Garo H. Armen
Encyclopedia
Dr. Garo H. Armen is a Turkish-born, of Armenian descent, USA businessman.
He was born on January 31, 1953, in Turkey
. He moved to New York
in 1970. According to the New York Times he became a messenger boy for a nonprofit Armenia
n organization. In the article Armen stated, "I worked five hours a day, five days a week. I got two bucks an hour…and that was a lot of money for me. His second job was in the kitchen of the Lawyers’ Club but it only lasted a day. "I thought I’d learn to cook. Instead, they asked me to wash dishes. I had to climb into the soup bucket, which was huge, and clean it out. Shortly after, I got a job in a bank as a clerk."
One night in 1978, in the middle of the energy crisis
, Armen was driving home when he stopped at a gas station. "I noticed that gas pumps only had two digits [for the per gallon price]," in interview with The Scientist
"Realizing that continued rising prices would force the pumps to be replaced in the near future, I borrowed $5,000 to invest in gas pumps." Soon enough, virtually every gas pump in America was replaced – and Armen had made $20,000. His interest in business was pricked, and had already paid off.
By 1979, he received his PhD in physical chemistry
from the City University of New York
. Armen served as Senior Vice President of Research for Dean Witter Reynolds
(1986–1989), focusing on the chemical and pharmaceutical industries and with E.F. Hutton & Company as first Vice President (1981–1986). Before entering finance, Armen has been an associate professor at the Merchant Marine Academy
and as a research associate at the Brookhaven National Laboratory
.
Armen’s journey into drug development
began when his mother died from breast cancer
in 1973. The two shared a one-room Brooklyn
apartment where Armen administered her morphine
shots until she died. In 1994, Armen was approached by Pramod Srivastava, then a biochemist at Mount Sinai School of Medicine
, about the possibility of developing Oncophage from a clinical and commercial perspective. The treatment involved removing a patient's tumor cells, isolating and fortifying the cellular proteins that normally alert the immune system to disease, and re-injecting the proteins into the patient. In 1994, Armen co-founded Antigenics with Srivastava.
Armen is chairman and chief executive officer of Agenus Inc., formerly known as Antigenics Inc., a biotechnology
company that discovered Oncophage, a personalized cancer vaccine
recently approved in Russia
for patients with earlier-stage kidney cancer
and currently under review with the European Regulatory Agency. The clinical history of Oncophage was chartered extensively in a front-page story in the Wall Street Journal, August 2, 2007. In another interview with Business Week and CBS
, Armen described how the idea of personalized medicine
tailored to the patient grabbed him and launched Antigenics with $250,000 of his own money, plus the backing of a few friends. He was initially stirred by the results from animal testing; the vaccine cured 80% of mice in the early stages of cancer with virtually no side effects.
By February 2000, Antigenics went public at $18 a share, raising $72.5 million. A few months later the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) agreed to review the vaccine on an accelerated schedule when the company filed for approval, and Antigenics began recruiting 728 patients with kidney cancer for the phase 3 trial, the largest study conducted in the world.
Ultimately, 118 cancer centers participated in the trial, 63 of them outside the U.S.. The largest group of patients, 172, was treated in Russia. In April 2008, Oncophage was approved by the Russian Ministry of Health, making Russia the first country in the world to approve a personalized cancer vaccine in patients with earlier-stage kidney cancer. On the day Antigenics announced Oncophage's approval, CNBC
ran a lead story on the personalized cancer vaccine as well as generating a debate on both television and their website on the regulatory landscape in Russia versus USA – the question posed to the audience was whether America had fallen behind the rest of the world in terms of approving innovative drugs? CNBC concluded with the following statement "The Antigenics story, of course, is making big news in Russia. It's the top story, for example, on this news web site. According to our Senior Economics Correspondent Steve Liesman--who used to live and work in Russia where he won a Pulitzer for his reporting--the headline says, Russia becomes the first country in the world to sell an American cancer vaccine." Armen is now focusing the company’s efforts in Europe, and hopes to receive marketing approval for Oncophage in early 2010.
Oncophage is currently in clinical development for brain cancer, a devastating disease with few treatment options and survival rates of between three to six months, according to the lead investigator, Dr. Andrew Parsa from UCSF. The study is showing encouraging results and the first patient who received the vaccine, Ms Hammerman, was interviewed by Good Morning America
describing her experiences of taking the vaccine.
Elan
While retaining his position at Antigenics, Armen became chairman of the board of directors for the biopharmaceutical company Élan
Corporation plc from mid-2002 through 2004. The company was on the brink of collapse brought down by an accounting scandal that earned it the label of "Europe's Enron
". During his tenure, Armen became the architect of the company’s $1 billion restructuring program by strengthening Élan’s finances, refocusing the group on its core clinical development business and returning shareholder value. On the day that Armen assumed chairmanship, the Wall Street Journal and BBC
discussed the restructuring plan in some detail. He said "(our) first task is clean house…the world is concerned we’ll file for bankruptcy".
By 2004, the Sunday Times of London hailed Armen as the chairman that saved the company stating that “it is one of the great corporate recovery stories.” Armen commented “ For about three months… every day, every hour was critical. Any one of many things could have made the company collapse. We were on the hook every single day until we had an agreement to sell our first major asset.”
Armen Partners
Prior to founding Antigenics in 1994, Armen established Armen Partners, a money management firm specializing in biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, and was the originator of the widely publicized creation of the Immunex Lederle oncology business in 1993.
. Since its inception, COAF has raised over $10 million on projects directed at reversing the ongoing impoverished conditions affecting significant numbers of people in rural Armenia. These projects are now recognized by international aid agencies such as the US Agency for International Development and the World Bank
as an exemplary template of sustainable development throughout the world. In a press release dated October 18, 2008, Armen stated "through these valuable donations, COAF has dramatically transformed the lives of over 5,000 children by expanding our innovative rural outreach programs that target the whole village including healthcare, education, economic and social development. This has led to an unprecedented level of results and has drawn praise from international development agencies and experts in the areas of healthcare, education and community renewal."
In 2006, the Daily News under the headline “Celebrating New Yorkers Who Make A Difference” highlighted Armen’s philanthropic achievements. The article quoted a report by Strategem Consulting International, an independent firm hired by the United Nations, which stated “between 2003 and 2005, life in Karakert, known as Children of Armenia’s first model village, improved dramatically.”
COAF’s annual Save A Generation Awards dinner has become a premier event in New York raising millions of dollars from a diverse and committed community Their contributions have had an impact on almost 20,000 people and these project are highlighted in a video entitled "A Formula to Eliminate Global Poverty." A documentary charting COAF’s revitalization of rural Armenia is expected to broadcast in 2009 and involved a film crew spending extensive time on the ground capturing the impact of these comprehensive programs.
In 2007, Armen received the Medal of Honor from the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia for his outstanding contributions in the revitalization of rural communities in Armenia.
In 2006, Armen was presented with the Humanitarian Award from the Sabin Vaccine Institute
, which recognizes extraordinary individuals in the field of biotechnology.
In 2004, Armen became a recipient of the prestigious Ellis Island Medal of Honor
for his humanitarian efforts in Armenia as well as his exceptional contributions to American society.
In 2002, Ernst & Young
recognized him as the NYC Biotechnology Entrepreneur of the Year.
He was born on January 31, 1953, in Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
. He moved to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in 1970. According to the New York Times he became a messenger boy for a nonprofit Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
n organization. In the article Armen stated, "I worked five hours a day, five days a week. I got two bucks an hour…and that was a lot of money for me. His second job was in the kitchen of the Lawyers’ Club but it only lasted a day. "I thought I’d learn to cook. Instead, they asked me to wash dishes. I had to climb into the soup bucket, which was huge, and clean it out. Shortly after, I got a job in a bank as a clerk."
One night in 1978, in the middle of the energy crisis
Energy crisis
An energy crisis is any great bottleneck in the supply of energy resources to an economy. In popular literature though, it often refers to one of the energy sources used at a certain time and place, particularly those that supply national electricity grids or serve as fuel for vehicles...
, Armen was driving home when he stopped at a gas station. "I noticed that gas pumps only had two digits [for the per gallon price]," in interview with The Scientist
The Scientist
The Scientist: Magazine of Life Sciences is a professional magazine intended for life scientists. Coverage includes reviews of widely noticed research papers, informing its audience of current research, updates to technology, updates to career information, profiles of scientists achieving...
"Realizing that continued rising prices would force the pumps to be replaced in the near future, I borrowed $5,000 to invest in gas pumps." Soon enough, virtually every gas pump in America was replaced – and Armen had made $20,000. His interest in business was pricked, and had already paid off.
By 1979, he received his PhD in physical chemistry
Physical chemistry
Physical chemistry is the study of macroscopic, atomic, subatomic, and particulate phenomena in chemical systems in terms of physical laws and concepts...
from the City University of New York
City University of New York
The City University of New York is the public university system of New York City, with its administrative offices in Yorkville in Manhattan. It is the largest urban university in the United States, consisting of 23 institutions: 11 senior colleges, six community colleges, the William E...
. Armen served as Senior Vice President of Research for Dean Witter Reynolds
Dean Witter Reynolds
Dean Witter Reynolds was an American stock brokerage and securities firm catering to retail clients. Prior to its acquisition, it was among the largest retail firms in the securities industry with over 9,000 account executives and was among the largest members of the New York Stock Exchange...
(1986–1989), focusing on the chemical and pharmaceutical industries and with E.F. Hutton & Company as first Vice President (1981–1986). Before entering finance, Armen has been an associate professor at the Merchant Marine Academy
Merchant Marine Academy
Merchant Marine Academy may refer to:*Philippine Merchant Marine Academy*United States Merchant Marine Academy...
and as a research associate at the Brookhaven National Laboratory
Brookhaven National Laboratory
Brookhaven National Laboratory , is a United States national laboratory located in Upton, New York on Long Island, and was formally established in 1947 at the site of Camp Upton, a former U.S. Army base...
.
Armen’s journey into drug development
Drug development
Drug development is a blanket term used to define the process of bringing a new drug to the market once a lead compound has been identified through the process of drug discovery...
began when his mother died from breast cancer
Breast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
in 1973. The two shared a one-room Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
apartment where Armen administered her morphine
Morphine
Morphine is a potent opiate analgesic medication and is considered to be the prototypical opioid. It was first isolated in 1804 by Friedrich Sertürner, first distributed by same in 1817, and first commercially sold by Merck in 1827, which at the time was a single small chemists' shop. It was more...
shots until she died. In 1994, Armen was approached by Pramod Srivastava, then a biochemist at Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Mount Sinai School of Medicine is an American medical school in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, currently ranked among the top 20 medical schools in the United States. It was chartered by Mount Sinai Hospital in 1963....
, about the possibility of developing Oncophage from a clinical and commercial perspective. The treatment involved removing a patient's tumor cells, isolating and fortifying the cellular proteins that normally alert the immune system to disease, and re-injecting the proteins into the patient. In 1994, Armen co-founded Antigenics with Srivastava.
Career and business ventures
AgenusArmen is chairman and chief executive officer of Agenus Inc., formerly known as Antigenics Inc., a biotechnology
Biotechnology
Biotechnology is a field of applied biology that involves the use of living organisms and bioprocesses in engineering, technology, medicine and other fields requiring bioproducts. Biotechnology also utilizes these products for manufacturing purpose...
company that discovered Oncophage, a personalized cancer vaccine
Cancer vaccine
The term cancer vaccine refers to a vaccine that either prevents infections with cancer-causing viruses, treats existing cancer or prevents the development of cancer in certain high risk individuals...
recently approved in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
for patients with earlier-stage kidney cancer
Kidney cancer
Kidney cancer is a type of cancer that starts in the cells in the kidney.The two most common types of kidney cancer are renal cell carcinoma and urothelial cell carcinoma of the renal pelvis...
and currently under review with the European Regulatory Agency. The clinical history of Oncophage was chartered extensively in a front-page story in the Wall Street Journal, August 2, 2007. In another interview with Business Week and CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
, Armen described how the idea of personalized medicine
Personalized medicine
Personalized medicine is a medical model emphasizing in general the customization of healthcare, with all decisions and practices being tailored to individual patients in whatever ways possible...
tailored to the patient grabbed him and launched Antigenics with $250,000 of his own money, plus the backing of a few friends. He was initially stirred by the results from animal testing; the vaccine cured 80% of mice in the early stages of cancer with virtually no side effects.
By February 2000, Antigenics went public at $18 a share, raising $72.5 million. A few months later the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) agreed to review the vaccine on an accelerated schedule when the company filed for approval, and Antigenics began recruiting 728 patients with kidney cancer for the phase 3 trial, the largest study conducted in the world.
Ultimately, 118 cancer centers participated in the trial, 63 of them outside the U.S.. The largest group of patients, 172, was treated in Russia. In April 2008, Oncophage was approved by the Russian Ministry of Health, making Russia the first country in the world to approve a personalized cancer vaccine in patients with earlier-stage kidney cancer. On the day Antigenics announced Oncophage's approval, CNBC
CNBC
CNBC is a satellite and cable television business news channel in the U.S., owned and operated by NBCUniversal. The network and its international spinoffs cover business headlines and provide live coverage of financial markets. The combined reach of CNBC and its siblings is 390 million viewers...
ran a lead story on the personalized cancer vaccine as well as generating a debate on both television and their website on the regulatory landscape in Russia versus USA – the question posed to the audience was whether America had fallen behind the rest of the world in terms of approving innovative drugs? CNBC concluded with the following statement "The Antigenics story, of course, is making big news in Russia. It's the top story, for example, on this news web site. According to our Senior Economics Correspondent Steve Liesman--who used to live and work in Russia where he won a Pulitzer for his reporting--the headline says, Russia becomes the first country in the world to sell an American cancer vaccine." Armen is now focusing the company’s efforts in Europe, and hopes to receive marketing approval for Oncophage in early 2010.
Oncophage is currently in clinical development for brain cancer, a devastating disease with few treatment options and survival rates of between three to six months, according to the lead investigator, Dr. Andrew Parsa from UCSF. The study is showing encouraging results and the first patient who received the vaccine, Ms Hammerman, was interviewed by Good Morning America
Good Morning America
Good Morning America is an American morning news and talk show that is broadcast on the ABC television network; it debuted on November 3, 1975. The weekday program airs for two hours; a third hour aired between 2007 and 2008 exclusively on ABC News Now...
describing her experiences of taking the vaccine.
Elan
While retaining his position at Antigenics, Armen became chairman of the board of directors for the biopharmaceutical company Élan
Élan
Élan Corporation plc is a major drugs firm based in Athlone, County Roscommon, Ireland which has major interests in the United States. In the late 1990s its value on the Irish Stock Exchange reached over €20bn. It has secondary listings on the London Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange....
Corporation plc from mid-2002 through 2004. The company was on the brink of collapse brought down by an accounting scandal that earned it the label of "Europe's Enron
Enron
Enron Corporation was an American energy, commodities, and services company based in Houston, Texas. Before its bankruptcy on December 2, 2001, Enron employed approximately 22,000 staff and was one of the world's leading electricity, natural gas, communications, and pulp and paper companies, with...
". During his tenure, Armen became the architect of the company’s $1 billion restructuring program by strengthening Élan’s finances, refocusing the group on its core clinical development business and returning shareholder value. On the day that Armen assumed chairmanship, the Wall Street Journal and BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
discussed the restructuring plan in some detail. He said "(our) first task is clean house…the world is concerned we’ll file for bankruptcy".
By 2004, the Sunday Times of London hailed Armen as the chairman that saved the company stating that “it is one of the great corporate recovery stories.” Armen commented “ For about three months… every day, every hour was critical. Any one of many things could have made the company collapse. We were on the hook every single day until we had an agreement to sell our first major asset.”
Armen Partners
Prior to founding Antigenics in 1994, Armen established Armen Partners, a money management firm specializing in biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, and was the originator of the widely publicized creation of the Immunex Lederle oncology business in 1993.
Humanitarian initiatives
Armen is also the founder and chairman of the Children of Armenia Fund (COAF), a charitable organization established in 2000 that is dedicated to the positive development of the children and youth of ArmeniaArmenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
. Since its inception, COAF has raised over $10 million on projects directed at reversing the ongoing impoverished conditions affecting significant numbers of people in rural Armenia. These projects are now recognized by international aid agencies such as the US Agency for International Development and the World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
as an exemplary template of sustainable development throughout the world. In a press release dated October 18, 2008, Armen stated "through these valuable donations, COAF has dramatically transformed the lives of over 5,000 children by expanding our innovative rural outreach programs that target the whole village including healthcare, education, economic and social development. This has led to an unprecedented level of results and has drawn praise from international development agencies and experts in the areas of healthcare, education and community renewal."
In 2006, the Daily News under the headline “Celebrating New Yorkers Who Make A Difference” highlighted Armen’s philanthropic achievements. The article quoted a report by Strategem Consulting International, an independent firm hired by the United Nations, which stated “between 2003 and 2005, life in Karakert, known as Children of Armenia’s first model village, improved dramatically.”
COAF’s annual Save A Generation Awards dinner has become a premier event in New York raising millions of dollars from a diverse and committed community Their contributions have had an impact on almost 20,000 people and these project are highlighted in a video entitled "A Formula to Eliminate Global Poverty." A documentary charting COAF’s revitalization of rural Armenia is expected to broadcast in 2009 and involved a film crew spending extensive time on the ground capturing the impact of these comprehensive programs.
Honors
In 2008, the Governor of Armavir Marz presented the Gold Medal to Armen for his outstanding philanthropic work in revitalizing Armenian villages. In late 2007, the Governor also declared Armen an honorary citizen of the State.In 2007, Armen received the Medal of Honor from the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia for his outstanding contributions in the revitalization of rural communities in Armenia.
In 2006, Armen was presented with the Humanitarian Award from the Sabin Vaccine Institute
Sabin Vaccine Institute
The Sabin Vaccine Institute is a non-profit, 501 organization dedicated to reducing needless humansuffering from vaccine preventable and neglected tropical diseases through prevention and treatment...
, which recognizes extraordinary individuals in the field of biotechnology.
In 2004, Armen became a recipient of the prestigious Ellis Island Medal of Honor
Ellis Island Medal of Honor
The Ellis Island Medal of Honor was founded by the National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations and intended to pay homage to the immigrant experience. The medals honor the contribution made to America by immigrants and the legacy they left behind in the successes of their children and grand-children...
for his humanitarian efforts in Armenia as well as his exceptional contributions to American society.
In 2002, Ernst & Young
Ernst & Young
Ernst & Young is one of the largest professional services networks in the world and one of the "Big Four" accountancy firms, along with Deloitte, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers ....
recognized him as the NYC Biotechnology Entrepreneur of the Year.