Kenneth Hess

Prior to joining Volastra, Ken worked in business development at I-Mab Biopharma, where he led oncology search & evaluation for the US and EU. Additional responsibilities included leading due diligences, commercial/financial analyses, and negotiation of partnership opportunities.

Prior to I-Mab, Ken held business development positions at Otsuka Pharma and Purdue Pharma, contributing to both scientific and commercial evaluations of assets of all stages (preclinical to marketed).

Ken began his career as a consultant at Defined Health (subsequently Cello Health and Lumanity), supporting biopharmaceutical and investment firms across therapeutic areas on a variety of strategic project types including opportunity assessments, indication prioritizations, gap analyses, and licensing scans.

Ken holds a B.A. in economics from Franklin & Marshall College, a Ph.D. in pharmacology from the Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences, and an MBA from the S.C. Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University.