Immuno-Oncology experts Zhen Su and Kristen Hege discuss the latest in the field and preview #SITC24

Dr. Su and Dr. Hege talk about solving the cell therapy solid tumor challenge, the latest in bi-specifics, her recent hike of the Pacific Crest Trail for charity, and a preview of the upcoming SITC annual meeting in November.

The Experts:

Zhen Su, MD: As CEO of Marengo Therapeutics and a director of the company’s board, Zhen Su brings nearly three decades of experience as a physician-scientist and biopharma executive, with expertise in building and leading both R&D and commercial organizations. During his tenure at Marengo, Zhen has led the team’s progressing the company’s lead asset into clinical trials, grown its leading-edge pipeline, and established a $2.8B strategic partnership with Ipsen. Zhen is also the Founding Chair for the Biotech Committee of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) and was recently appointed to the Board of Directors at Karyopharm Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ: KPTI), CytomX Therapeutics (NASDAQ: CTMX) and Galvanize Therapeutics.

Prior to joining Marengo, Zhen served as Senior Vice President and Global Head of Oncology Business Francise for Merck KGaA, where he led the franchise’s turnaround to achieve double-digit organic growth and an annual revenue above $1B. In this role, he also successfully expanded the oncology portfolio including key alliance partnerships with Pfizer ($2.8B), GSK ($4.2B), and Debiopharm ($1.1B). In his earlier role as Chief Medical Officer of EMD Serono, he played an instrumental role in 8 major regulatory approvals across different therapeutic areas across Oncology and Neurology for Bavencio®, Tepmetko®, Erbitux®, and Mavenclad®. He also held leadership roles with increasing responsibilities at Sanofi Oncology for Taxotere® and Jevtana® and GlaxoSmithKline in Oncology, Respiratory and Urology.

Before his industry career, Zhen served on the faculty of Duke University Medical School as an Assistant Professor, where he led early clinical studies focusing on mRNA-based and cell-based immunotherapy in Oncology, and then the University of Florida, where he was the director of the Cell and Gene Therapy program. He is the author of more than 60 publications in immuno-oncology and targeted oncology.

Zhen earned his M.D. from the Technical University of Dresden, completed his post-doctoral training in Cancer Immunotherapy at Duke University Medical Center, and received an MBA from the University of Toronto.

Kristen Hege, MD: Dr. Hege retired from Bristol Myers Squibb in March of 2023. In her role as SVP Early Clinical Development, Hematology/Oncology & Cell Therapy, she was responsible for advancing a pipeline of small molecules, biologics and cell therapies from first-in-human studies through clinical proof-of-concept. In addition, she led the 2Seventybio (formerly bluebird)-partnered BCMA CART 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.

In addition, Dr. Hege spent over two decades as a part time clinical faculty member in the division of hematology at the Univ. California, San Francisco (UCSF), most recently as Clinical Professor of Medicine. She also serves on the Board of Directors of Mersana Therapeutics and Graphite Bio and served on the Board of Directors of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) for a 3-year term from 2016-2019. Additional SITC activities have included the following roles: member of the SITC Executive Council, member of the Finance Committee, co-chair of the annual Women in Immunotherapy Network Leadership Institute conference, co-chair of the Cell Therapy Strategic Task Force, co-organizer of the Deep Dive Seminar Series, Sparkathon Faculty, Associate Editor of JITC, and co-chair of the Industry Committee.

Dr. Hege received her MD at UCSF and internal medicine and hematology/oncology subspecialty training at Harvard and UCSF, respectively. In 2015 she was recognized by Fierce Biotech as one of the top 12 women in Biopharma, in 2019 by the Healthcare Businesswomen’s Association as a “Luminary”, in 2021 by San Francisco Business Times as one of the most influential women in Bay Area business, and in 2022 by UCSD with the Duane Roth Career Achievement Award for advances in science and medicine. Her career path and long history with CAR T cell development was featured as one of 25 physicians and scientists recognized as part of the 25th anniversary celebration of Nature Medicine and by Forbes magazine in 2022 as one of “50 women over 50: entrepreneurs” in recognition of her leadership role in the development of Abecma.