an extraordinary company, and I am deeply committed to continuing our standards of excellence in developing and commercializing transformative medicines,” said Dr. Dansey. “Our strong leadership team is dedicated to working with our exceptional employees around the globe on addressing the unmet needs of cancer patients.”

Dr. Dansey joined Seagen as Chief Medical Officer in 2018, bringing extensive experience in cancer drug development. His deep oncology background and proven leadership has helped Seagen evolve into a global, multi-product oncology company with a robust and diverse pipeline. Prior to joining Seagen, Dr. Dansey was Therapeutic Area Head for Late-Stage Oncology at Merck & Co., Inc., where he was responsible for registration efforts for Keytruda® (pembrolizumab) across multiple tumor types. Earlier in his career, Dr. Dansey held leadership positions at Gilead Sciences and Amgen. He holds an M.D. from the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, South Africa. He serves as a member of the board of directors for INOVIO Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

About Seagen

Seagen Inc. is a global biotechnology company that discovers, develops and commercializes transformative cancer medicines to make a meaningful difference in people’s lives. Seagen is headquartered in the Seattle, Washington area, and has locations in California, Canada, Switzerland and the European Union. For more information on our marketed products and robust pipeline, visit www.seagen.com and follow @SeagenGlobal on Twitter.

Forward-looking Statements

Certain of the statements made in this press release are forward-looking, such as those, among others, relating to the Company advancing its mission to improve the lives of cancer patients around the world; continuing the Company’s standards of excellence in developing and commercializing transformative medicines; and other statements that are not historical fact. Actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected or implied in these forward-looking statements. Factors that may cause such a difference include without limitation: risks and uncertainties associated with maintaining or increasing sales of ADCETRIS, PADCEV, TUKYSA and TIVDAK due to competition, unexpected adverse events, regulatory action, reimbursement, market adoption by physicians, impacts associated with COVID-19 or other factors; the risk that the Company or its collaborators may be delayed or unsuccessful in planned clinical trial initiations, enrollment in and conduct of clinical trials, obtaining data from clinical trials, planned regulatory submissions, and regulatory approvals in the U.S. and in other countries in each case for a variety of reasons including the difficulty and uncertainty of pharmaceutical product development, negative or disappointing clinical trial results, unexpected adverse events or regulatory actions and the inherent uncertainty associated with the regulatory approval process; the possibility that the Company may encounter challenges in commercializing its therapeutic agents, including with respect to reimbursement, compliance, operational or other matters; risks relating to the Company’s collaboration agreements and its ability to achieve progress dependent milestones thereunder; risks and uncertainties related to management transitions and the Company’s ability to successfully manage and grow its business in light of such transitions; risks related to the duration and severity of the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting global economic, financial and healthcare system disruptions; and risks associated with the ongoing military conflict between Russia and Ukraine, related sanctions imposed against Russia, and related economic, financial and geopolitical disruptions. More information about the risks and uncertainties faced by the Company is contained under the caption “Risk Factors” included in the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2022 and the Company’s subsequent periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise except as required by applicable law.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220509005450/en/