Dr. Robert B. Stein, M.D., Ph.D. joined MIMEDX in August 2020 as Executive Vice President, Research and Development. After completing his Bachelors of Science with honors, earning a double major in both biology and chemistry at Indiana University, Dr. Stein received his M.D. and Ph.D. in Physiology and Pharmacology and completed his internship, residency and Board Certification in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology, all at Duke University. Following residency, Dr. Stein worked at Merck, with contributions to Cozaar, Sustiva, and Gardasil. He was then recruited as the first head of Research and Development for Ligand Pharmaceuticals, with responsibility for building the Research and Development organization and programs targeting various nuclear hormone receptors. This work led to eight pharmaceutical partnerships and six marketed medicines, including two SERMs (Fablyn and Viviant), three novel retinoids (Panretin, Targetin gel and capsules), and Promacta, the small molecule Thrombopoietin mimetic.
After six years at Ligand, he became Executive Vice President, Research and Pre-clinical Development for DuPont-Merck and DuPont pharmaceuticals, leading to the registration of Sustiva and Innohep and the discovery and advancement of blockbuster Eliquis, subsequently registered by Bristol Myers Squibb Company. Following the acquisition of DuPont by Bristol Myers Squibb, Dr. Stein joined Incyte Pharmaceuticals as President, R&D and Chief Scientific Officer, spearheading the transition from genomics to drug discovery and development. Following Incyte, Dr. Stein became President of Roche Palo Alto LLC, where he built Roche’s Translational Medicine capabilities, served on the Global Early Development Committee, Global Biologics Steering Committee, and Joint Roche-Genentech Steering Committee. Dr. Stein then joined Kinemed, a translational medicine company as Chief Executive Officer.
Following Kinemed, Dr. Stein served as President, R&D, for Agenus, an immuno-oncology company, with responsibility for the development of their R&D organization, and the advancement of four checkpoint modulatory antibodies and a personalized neo-epitope-directed cancer vaccine to Phase 1 trials. He also led the generation of a best-in-class TCR discovery and optimization effort. He served as a full time Senior Advisor, R&D, to Agenus and AgenTus from March 2017 to October 2019. During this time, Agenus advanced 13 monoclonal antibodies into the clinic and formed significant partnerships with Incyte, Merck, UCB, and Gilead. The two most advanced Agenus products, AGEN2034 (PD-1 antagonist monoclonal antibody) and AGEN1884 (CTLA-4 antagonist monoclonal antibody) are on track for potential BLA submission in 2020.
Dr. Stein is deeply experienced in the lab, including in the areas of molecular and cellular biology, biochemistry, enzymology, animal pharmacology, virology, drug metabolism, and safety assessment. He also has extensive experience in Translational Medicine and Early Clinical Development. He has led groups of over 1,000 scientists and physicians for over 15 years, supervising work in all the major therapeutic areas. In addition, Dr. Stein serves on the board of directors for a number of private and public company boards, and acts as an advisor to a multiple clients and academic institutions.
