Christopher Henney

Christopher Henney is an American immunologist and biotechnology entrepreneur who co-founded Immunex Corp. and Icos Corporation, and led Dendreon Corp. to the development of the first FDA-approved cancer vaccination therapy.

Background

Henney was born in 1941 in Birmingham, England. He was educated at Prince Albert School, King Edward VI School Aston [1] and at the University of Birmingham, where he earned B.Sc 1962 Ph.D[1965] and was awarded D.Sc. for his contributions to the field of immunology in 1972.[2][3] After postdoctoral studies at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and the Immunoglobulin Reference Centre in Lausanne Switzerland, he was appointed to the faculty of Johns Hopkins University Medical School[1972-1978],before taking the first chair of Basic Immunology at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center ,Seattle in 1978.[4][5] [6]

Henney,with Steven Gillis and Stephen Duzan co-founded Immunex Corporation in 1980 .Immunex developed Leukine, an agent for the stimulation of white blood cells after chemotherapy and bone marrow transplantation The company also developed Enbrel for autoimmune diseases and has proven a particularly important drug for the treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis. Immunex was acquired by Amgen Inc in 2002, in what was, at the time ,the financially most important sale in the biotechnology sector [7][8][9][10] [11][12][13]

In 1989, Henney co-founded Icos Corporation with George Rathman, Amgen co-founder and CEO, and Genetic Systems founder Robert Nowinski .The company developed Cialis for erectile dysfunction and was acquired by Eli Lilly in 2007.[14] [15]

Henney led Dendreon Corp as CEO [1995-2003]and Chairman [1995-2005].Dendreon a cell-based therapy company developed Provenge for the treatment of prostate cancer ,the first FDA-approved cancer vaccine therapy .[16][17][18][19]

Over 40 year period Henney served as chairman for many publicly-held biotechnology companies including: Dendreon, Cyclacel Corp., Cascadian Therapeutics, SGX Pharmaceutics and Anthera Pharmaceuticals and on the board of many others including Immunex, Icos, and Prothena[20]

Awards and honors

In 2011, Henney was inducted into the Biotech Hall of Fame.[21]

In 2019, Henney was inducted into the Washington Life Science Hall of Fame.[22]

References
  1. "Dr Chris Henney - Prince Albert School". www.princealbert.bham.sch.uk. Retrieved 2021-02-14.
  2. "Manchester United's Chief Exec and BBC Sport Boss Honoured by the University of Birmingham". University of Birmingham. Retrieved 2021-02-14.
  3. "Christopher Henney | News, Articles and Opinions". Xconomy. Retrieved 2021-02-14.
  4. Henney, Christopher S.; Ishizaka, Kimishige (1968-04-01). "Antigenic Determinants Specific for Aggregated γG-Globulins". The Journal of Immunology. 100 (4): 718–725. doi:10.4049/jimmunol.100.4.718. ISSN 0022-1767. PMID 4171392. S2CID 255326650.
  5. "Immunological Unresponsiveness to Specific Antigenic Determinants in Human γ G Globulin". insights.ovid.com. Retrieved 2021-03-06.
  6. Marie Daghlian (2015-12-15). "LSFMAGFALL2015-reduced". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. Deutsch, Claudia H. (1988-11-06). "AN INDUSTRY OF SCIENTISTS TURNS TO VETERAN MANAGERS (Published 1988)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-02-14.
  8. Fisher, Lawrence M. (1991-02-14). "Talking Deals; Getting New Cash For Biotechnology (Published 1991)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-02-14.
  9. "Looking back at Immunex and ahead to Seattle's biotech future". www.bizjournals.com. Archived from the original on 2011-12-02. Retrieved 2021-02-14.
  10. LEFF, MARNI (2001-12-15). "Amgen-Immunex merger would unite like companies". seattlepi.com. Retrieved 2021-02-14.
  11. "Immunex' Enbrel Launched In USA For Arthritis - Pharmaceutical industr". www.thepharmaletter.com. Retrieved 2021-03-26.
  12. "FDA approves Novantrone for secondary progressive MS". www.pharmaceuticalonline.com. Archived from the original on 2020-07-31. Retrieved 2021-03-26.
  13. "US Approves Immunex' Liquid Leukine - Pharmaceutical industry news". www.thepharmaletter.com. Retrieved 2021-03-26.
  14. "Icos sale a blow to local biotech". Seattle Times. 18 October 2006.
  15. Times, The Seattle (2006-10-18). "Eli Lilly to acquire Icos". Lewiston Sun Journal. Retrieved 2021-03-14.
  16. "BIOTECH LEADER PLEADS his sector's SPECIAL CASE". Australian Financial Review. 2002-02-21. Retrieved 2021-04-01.
  17. Herper, Matthew. "The Man Behind The First Cancer-Treating Vaccine On The FDA And Innovation". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-02-17.
  18. "Biotech firm moving here". www.bizjournals.com. Archived from the original on 2003-01-31. Retrieved 2021-02-17.
  19. Herper, Matthew. "CEO: Corporate Egghead Officer". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-03-31.
  20. Booth, Bruce. "Distinctive Corporate Culture In Biotech: Walk The Talk". Forbes. Archived from the original on 2017-07-25. Retrieved 2021-04-01.
  21. "Chris Henney Receives 2011 Hall of Fame Award at Annual Biotech CEO Meeting at Laguna Beach". BioSpace. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
  22. "Life Science Washington Announces 2019 Inductees into the Washington Life Science Hall of Fame". AP NEWS. 2019-04-23. Retrieved 2021-04-06.
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