LEXINGTON, Mass., March 05, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- KSQ Therapeutics, Inc. (KSQ), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel treatments for solid tumors, including engineered tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (eTIL®) programs, today announced the appointment of Kristen Hege, M.D., to the company’s Board of Directors. Dr. Hege brings to KSQ’s board more than 20 years of leadership experience in oncology and cell therapy research and development, including the advancement of multiple programs of varying modalities through to clinical proof of concept, and in the case of cell therapy, to FDA approval.
“Kristen brings deep industry and clinical experience to our board. Her insights and counsel will be incredibly valuable as we continue to move our lead eTIL programs through clinical studies and advance our additional cell therapies toward the clinic,” said Qasim Rizvi, Chief Executive Officer at KSQ and CEO-Partner at Flagship Pioneering. “On behalf of the board and our entire team I want to welcome her to KSQ.”
Dr. Hege commented: “KSQ’s eTIL platform holds tremendous potential to improve upon existing TIL therapies. eTIL have the potential to overcome the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment and control the growth of solid tumor malignancies by targeting two powerful brakes on the immune system that restrain tumor-recognizing T cells, including TIL. This approach could fundamentally change how we treat solid tumors. I look forward to supporting the team in our shared effort to positively impact cancer patients with CRISPR-edited cell therapies.”
Dr. Hege retired from Bristol Myers Squibb in March of 2023. In her role as SVP Early Clinical Development, Hematology, Oncology & Cell Therapy at BMS, she was responsible for advancing a pipeline of small molecules, biologics and cell therapies from first-in-human studies through clinical proof of concept. While there, she led the 2Seventybio (formerly bluebird)-partnered BCMA CAR-T cell program (Abecma) in multiple myeloma from inception through FDA approval. Prior to BMS she held a similar role at Celgene, as well as executive roles in biotech at Cell Genesys, Cellerant, and Theraclone.
Dr. Hege spent nearly three decades as a clinical faculty member in the division of hematology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), most recently as Clinical Professor of Medicine. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of Mersana Therapeutics, Adaptimmune, Kelonia and EvolveImmune and served on the Board of Directors of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) from 2016-2019. She also holds advisory roles at cTRL, Moonlight, Dispatch, Cartography, Neomorph, Kamau and Generate:Biomedicines. Dr. Hege received her M.D. at UCSF and her internal medicine and hematology/oncology subspecialty training at Harvard and UCSF, respectively.
About eTIL®
KSQ-001EX, an engineered tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (eTIL) therapy in which TIL are edited to inactivate the SOCS1 gene, and KSQ-004EX, an eTIL therapy in which TIL are edited to inactivate the genes encoding SOCS1 and Regnase-1, have the potential to revolutionize the treatment of solid tumors. In preclinical studies, both therapies demonstrated enhanced anti-tumor function in solid tumor models refractory to PD-1 as well as enhanced persistence and memory formation. Both therapies are manufactured by CTMC using KSQ’s ExPRESS™ process.
About KSQ Therapeutics
KSQ Therapeutics is advancing a pipeline of tumor- and immune-focused drug candidates to treat cancer across multiple drug modalities, including targeted therapies, adoptive cell therapies, and immunotherapies. KSQ’s proprietary CRISPRomics® discovery engine enables genome-scale, in vivo-validated, unbiased target discovery across broad therapeutic areas. For more information, please visit www.ksqtx.com and follow us on LinkedIn and X.
KSQ Media Contact:
Cory Tromblee
cory@scientpr.com
