HepaRegeniX GmbH hires industry veteran Dr David Shapiro as Senior Medical Advisor

HepaRegeniX GmbH hires industry veteran Dr David Shapiro as
Senior Medical Advisor

Dr David Shapiro brings over 30 years of specialist knowledge in liver disease

Tubingen (Germany), October 20, 2020 - HepaRegeniX GmbH, a preclinical stage company developing novel therapies for the treatment of acute and chronic liver diseases, announced today that Dr David Shapiro will join the company as Senior Medical Advisor.

Dr. Shapiro has over 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Formerly, Dr Shapiro was Chief Medical Officer (CMO) and Head of Research and Development at Intercept Pharmaceuticals from 2007 through 2019. Previously, he was CMO of Idun Pharmaceuticals, acquired by Pfizer in 2005. Before this, Dr. Shapiro was president of the Scripps Medical Research Center of Scripps Clinic and led a highly competitive hypertension clinical research program at MSD Research Laboratories.

Dr. Michael Lutz, CEO of HepaRegeniX, said: "This is an excellent opportunity for HepaRegeniX to benefit from David's extensive experience as a scientist with an exceptional track record and well respected industry leader. David's insight, knowledge and understanding of clinical development, in particular in the liver space, includes the first approved treatment in two decades for primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) and the first positive Phase III trial in Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH). This aligns extremely well with our focus on a new class of therapeutic agents, MKK4 inhibitors, which increase hepatic regeneration as novel therapies to treat both acute and chronic liver diseases, including NASH."

Dr. David Shapiro, Senior Medial Advisor of HepaRegeniX, noted: "These are very exciting times for liver disease physicians and patients, with many innovative therapeutic options to alleviate and abate many indications. This opportunity to be involved with the HepaRegeniX team will be a privilege and the experience of developing this new class of compounds, the MKK4 inhibitors, through clinical trials will be very interesting and hopefully worthwhile for the many patients with liver disease with few therapeutic options."

For further information please contact:
HepaRegeniX GmbH
Dr. Michael Lutz
Chief Executive Officer
+49 7071 639 6731
m.lutz@heparegenix.com

For media inquiries:
MC Services AG
Katja Arnold, Andreas Jungfer
+49 89 210 228-0
heparegenix@mc-services.eu

About HepaRegeniX GmbH

Since its inception in 2017, HepaRegeniX has successfully discovered and developed several preclinical drug candidates for the treatment of acute and chronic liver diseases based on a novel proprietary molecular target Mitogen-Activated Protein (MAP) Kinase 4. MKK4 is a key regulator of liver regeneration and suppression of MKK4 unlocks the regenerative capacity of hepatocytes even in severely diseased livers. This new and unique therapeutic concept for the treatment of liver diseases was discovered by Prof. Lars Zender and his research group at the University Hospital Tubingen, Germany. Investors in HepaRegeniX include the Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund (BIVF), Novo Holdings A/S, Coparion, High-Tech Gruenderfonds and Ascenion GmbH.