Date: 2018-09-11
Type of information: Nomination
Compound: president and chief executive officer
Company: Akero Therapeutics (USA - CA)
Therapeutic area: Liver diseases - Hepatic diseases
Type agreement: nomination
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Disease:
Details:
- • On September 11, 2018, Akero Therapeutics, a biotechnology company developing transformational treatments for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and other serious metabolic diseases, announced the appointment of biotech industry veteran, Andrew Cheng, MD, PhD, as President and Chief Executive Officer.
- Dr. Cheng joins Akero Therapeutics after nearly two decades at Gilead Sciences where he most recently was Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President. Dr. Cheng will be based in San Francisco, which will become Akero’s new headquarters. Co-founder and former CEO Jonathan Young, JD, PhD, will serve as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.
- Dr. Cheng joined Gilead Sciences in 1999 and was responsible for leading the clinical development for Gilead’s HIV/AIDS programs, most recently as Chief Medical Officer. During his tenure, he also led the company’s development operations, which covered clinical research support in multiple therapeutic areas including oncology, inflammatory, respiratory and cardiovascular indications as well as HIV and liver diseases. Dr. Cheng received his bachelor’s degree from the Johns Hopkins University and an MD and PhD in Cellular and Molecular Biology from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. He is board certified in Internal Medicine.
- Akero’s lead program (AKR-001) is a long-acting fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) analogue to treat NASH. In June, the company announced it raised a $65M Series A round from Apple Tree Partners, Atlas Venture, venBio Partners and Versant Ventures and in-licensed AKR-001 from Amgen. Akero plans to advance the compound into Phase 2 clinical studies for NASH in mid-2019 and evaluate its potential to treat other serious metabolic diseases.
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