Gábor Illei, MD, PhD, MHS

Gábor Illei, MD, PhD, MHS

Clinical Strategy Leader

Gábor brings over 30 years of combined academic and biopharmaceutical clinical development expertise in systemic autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. He began his industry career at Medimmune following a distinguished 15-year tenure as an academic rheumatologist at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), where he focused on clinical and translational studies in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and Sjögren’s Disease.

At Medimmune, Gábor played a pivotal role in the development of Type-1 interferon targeting therapies, culminating in the approval of anifrolumab (Saphnelo®) for SLE. Post-Medimmune, he served as Program Development Lead for Neurodegenerative Diseases at Regenxbio and subsequently as Vice President of Clinical Development at Viela Bio from the company’s inception through its acquisition by Horizon Therapeutics. During his tenure, he led the clinical development of several early-stage assets, including dazodalibep (an anti-CD40 ligand fusion protein), achieving the first successful Phase 2 study targeting a broad population of patients with Sjögren’s Diseases. Dazodalibep is currently in a pivotal Phase 3 study.

As a consultant Gábor is assisting small companies in developing and executing their clinical development strategies in immune-mediated diseases.

Gábor holds an MD from the University Medical School of Pécs, Hungary, a PhD in clinical immunology from Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary, and a Master of Health Sciences in Clinical Research from Duke University. He completed his medical residency at SUNY Stony Brook and a rheumatology fellowship at the NIH. He has authored over 120 peer-reviewed publications.