Apogee's former leaders join Paragon Labs after $10.9 billion sale

Paragon Labs said on October 13, 2026 that five executives who ran Apogee Therapeutics before AbbVie bought it for more than $10.9 billion earlier in 2026 have joined the Waltham, Massachusetts, biotechnology company.

Michael Henderson, a physician, becomes chief executive of Paragon Labs, joined by Carl Dambkowski as head of research and development, Dan Mulreany as chief business and financial officer, Matt Batters as chief legal officer and Emily Cox as chief people officer, according to the announcement distributed by PR Newswire. At Apogee, the group moved five drug candidates discovered by Paragon into clinical testing.

Paragon was founded in 2021 by Fairmount, a life sciences investment firm started in 2016 that backs companies built around drugs it helps discover. Nine companies have been formed around Paragon-discovered assets, among them Apogee, Spyre Therapeutics, Oruka Therapeutics and Jade Biosciences.

The newest is Velaris Therapeutics, which works on treatments for pulmonary hypertension and related cardiopulmonary disease. Alaunos Therapeutics, listed on Nasdaq under TCRT, said on the same day that it had completed its purchase of Velaris, and filed details with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Form 8-K.

Henderson said the team would apply what it learned at Apogee to decisions made "from the very start" of Paragon programs.

This story was first reported by PR Newswire.