CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Delphia Therapeutics, Inc. has appointed Stephen (Steve) Kelsey, M.D., MB ChB, FRCP, FRCPath, a veteran oncology physician-scientist and drug developer, to its board of directors. Dr. Kelsey currently serves as president of research and development at Revolution Medicines.
Kevin Marks, Ph.D., co-founder, president and CEO of Delphia, said the company will benefit from Dr. Kelsey’s long record of leadership in advancing cancer therapeutics through early development and regulatory approval. “Steve’s deep expertise across oncology research, early clinical development and organizational leadership makes him an exceptional addition to our board,” Marks said. “His track record of advancing transformational cancer medicines—from first-in-human studies through approval—will be invaluable as Delphia advances its pipeline and evolves into a clinical-stage company. I look forward to working closely with him as we continue to build a field-defining platform in activation lethality and advance our programs.”
Dr. Kelsey said Delphia’s approach aligns with a pivotal new direction in cancer biology. “Activation lethality represents a powerful new approach to exploiting the inherent vulnerabilities of oncogene-driven cancers, and Delphia’s scientific foundation and leadership team position the company to make a major impact,” he said. “This approach may open the door to novel therapeutic strategies that could reshape how oncogenic pathways are controlled, with the potential to achieve deeper and more sustained responses for patients. I look forward to supporting the team as it advances its programs toward clinical development and continues to build this important new area of cancer medicine.”
Before joining Revolution Medicines in 2017, Dr. Kelsey served as president of Onkaido Therapeutics, a Moderna venture focused on oncology mRNA therapeutics. Earlier in his career, he held senior roles at Medivation and Geron, leading programs in innovative cancer drug development. At Genentech, where he served as vice president of hematology/oncology, he built the exploratory clinical development group and contributed to the development of Perjeta, Kadcyla and Erivedge.
Dr. Kelsey began his industry career at Pharmacia/SUGEN, where he led early clinical development and the proof-of-concept work for sunitinib (Sutent) in GIST tumors, supporting its eventual approval following the company’s acquisition by Pfizer. Prior to his work in industry, he was a senior lecturer in hematology/oncology at St. Bartholomews and the Royal London School of Medicine and Dentistry, director of the hematology/oncology Phase 1/2 clinical trials unit, and head of the Bone Marrow Transplant unit.
He holds MB ChB and M.D. degrees from the University of Birmingham in the U.K. and is a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London and the Royal College of Pathologists in the U.K.
