Would Be Lawyers Should Earn Science Degrees – The Seattle Genetics Example

Young people thinking about law school should consider first earning one or more degrees in science. Proof? See the following  press release regarding the new General Counsel of Seattle Genetics, a great new drug company. One of its accomplishments is Adcetris,  a wonderful new precision drug targeting specific cancers in persons with specific molecular conditions. Note the degrees held by the new General Counsel, Jean I. Liu:  “Ms. Liu obtained her B.S. in Cellular and Molecular Biology with highest distinction from the University of Michigan, her M.S. in Biology from Stanford University and her J.D. from Columbia University where she was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar.”Seattle Genetics Names New General Counsel and Executive Vice President, Legal Affairs

BOTHELL, Wash.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Nov. 18, 2014– Seattle Genetics, Inc. (Nasdaq:SGEN) today announced the appointment of Jean I. Liu, as General Counsel, Executive Vice President, Legal Affairs and Corporate Secretary. Ms. Liu brings more than 20 years of professional experience advising pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies on a broad range of corporate, intellectual property, compliance and general legal matters. She will report to Clay Siegall, President and Chief Executive Officer. Ms. Liu replaces Kirk Schumacher, who has been with Seattle Genetics since 2004 and is retiring.“Jean brings tremendous legal and public biotechnology company experience to Seattle Genetics, and will be a strong addition to our executive team,” said Clay B. Siegall, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Seattle Genetics. “We look forward to her contributions as we continue to execute on our corporate priorities, including the commercialization and broad clinical development of ADCETRIS, advancing our pipeline of targeted therapies for cancer and building our leadership position in the field of antibody-drug conjugates.”Dr. Siegall added, “I would also like to thank Kirk for his dedication and service to Seattle Genetics for the past decade. He provided valuable guidance to the company on numerous corporate milestones, business development transactions and equity financings.”Prior to joining Seattle Genetics, Ms. Liu served since 2011 as Vice President and General Counsel at Halozyme, a publicly traded biotechnology company. Prior to Halozyme, from 1998 to 2011 she held a number of legal roles at Durect Corporation, most recently as Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary. Ms. Liu’s early career included work at Pillsbury, Madison & Sutro (now Pillsbury Winthrop) and Venture Law Group where she focused on broad areas of legal advisory for early-stage companies, including technology transfer, licensing, patents, and copyright and trademark litigation. Ms. Liu obtained her B.S. in Cellular and Molecular Biology with highest distinction from the University of Michigan, her M.S. in Biology from Stanford University and her J.D. from Columbia University where she was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar.About Seattle GeneticsSeattle Genetics is a biotechnology company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative antibody-based therapies for the treatment of cancer. Seattle Genetics is leading the field in developing antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), a technology designed to harness the targeting ability of antibodies to deliver cell-killing agents directly to cancer cells. The company’s lead product, ADCETRIS® (brentuximab vedotin), is an ADC that, in collaboration with Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited, is commercially available for two indications in more than 45 countries, including the U.S., Canada, Japan and members of the European Union. Additionally, ADCETRIS is being evaluated broadly in more than 30 ongoing clinical trials. Seattle Genetics is also advancing a robust pipeline of clinical-stage ADC programs, including SGN-CD19A, SGN-CD33A, SGN-LIV1A, SGN-CD70A, ASG-22ME and ASG-15ME. Seattle Genetics has collaborations for its ADC technology with a number of leading biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, includingAbbVie, Agensys (an affiliate of Astellas), Bayer, Genentech, GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer. More information can be found at www.seattlegenetics.com.

Source: Seattle Genetics, Inc.

Seattle Genetics, Inc. Investors: Peggy Pinkston, 425-527-4160 ppinkston@seagen.com or Media: Tricia Larson, 425-527-4180 tlarson@seagen.com