John Babcook

Biography

Mr. Babcook has served as our Senior Vice President, Discovery Research since March 2016 and is responsible for target, antibody and drug conjugate discovery and associated partnerships. For over 20 years, Mr. Babcook has made significant contributions to the international biopharmaceutical industry. Prior to joining Zymeworks Inc., based on a novel antibody generation platform, he co-founded ImmGenics Pharmaceuticals Inc. in November 1998 which was acquired by Abgenix Inc. in 2000 and subsequently by Amgen, Inc. in 2006 where he led its Canadian research team from 2006 to 2010. Mr. Babcook also established the Biologics Division at the Centre for Drug Research and Development where he served as Vice President, Biologics from August 2011 to March 2016, in addition to becoming the founding President and Chief Scientific Officer of Kairos in January 2015. While at Kairos, he was responsible for the development of its ADC therapeutics pipeline and formed multiple collaborations, including the strategic partnership and the merger with Zymeworks Inc. in March 2016. Mr. Babcook has participated in the development of more than 100 therapeutic antibody-based programs, 11 of which are now in the clinic, including three ADCs. Mr. Babcook is an Adjunct Professor in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry at Simon Fraser University, an Honorary Doctorate recipient from the British Columbia Institute of Technology and the recipient of the LifeSciences British Columbia’s “Innovation and Achievement” Award. Mr. Babcook has served as our Senior Vice President, Discovery Research since March 2016 and is responsible for target, antibody and drug conjugate discovery and associated partnerships. For over 20 years, Mr. Babcook has made significant contributions to the international biopharmaceutical industry. Prior to joining Zymeworks Inc., based on a novel antibody generation platform, he co-founded ImmGenics Pharmaceuticals Inc. in November 1998 which was acquired by Abgenix Inc. in 2000 and subsequently by Amgen, Inc. in 2006 where he led its Canadian research team from 2006 to 2010. Mr. Babcook also established the Biologics Division at the Centre for Drug Research and Development where he served as Vice President, Biologics from August 2011 to March 2016, in addition to becoming the founding President and Chief Scientific Officer of Kairos in January 2015. While at Kairos, he was responsible for the development of its ADC therapeutics pipeline and formed multiple collaborations, including the strategic partnership and the merger with Zymeworks Inc. in March 2016. Mr. Babcook has participated in the development of more than 100 therapeutic antibody-based programs, 11 of which are now in the clinic, including three ADCs. Mr. Babcook is an Adjunct Professor in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry at Simon Fraser University, an Honorary Doctorate recipient from the British Columbia Institute of Technology and the recipient of the LifeSciences British Columbia’s “Innovation and Achievement” Award.

Research Interest

Pharmaceutical Sciences