star-platform
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Marengo Therapeutics
Marengo Therapeutics is a Cambridge, Massachusetts clinical-stage biotech reprogramming the immune system from the inside out. Instead of releasing the brakes on T cells the way checkpoint inhibitors do, Marengo's STAR (Selective T Cell Activation Repertoire) platform builds antibody-fusion molecules that target variable regions of the T cell receptor (Vβ) to selectively wake up the specific subsets of T cells that can attack tumors - and remember them. Launched in 2021 with $80M from Apple Tree Partners, its lead drug invikafusp alfa (STAR0602) is in Phase 1/2 trials, has earned FDA Fast Track designation, and is being studied across cancers that no longer respond to PD-1 therapy.
Zhen Su
Zhen Su is the CEO of Marengo Therapeutics, a Cambridge biotech reprogramming T cells to wake up the immune system against cancer. A physician-scientist with nearly three decades in oncology, he ran a billion-dollar global cancer franchise at Merck KGaA, helped deliver eight regulatory approvals as CMO of EMD Serono, and now steers Marengo's STAR platform into the clinic on the back of a $2.8B Ipsen partnership.