SAN DIEGO– MBrace™ Therapeutics, Inc. (“MBrace”), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company devoted to improving the lives of patients with cancer by developing novel antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), today announced the appointment of Steve Alley, Ph.D., as chief scientific officer. Dr. Alley joins MBrace with over 20 years of experience at Seagen, a world-leader in ADCs that was acquired by Pfizer in 2023.
“We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Alley to the MBrace team. Dr. Alley has exceptional expertise in ADC development, and his vision will undoubtedly help propel the progress for our discovery and clinical programs,” said Isan Chen, M.D., president and chief executive officer at MBrace Therapeutics. “Dr. Alley’s proven track record for strategically prioritizing and advancing the development candidates, the clinical and commercial activities in an organization that experienced rapid growth during his tenure aligns with our commitment to innovation and will be pivotal to the development of our pipeline and investigational ADC, MBRC-101, currently in Phase 1 studies.”
Dr. Alley joins MBrace Therapeutics from Seagen where he served as executive director, translational sciences. At Seagen, Dr. Alley played an integral role in the company’s exponential growth, assuming various leadership roles in both research and development, and most recently leading a cross-functional team in translational sciences, nurturing a culture of innovation and collaboration within development program teams. In a previous development role, Dr. Alley led the bioanalysis and DMPK groups. In earlier research roles, Dr. Alley contributed to the development of the Seagen ADC technology platform and led the cross-functional team that discovered the Seagen Sugar Engineered Antibody technology platform.
Prior to Seagen, Dr. Alley held a position in the Research Biology Department at Pathogenesis, Inc., which was later purchased by Chiron Corporation. Steve received his B.A. in Chemistry from Linfield College in McMinnville, Oregon, his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of Washington and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in chemistry at The Pennsylvania State University.
“After a 20-year career at Seagen during a time of tremendous growth and its transformation from a clinical-stage company to a leading global commercial organization, I was attracted to the opportunity to lead the scientific efforts for this promising, early-stage biotech whose SPARTA technology holds tremendous potential to identify new cancer targets and transform the treatment paradigm for a variety of cancers,” said Dr. Steve Alley, chief scientific officer at MBrace. “I am incredibly impressed with MBrace’s ability to bring a novel ADC into the clinic as quickly as they did with such a small, talented team of individuals. Further, I am honored to assume this important role in overseeing and advancing MBrace’s scientific discovery efforts and pipeline programs, as well as overseeing the scientific progress.”
