Leadership

Chief Executive Officer, Board Director
Steve Hurly, MS.c., M.B.A.
Steve Hurly
Chief Executive Officer, Board Director
Steve Hurly, MS.c., M.B.A.
Steve Hurly
Steve Hurly, MS.c., M.B.A.
Steve Hurly, MS.c., M.B.A. is the chief executive officer and a board director at LAVA Therapeutics. He brings nearly two decades of leadership experience in the life sciences industry. He served as president and chief executive officer of Sesen Bio, a NASDAQ-listed, late-stage oncology firm. Prior he served as the president and chief executive officer of Viventia Bio Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company acquired by Sesen Bio Inc. in September 2016. Steve has more than 15 years of experience in the investment banking business. He has served on the board of directors of PHusis Therapeutics Inc., a private targeted small molecule therapeutics company, since May 2011. Previously, he was the chief executive officer of Burrill & Co.’s merchant banking division, a finance business for life science companies. He was also the head of the life sciences investment banking practice at Boenning & Scattergood, a securities asset management and investment banking firm. He graduated from Swarthmore College with a bachelor of arts degree in engineering and earned a master of business administration from the University of Chicago.
Chief Development Officer
Ton Adang, Ph.D.
Ton Adang
Chief Development Officer
Ton Adang, Ph.D.
Ton Adang
Ton Adang, Ph.D.
Ton Adang, Ph.D. worked at several biotech companies and at Merck/MSD, Schering-Plough and Organon in research and development positions with increasing responsibilities. He held leadership positions in the lead discovery unit and in project management, developing a product through U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval and targeting new indications like breast cancer, osteoporosis as well as working with human vaccines, biosimilars and in immuno-oncology. He received a doctor of philosophy degree from the University of Leiden at the divisions of biopharmaceutical sciences and bio-organic chemistry.
General Counsel & Corporate Secretary
Amy Garabedian, J.D.
General Counsel & Corporate Secretary
Amy Garabedian, J.D.
Amy Garabedian, J.D.
Amy Garabedian, J.D. has extensive global and diversified legal and team building experience. During her more than 15 years practicing law, she has advised pharmaceutical & biotech companies from start-ups to multi-national public companies on the complex legal issues facing industry today.  Ms. Garabedian most recently served as associate general counsel of Spark Therapeutics (Roche), where she served as a strategic and innovative advisor, playing an instrumental role in the successful U.S. launch of the first gene therapy for a genetic disease, led key business development transactions, and enabled pre-clinical, clinical and commercial product development.  Earlier in her career, Ms. Garabedian held positions of increasing responsibility at Sandoz (Novartis) and as a business and finance attorney at Ballard Spahr LLP.   She holds a bachelor of science degree in genetics and developmental biology from Penn State University, a master of science degree in regulatory affairs from Temple University and a juris doctor degree from Widener University Delaware School of Law.
Chief Medical Officer
Charles Morris, MBChB, MRCP
Charles Morris
Chief Medical Officer
Charles Morris, MBChB, MRCP
Charles Morris
Charles Morris, MBChB, MRCP
Charles Morris. MBChB, MRCP, is a medical oncologist with over 25 years of oncology drug development experience in the international biotech and pharmaceutical industry. Most recently, Dr. Morris was chief medical officer for Celyad Oncology, a CAR-T focused cell therapy company. In other CMO roles with Radius Health, PsiOxus Therapeutics, ImmunoGen and Allos Therapeutics, he contributed to all phases of development for several novel programs targeting solid and hematological tumor indications. He served as vice president of worldwide clinical research at Cephalon where he supported the approval of TREANDA® (bendamustine) for the treatment of indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma and chronic lymphocytopenia. Dr. Morris began his career at AstraZeneca where he held roles of increasing responsibility including global medical lead for Faslodex® (fulvestrant) through its approval for breast cancer. He received a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery and Bachelor of Medical Science in Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics degree from Sheffield University Medical School and is a Member of the Royal College of Physicians of London.
Chief Financial Officer
Fred M. Powell
Fred M. Powell
Chief Financial Officer
Fred M. Powell
Fred M. Powell
Fred M. Powell
Fred M. Powell has over 20 years of global CFO experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, including investor relations, administration, operations and information technology. Most recently, Mr. Powell served as the executive vice president and chief financial officer of Antares Pharma, playing a strategic role in the successful $1.0 billion acquisition of Antares by Halozyme Therapeutics in May 2022. His prior CFO roles have been at companies including Celator Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Jazz Pharmaceuticals), OraPharma, Inc. (acquired by Valeant Pharmaceuticals International) and BMP Sunstone Corporation (acquired by Sanofi-Aventis), and he also held various positions of increasing responsibility at KPMG LLP. Mr. Powell is the vice chairman of the Advisory Board for Penn State Scranton. He holds a B.S. in accounting from Pennsylvania State University.
Chief Scientific Officer
Hans van der Vliet, M.D., Ph.D.
Hans van der Vliet
Chief Scientific Officer
Hans van der Vliet, M.D., Ph.D.
Hans van der Vliet
Hans van der Vliet, M.D., Ph.D.
Hans van der Vliet, M.D., Ph.D. is chief scientific officer of LAVA Therapeutics. Dr. van der Vliet is also a professor in medical oncology at the Amsterdam UMC in the Netherlands. He received his medical doctor degree from the University of Amsterdam in 1998, his doctor of philosophy degree (cum laude) from the VU University in Amsterdam in 2003, and was trained in internal medicine, specializing in medical oncology, at the VU University medical center (currently Amsterdam UMC). He performed post-doctoral research at the division of hematology and oncology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School in Boston.