IGM Biosciences Appoints Misbah Tahir as Chief Financial Officer

January 3, 2019 at 12:00 PM EST

Mr. Tahir Brings More Than 20 Years of Financial and Strategic Planning Experience 

IGM Biosciences, Inc. (IGM), a privately held biotechnology company and a global leader in the research and development of therapeutic IgM antibodies, today announced the appointment of Misbah Tahir to the newly created position of Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Tahir joins IGM with more than twenty years of experience in finance and strategic planning, including public market financings and product launches. Most recently, Mr. Tahir was Vice President, Head of Finance at Dermira, Inc., where he helped build the finance, treasury, accounting and SEC compliance and reporting functions during a period of rapid growth, and played an integral role in the company’s initial public offering and follow-on public financings.

“We are very pleased that Misbah has decided to join the IGM team, and his skills and leadership will be pivotal to the development of our financial infrastructure, capabilities and strategy at this exciting time in our growth as a company,” said Fred Schwarzer, Chief Executive Officer of IGM Biosciences. “His experience in building finance and accounting organizations, managing financial and strategic planning processes and interfacing with the biotechnology capital markets will be critical to IGM as we move a potentially transformative new therapeutic approach toward clinical proof of concept studies and eventual market launch.”

“IGM is pioneering an entirely new class of therapeutic drugs for the treatment of cancer and other serious diseases through its proprietary IgM antibody technology,” added Mr. Tahir. “The potential of this platform and the inspired, passionate and determined environment that defines IGM drew me to this opportunity. I am excited to become part of this experienced team that is devoted to delivering important advances in antibody-based therapies and the treatment of urgent unmet medical needs.”

During his career in the biotechnology industry, Mr. Tahir has helped finance, advance and launch multiple new therapeutic drugs. While at Dermira, Mr. Tahir was a key member of the financing team, which raised over $750 millionto advance the company’s clinical programs and corporate development, and he was a leader in Dermira’s transition to a commercial-stage company.

Prior to his role at Dermira, Mr. Tahir was Director, Head of Commercial Financial Planning and Analysis at Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where he served as finance business partner to the Chief Commercial Officer during the U.S. and international launches of Kyprolis® for multiple myeloma and was responsible for the financial planning processes across Onyx’s product portfolio supporting annual product sales in excess of $1 billion. Before that, he was Associate Director of Revenue at Human Genome Sciences, Inc. (HGS), where he led all revenue and collaboration accounting activities during the U.S. launch of Benlysta® and was Chair of the HGS-GlaxoSmithKline Joint Finance Committee.

Prior to HGS, Mr. Tahir spent six years at Amgen, Inc. in finance and accounting management roles. He began his professional career at the global management consulting firm Oliver Wyman, where he developed business development and market-entry strategies for diverse clients.

Mr. Tahir received an MBA from the University of Michigan Business School and a BA from the University of Pennsylvania.

About IGM Biosciences, Inc.
Headquartered in Mountain View, California, IGM Biosciences, Inc. is a privately held biotechnology company that has been focused on creating and developing novel IgM antibodies that improve the treatment of cancer and other diseases since 2010. IGM Biosciences is working to develop IgM antibodies in those clinical indications where their inherent advantages may provide substantially superior performance, as compared with IgG antibodies. For more information about IGM Biosciences, its technologies or its antibody pipeline, please visit www.igmbio.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on management’s expectations and are subject to certain factors, risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, outcome of events, timing and performance to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. The information contained in this press release is believed to be current as of the date of original issue. IGM Biosciences expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in our expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements are based.