Vera Therapeutics, Inc. , a late clinical-stage biotechnology company developing and commercializing transformative treatments for patients with serious immunologic diseases, today announced the appointments of two industry veterans to help lead the development of the company’s drug programs including its late-stage product candidate, atacicept, to treat autoimmune diseases, currently in a Phase 3 clinical trial for IgA nephropathy (IgAN). The company has appointed Robert M. Brenner, M.D., as Chief Medical Officer to succeed Dr. Celia Lin, M.D.; and William D. Turner as Chief Development Officer, effective immediately.
“We are excited to enrich our leadership team by appointing these two seasoned industry executives. Rob and Bill each have successfully guided multiple therapies through late clinical development, regulatory approval and commercial launch. This is a key moment for Vera as we continue to advance the strategy for our late-stage clinical program,” said Marshall Fordyce, M.D., Chief Executive Officer of Vera Therapeutics. “These executives add valuable experience to the execution of our clinical development program. We appreciate Dr. Lin’s many contributions and leadership developing the Vera pipeline over the past three years and wish her all the best in her future endeavors.”
Dr. Brenner brings more than 25 years of experience as a respected nephrologist and a successful biotechnology executive. Dr. Brenner has previously served in executive roles in several clinical-stage biotech companies, including Chief Medical Officer at Orionis Biosciences and SVP of Medical Affairs at AMAG Pharmaceuticals, contributing to the company’s first therapeutic approval and launch for iron deficiency anemia (Feraheme). Previously, Dr. Brenner held several positions of expanding responsibility in the nephrology franchise at Amgen. During this time, he led kidney related global development programs, and supported two product approvals (Aranesp and Sensapar) and oversaw the establishment of the nephrology medical affairs organization. Dr. Brenner received his B.A. from Johns Hopkins University and his M.D. from Albert Einstein College of Medicine. He completed his medical residency at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and his nephrology fellowship at Stanford University Medical Center.
Mr. Turner has nearly 30 years of drug development and commercialization experience, leading multiple organizations through all phases of product development including the development of the final commercial drug process, method, facility, and process validations, all phases of clinical programs, numerous drug application filings and the transition and establishment of several critical commercialization processes. Prior to joining Vera, Mr. Turner served as the Chief Regulatory and Technical Operations Officer at Sierra Oncology, Inc. (acquired by GSK), overseeing regulatory affairs, quality assurance, technical operations, analytical development/quality control, and technical/medical writing. During this time, he prepared these functional areas for the expected commercial launch, as well as directed the compilation, review and filing of the U.S. New Drug Application (NDA) and European Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) for Ojjaara (momelotinib). Prior to Sierra Oncology, Mr. Turner was Senior Vice President of Technical Operations and Regulatory Science at Aimmune Therapeutics (acquired by Nestlé) for several years culminating in the commercial launch of Palforzia, the first product approved to treat peanut allergy.
SOURCE: GlobeNewswire