25 January 2021 - - US-based biotechnology company KSQ Therapeutics has appointed Qasim Rizvi as chief executive officer, the company said.

Rizvi joins KSQ TODAY as CEO and will also become a member of the company's board of directors.

Rizvi is a healthcare executive with broad experience in the biopharmaceuticals industry and was most recently senior vice president of operations and chief commercial officer at Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals.
Prior to joining KSQ, Rizvi was senior vice president of operations and chief commercial officer at Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals.

He held previous positions at Genentech, where he most recently served as vice president and franchise head of Tecentriq, with commercial responsibilities for Genentech's cancer immunotherapy portfolio.

Earlier, he led Roche's hematology franchise, as VP of global product strategy and lifecycle leader for Hemlibra for hemophilia A. Dr. Rizvi has a record of success in building exceptional teams that deliver results.

He has extensive launch experience in the oncology space; having launched Herceptin, Perjeta and Kadcyla for HER2-positive breast cancer as well as Venclexta for chronic lymphocytic leukemia and Gazyva for follicular lymphoma.

Under his leadership, Rituxan Hycela received FDA approval as the first sub-cutaneous treatment for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Prior to joining Genentech, Dr. Rizvi was at Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, where he served in numerous roles in sales, marketing, business development and new product planning.

Rizvi earned an MB.ChB. from the University of Dundee Medical School in Scotland. He completed his residency in general surgery, including rotations in neurosurgery, orthopedics, ENT and accident and emergency care. He also holds an M.B.A. from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan.

KSQ Therapeutics is advancing a pipeline of tumor- and immune-focused drug candidates for the treatment of cancer across multiple drug modalities including targeted therapies, adoptive cell therapies and immuno-therapies.

KSQ's proprietary CRISPRomics discovery engine enables genome-scale, in vivo validated, unbiased drug discovery across broad therapeutic areas. KSQ was founded by thought leaders in the field of functional genomics and pioneers of CRISPR screening technologies.