Robert Coffin
Advisory Board Member
AngioChem
Canada
Biography
Robert Coffin received his PhD in virology in 1990 from Imperial College London following which he conducted research at University College London as a lecturer and senior lecturer in virology and gene therapy. Here he led a research group studying basic virology and developing gene delivery technology based mainly on herpes simplex virus before founding BioVex (then NeuroVex) in 1998 intended to commercialize the work of his group. At that time the technology consisted of a toolkit of gene delivery vectors for the central and peripheral nervous systems, and a cancer immunotherapy platform allowing the delivery of multiple full length tumor antigens to dendritic cells in an ex vivo approach. In the early 2000's BioVex also initiated development of oncolytic virus-based products and live attenuated vaccines for genital herpes and other viral diseases. Dr Coffin oversaw all aspects of research and clinical development at BioVex, taking the lead product (OncoVEX GM-CSF; talimogene laherparepvec) into pivotal phase 3 clinical trials in melanoma and head and neck cancer under SPA. With these pivotal studies ongoing the company was sold to Amgen in early 2011 in a groundbreaking deal valuing BioVex at $425m upfront and with an additional $575m in potential milestones. Dr Coffin has authored ~70 peer reviewed scientific and medical publications and is inventor on ~20 families of patents and patent applications. He currently provides consultancy services to a number of biotechnology companies in the areas of his expertise.
Research Interest
virology
