Omar Duramad has over 15 years of experience in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, with deep expertise in antibody therapeutics, immunology, and oncology. Most recently, he served as Head of Large Molecule Discovery at Eli Lilly, where he led cross-functional efforts spanning target discovery, antibody engineering, lead optimization, candidate selection, and IND-enabling development. His teams delivered a broad portfolio of biologic modalities, including multi-specific antibodies such as LY4152199, agonist antibodies, antibody drug conjugates including LY4052031, LY4170156, LY4101174, and LY4175408, and TCR-mimetic therapeutics. He also helped shape Lilly’s strategy for next-generation oncology biologics.

In addition to R&D leadership, Dr. Duramad supported large molecule oncology business development, contributing to collaborations and acquisitions involving Merus, Immunogen, Emergence Therapeutics, Mablink Bioscience, Immunitrack, and Rondo Therapeutics. These efforts expanded Lilly’s capabilities in multi-specific antibodies, antibody drug conjugates, and target discovery technologies, and broadened the company’s oncology pipeline.

Prior to Lilly, Omar was founder and CEO of Abmuno Therapeutics, where he led the discovery of domvanalimab and its outlicensing to Arcus Biosciences within a year of the company’s founding. Earlier, he held roles of increasing responsibility at REGiMMUNE, IGM Biosciences, Neothera Biosciences, and Dynavax Technologies, leading immunology and preclinical research teams focused on oncology and autoimmune disease.

Omar has received several honors, including the Vivian L. Smith Award for Outstanding Immunologist, the Schissler Foundation Fellowship in Cancer Research, and the American Legion Auxiliary Fellowship for Outstanding Scholarship. He holds a Ph.D. in Immunology and Cancer Biology from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and a B.S. in Biochemistry and Cell Biology from the University of California, San Diego.