Tarak D. Mody, PhD

Tarak Mody, PhD serves The Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy (PICI) as the chief business officer. At PICI, Dr. Mody leads the areas of business development, tech licensing, and alliance management forging mission-focused strategic alliances to accelerate breakthrough immune-oncology therapies to patients.

Dr. Mody has nearly 30 years of professional experience in the biopharmaceutical industry. He last served as vice president of business development and alliance management at Five Prime Therapeutics, Inc. (now Amgen, Inc.)., a biotech company focused on developing immuno-oncology and targeted therapies for patients with cancer. During his 8 years at Five Prime, he forged several strategic oncology partnerships, notably with Bristol Myers Squibb ($1.7+ billion deal), Seattle Genetics (now Pfizer), and Zai Lab. In 2021, he led the global partnering process on the breakthrough gastric cancer product bemarituzumab (anti-FGFR2b targeted antibody), culminating in the $1.9 billion acquisition of Five Prime by Amgen Inc.

Before Five Prime, Dr. Mody spent 20 years at Pharmacyclics (an AbbVie company). He was a founding member of the original scientific/R&D Team before transitioning into business development, where he was instrumental in re-building the pipeline through a multi-asset acquisition from Celera Genomics in 2006, which included ibrutinib (Bruton’s tyrosine kinase [BTK] inhibitor). From 2006 to 2013, he headed business development and intellectual property, fostering numerous large pharma partnerships. Most notably, he orchestrated the ~$1 billion transformative global 50:50 alliance with Johnson & Johnson/Janssen Biotech on the breakthrough product ibrutinib (IMBRUVICA), a first-in-class, blockbuster BTK inhibitor product now approved for several blood cancers. Dr. Mody is a co-inventor on over 100 issued US and international patents.

Dr. Mody holds a BS in chemistry with a minor in mathematics from Villanova University and a PhD in chemistry from the University of Texas at Austin, where he studied under the direction of National Academy of Sciences Professor Jonathan L. Sessler, PhD. Dr. Mody’s doctoral work on the novel class of compounds texaphyrins was the original genesis for the formation of Pharmacyclics, Inc (an AbbVie company). He has received numerous prestigious doctoral fellowships from Robert A. Welch Foundation, Texaco Foundation, and the University of Texas Foundation.