Executive Management
Robert (Bob) Coates, Ph.D.
President & CEO
Robert Coates, Ph.D., assumed the role of President and CEO of Memgen in 2009. He gained his previous biotech experience by managing a $70 million portfolio focused primarily on publicly traded biotech companies. He also invests in biotech and webapp startups.
In 1980, Dr. Coates started Dallas-based Management Insights, Inc., building it into a multi-million-dollar financial services business with Fortune 500 clients. In December 2005, Management Insights was sold to TALX, a publicly traded company recently acquired by Equifax, for $24 million.
Dr. Coates began his career as an associate professor of finance at Southern Methodist University, where he taught graduate and undergraduate classes at the Cox School of Business. He was awarded an Outstanding Professor of the Year award in his second year of teaching, and he authored a textbook, Investment Strategy (published by McGraw-Hill), that was used at universities nationwide.
Dr. Coates earned a B.A. degree in economics, with distinction, in three years at the University of Virginia. He received both his MBA and Ph.D. in economics, finance, and accounting from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, where he studied under several Nobel Prize winners, including Milton Friedman. He has served on the boards of trustees of the College Foundation of the University of Virginia; Dallas Junior Achievement; and the Greenhill School.
Mark J. Cantwell, Ph.D.
Vice President, Research & Development
Mark J. Cantwell, Ph.D., is an accomplished research scientist with nearly 20 years experience in fields directly related to Memgen's core focus. These fields include cancer research, immunotherapy, gene therapy, and drug development. As Vice President of Research & Development, he is responsible for managing Memgen's product development, clinical trials, manufacturing, and intellectual property programs.
Dr. Cantwell is a co-inventor of Memgen's technology platform based on the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) family of molecules, with more than 65 issued patents in the U.S. and abroad. The technology platform consists of Memgen's lead product, ISF35 (currently in Phase II clinical development), plus four additional core products in earlier stages of development.
Before joining Memgen, Dr. Cantwell spent five years with ADVENTRX Pharmaceuticals in San Diego, makers of oncology and viral drugs. He served as Vice President of Research & Development, where he directed the in-house R&D team and external contract research projects for all phases of the drug development process.
Dr. Cantwell received his B.S. degree in applied biology from the Georgia Institute of Technology and his Ph.D. in biomedical sciences from the University of California, San Diego. As a doctoral student at UCSD, he studied the role of the TNF family of molecules in the pathology of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Dr. Cantwell's work in the fields of cancer, immunology, and virology research has led to numerous scientific publications as well as issued patents for Memgen's technology platform, which is aimed at the treatment of CLL and other cancers.