Clay Siegall, the former CEO of Bothell-based biotech Seagen Inc. (Nasdaq: SGEN), will not face criminal charges from his April 23 arrest on suspicion of domestic violence.
Siegall, also the co-founder of Seagen, resigned as CEO, president and board director in May after the arrest at his Woodway home. Yelena Stock, whose firm, Zachor, Stock & Krepps, is acting as the municipal prosecutor for the town of Woodway, on Friday confirmed to the Business Journal the decision not to file charges.
"Due to evidentiary issues, the City concludes that it will not be able to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt, therefore the city declines to file charges," Stock said in an email to the Business Journal.
Stock declined to comment further. The Seattle Times first reported the news that Siegall wouldn't face charges.
A Woodway Police Department report on the night of the arrest indicated Siegall had gone out to dinner with friends that night, and another couple came back to his home with Siegall and his wife. Police arrived at the home after Siegall's wife and the other couple called to say Siegall was hurting his wife. Abrasions on his wife's knees and forehead were consistent with reports of Siegall pushing her to the ground.
Siegall first took leave from Seagen May 9 and resigned May 16. The company didn't disclose Siegall's April 23 arrest when it first announced his leave.
In an written statement through his attorney, Michele Shaw, Siegall said he wanted to express gratitude to the city attorneys "for spending the necessary time and energy to review and evaluate the facts of this case and the credibility of all the witnesses in order to reach a just result. I look forward to continuing my life's passion of developing life-saving cancer drugs."
Roger Dansey, Seagen's chief medical officer since 2018, took over as interim CEO when Siegall resigned. David Epstein, a former executive at the Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis, took over as CEO in November. Dansey maintained his CMO role and took the role of president of research and development.
Seagen, formerly Seattle Genetics, was founded in 1998 and is focused on cancer medicines. The biotech has treatments on the market aimed at Hodgkin lymphoma and bladder, breast and cervical cancer. Seagen is building a 270,000-square-foot biomanufacturing facility in Everett. The facility is slated to open in 2024.
A Seagen spokesperson said the company didn't have a comment on the news of Siegall not facing charges. The company in August lost an arbitration case against the Japanese drugmaker Daiichi Sankyo on its cancer drug Enhertu, which in August gained U.S. approval for lung and breast cancer. Seagen was seeking monetary damages and royalties for sales of Enhertu, as Seagen said in a July regulatory filing Enhertu technologies are advancements on Seagen's own technologies protected under a 2008 collaboration agreement between the two companies.
