Clay Siegall, CEO and co-founder of Bothell-based biotech Seagen Inc. (Nasdaq: SGEN), is taking a leave of absence amid an allegation of domestic violence.
Seagen announced the move Monday and placed Seagen Chief Medical Officer Roger Dansey as interim CEO. Dansey has been the chief medical officer with the company since 2018.
“We have high standards for employee conduct, we condemn domestic violence in all its forms, and we are treating these allegations with the utmost seriousness,” Nancy Simonian, chair of Seagen's nominating and corporate governance committee, said in a news release. “At this time, the facts are still uncertain, and our decisions will be guided by the outcome of our investigation.”
In a release, Seagen said the incident apparently occurred at Siegall's home and that he denies the allegations. The company also said Siegall is engaged in a divorce and that a committee of independent directors is conducting an investigation with an independent law firm.
Siegall co-founded Seagen, formerly called Seattle Genetics, in 1998. Earlier in his career, he worked at Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and the National Cancer Institute. Siegall is also the board chair at Seattle-based Umoja Biopharma, which is focused on cancer treatments.
“We are working diligently to gather as many facts as possible and we will determine the appropriate action once we have more complete information,” Umoja said in a statement to the Business Journal.
Seagen is focused on cancer medicines and has drugs on the market aimed at treating Hodgkin lymphoma and bladder, breast and cervical cancer. The company is building a 270,000-square-foot biomanufacturing facility in Everett that is slated to open in 2024 and will employ up to 200 workers. Seagen bought a 51,000-square-foot facility in 2017 from Bristol-Myers Squibb in Bothell. In 2020, Seagen inked a deal with Merck & Co. that put $1.8 billion into Seagen. The deal could eventually be worth almost $4.4 billion.
Before Seagen, Dansey was therapeutic area head for late-stage oncology at Merck & Co. He was at Merck for more than three years, according to his LinkedIn page.
“Seagen is an extraordinary company, and I am deeply committed to continuing our standards of excellence in developing and commercializing transformative medicines,” Dansey said in a news release. “Our strong leadership team is dedicated to working with our exceptional employees around the globe on addressing the unmet needs of cancer patients.”
