Biotechnology company Solu Therapeutics announced on Tuesday the appointment of Sergio Santillana, MD, MSc, MBA, as its new chief medical officer.

In this role Dr Santillana will manage strategic direction and execution in the company's clinical development programmes, leading its efforts and teams in clinical operations, clinical research, regulatory affairs, pharmacovigilance, biometrics and medical affairs. He will also help shape Solu's long-term R&D strategy, guiding the transition of early-stage discoveries into clinical-stage programmes, and developing these programmes across all phases of drug development.

Dr Santillana has more than 30 years of clinical experience and over 20 years working to develop novel oncology therapies, which includes small molecules, monoclonal antibodies and bispecific antibodies. He has served as chief medical officer at Ikena Oncology, Merrimack Pharmaceuticals and Ariad Pharmaceuticals, and held several leadership roles at Eli Lilly, GlaxoSmithKline and Takeda Pharmaceuticals.