Howard Johnson Email Address

Chief Business Officer

Iovance Biotherapeutics develops T-cell-based immunotherapy products for the treatment of cancer.

Howard B. Johnson is an entrepreneurial executive with a breadth of experience developed over 30 years in operations, finance, business development, investor relations and venture capital, primarily in bioscience companies. He started his career as an investment banker working on large product development financings for leading biotech companies (e.g. Genentech, Amgen, Centocor, and, Genzyme). He then became a founding investor and board member of Acorda Therapeutics, now publicly traded with an approved product for multiple sclerosis. He also founded and ran a medical device company developing laparoscopic instruments for incontinence surgery. Starting in 1999, he has been an executive officer of public small cap companies, including (i) from 1999-2001 as CFO of an internet services company with $23 million in annual revenues; and (ii) from 2002-2010 as President and CFO of an oncology drug development company that advanced from filing an IND to filing an NDA for its lead product for acute myelogenous leukemia. At this company, he managed several functional areas, including pre-commercial operations, regulatory, manufacturing, business development, finance and human resources. He was also responsible for major contract and license negotiations, raised over $140 million in financing, and ran investor relations. In 2012, he became the initial investor and co-founder of GO4HLTH, Inc. a development stage company that is making a new supplement to help diabetics manage their blood sugar levels, and from June 2014-June 2015 served as Chief Executive Officer of startup gene therapy company VentriNova, Inc. In August 2015, he joined Iovance Biotherapeutics (formerly Lion Biotechnologies) an oncology drug development company developing novel immunotherapies based on patient-specific T-cells, as Vice President, Corporate Development. In August 2017, he became Senior Vice President and assumed responsibility for Alliance Management and Program Management as well.