Delphia Therapeutics has appointed David Kerstein as Chief Medical Officer (CMO). Delphia is a biopharmaceutical company pioneering an innovative new area of cancer biology – activation lethality – that targets cancer’s vulnerability to oncogene overactivation.
Kerstein brings significant experience in oncology drug development across early- and late-stage precision oncology programmes, and commented: “The biology underlying activation lethality represents an exciting, novel and differentiated opportunity in oncology with the potential to address significant unmet patient needs. I am excited to…help advance a pipeline designed to exploit cancer-specific vulnerabilities in entirely new ways.”
Kerstein most recently served as chief medical officer of IDRx, a clinical-stage precision oncology company, before its acquisition by GSK in 2025. Prior to that, he was CMO at Theseus Pharmaceuticals and Anchiano Therapeutics.
Prior to these roles, Kerstein served as senior medical director in oncology clinical research and lung cancer clinical portfolio strategy lead at Takeda, and senior medical director of clinical research at ARIAD Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Takeda in 2017).
Kevin Marks, co-founder, president and CEO of Delphia, said: “David is an accomplished physician-scientist and biotechnology leader with a strong track record of advancing innovative precision oncology therapies through clinical development.
“As we continue to advance activation lethality as a novel therapeutic approach, David’s leadership will be instrumental in shaping our clinical strategy and accelerating the development of potentially transformative therapies for patients with cancer.”