Biography

Dr David Lacey has had a distinguished and highly accomplished academic and biopharmaceutical industry career, discovering and creating life-changing therapies for patients.

During a 17-year tenure at Amgen, David oversaw Amgen’s Discovery Research organization. This involved leading more than 1,200 scientists across a portfolio of drug discovery and development projects in the therapeutic areas of haematology, oncology, inflammation, metabolic disorders and neuroscience.

At Amgen, David helped make significant advances in the understanding of bone biology. This included playing a fundamental role in the discovery of osteoprotegerin (OPG) and in the understanding of the RANK/RANK ligand pathway in bone metabolism, paving the way for the development of Prolia® (denosumab) for osteoporosis and XGEVA® for cancer-related bone diseases. Denosumab has received a number of awards, including the US 2011 Prix Galien award for best new biotechnology product. David also initiated the clinical studies of keratinocyte growth factor (KGF), which ultimately was approved as Kepivance® (palifermin) for chemotherapy patients with severe oral mucositis.

Prior to joining Amgen, David was part of the faculty at Washington University Medical Center in St. Louis, Missouri, where he taught pathology residents and medical students, performed professional medical service in anatomic pathology, and pursued NIH-funded research in bone cell biology.

David currently serves as Board member for several biotech companies and acts as an advisor to several academic institutions, biotechnology companies and venture capital firms.

David holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biology and MD from the University of Colorado, where he also served as Chief Resident of Anatomic Pathology in his final year of training.

David is also board certified in anatomical pathology.