Seagen founder Clay Siegall is jumping back into the biotech world as CEO and president of Morphimmune.
Founded in 2020, the Purdue University spinout will relocate its headquarters to the Seattle area, with Siegall at the helm.
“I put together my vision for what this could look like going forward, to build on what they started. And they really liked my vision,” Siegall said in an exclusive interview with GeekWire on Wednesday.
Siegall resigned as Seagen CEO and chairman in May. He was arrested April 23 at his home near Seattle following an alleged domestic violence incident involving his then-wife.
Prosecutors said in December that Siegall would not face charges. The Seattle Times reported that prosecutors cited inconsistent and contradictory statements about the April 23 incident as reasons for why they did not pursue charges. Siegall and his former wife finalized their divorce in October.
More than two decades ago, Siegall helped start Seagen, then called Seattle Genetics. The company pioneered a class of drugs called antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) and brought four oncology drugs to market under Siegall’s watch. It went public in 2001.
Last week Pfizer said it planned to acquire Seagen for $43 billion. It would be the largest biopharma transaction in three years.
Siegall, 63, told GeekWire he thought about launching a startup or joining a larger company. But he was drawn to Morphimmune.
“I can have a little bit of whiteboard,” he said.
Morphimmune is built on the research of Ralph Corley and Philip Low, the startup’s scientific founder and board director. Both are chemistry professors at Purdue University.
Low is also a co-founder and co-chair of the scientific advisory board of Seattle cell therapy company Umoja Biopharma, where Siegall served as chair of the board of directors before resigning in May. Low has co-founded several other companies, including Endocyte, which was acquired by Novartis for $2.1 billion in 2018.
Morphimmune’s board chair is Isaac Barchas, CEO and co-founder of investment firm Research Bridge Partners. The company has close to ten employees and has raised about $17 million to date.
“I’m building a biotech [company] in Seattle and I’m going to be needing to hire a lot of people,” said Siegall, who is joining the Morphimmune board.
The preclinical stage company develops modular agents that target cells and deliver a linked molecular payload.
One program delivers a payload to immune cells by recognizing a molecule called the folate receptor. The linked payload is designed to crank up the cells’ ability to fight tumors by activating an immune molecule called TLR7. “It’s akin to pressing the gas on the immune system,” said Siegall.
Another program targets cells through a protein common in solid tumors, Fibroblast Activation Protein, and delivers a radionuclide. The idea is to localize radiation directly where it is needed. A similar approach underlies the prostate cancer medicine Pluvicto, which Novartis developed after it acquired the agent with its Endocyte purchase.
Morphimmune’s repertoire has some resemblance to ADCs, which deliver a payload via an antibody that recognizes a cell surface target. But Morphimmune dispenses with antibodies in favor of smaller molecules. The company’s website said it approach yields “antibody-like specificity.”
The advantages include better penetration of tissue, access to targets inside cells and the potential for oral dosing, according to Morphimmune’s website.
Morphimmune had previously appointed Ronald Martell as CEO and president; Martell recently moved to Jasper Therapeutics, where he is CEO and president.
Update, March 23: Morphimmune provided a statement about its hiring of Siegall.
MorphImmune is a values-based company that is committed to maintaining a workplace culture that emphasizes the highest standards of ethics, integrity and respect toward others.
The company’s outside counsel, Cooley LLP, conducted an independent review on Dr. Siegall, as did Caldwell, an international executive talent firm. MorphImmune’s board of directors also performed its own due diligence. Also, and as a matter of fact, prosecutors declined to charge Dr. Siegall.
These assessments find that Dr. Siegall is uniformly recognized not only as a highly passionate and dedicated person who has a demonstrated ability to build significant value as a company leader, but also a colleague whose workplace demeanor and values are entirely consistent with those of MorphImmune. He takes enormous pride in his life-saving work at Seagen that has enabled hundreds of thousands of people to escape the deadly scourge of cancer.
