SEATTLE, Jan. 24, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Chinook Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: KDNY), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of precision medicines for kidney diseases, today announced the appointment of Charlotte Jones-Burton, M.D., M.S. as senior vice president of product development and strategy.
“We are pleased to welcome Charlotte to Chinook as we continue to advance the clinical development of atrasentan and BION-1301 for IgA nephropathy and prepare to initiate the phase 1 trial of CHK-336 in healthy volunteers for primary hyperoxaluria,” said Eric Dobmeier, president and chief executive officer of Chinook Therapeutics. “Charlotte’s expertise as a practicing nephrologist and renal disease drug developer, as well as her dedication to creating healthier communities through patient advocacy and empowerment of underserved patient groups, will be instrumental to Chinook as we develop our pipeline of precision medicines for kidney diseases.”
Dr. Jones-Burton joins Chinook from Otsuka Pharmaceuticals, where she most recently served as vice president of global clinical development and head of nephrology. She has spent over a decade in the pharmaceutical industry, including at Bristol-Myers Squibb and Merck, where she led clinical trial development for multiple medicines across various disease areas including cardiovascular and renal diseases. Dr. Jones-Burton is active in numerous professional associations and organizations, and she founded and serves as president of Women of Color in Pharma (WOCIP), a non-profit professional society focused on transforming the pharmaceutical landscape for women of color. Dr. Jones-Burton has also received awards from PharmaVoice and MM&M, and was awarded the first ever Global Icon Award by WOCIP. Dr. Jones-Burton’s post-graduate training includes an internal medicine residency and nephrology fellowship at the University of Maryland Medical Systems. She holds an M.D. and an M.S. in epidemiology and preventive medicine, with a concentration in clinical research, from the University of Maryland School of Medicine and an undergraduate degree from Washington University in St. Louis.
“I am excited to join Chinook and contribute to the company’s mission to develop precision medicines for patients diagnosed with rare, severe chronic kidney diseases,” said Dr. Jones-Burton. “I am particularly drawn to Chinook’s intense focus on developing best-in-class therapies and desire to advance equity in an area with documented health disparities. I look forward to collaborating with the Chinook team and embracing their willingness to take on big challenges with urgency, rigor and creativity.”
About Chinook Therapeutics, Inc.
Chinook Therapeutics, Inc. is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing precision medicines for kidney diseases. Chinook’s product candidates are being investigated in rare, severe chronic kidney disorders with opportunities for well-defined clinical pathways. Chinook’s lead program is atrasentan, a phase 3 endothelin receptor antagonist for the treatment of IgA nephropathy and other proteinuric glomerular diseases. BION-1301, an anti-APRIL monoclonal antibody is being evaluated in a phase 1/2 trial for IgA nephropathy. In addition, Chinook is advancing CHK-336, an oral small molecule LDHA inhibitor for the treatment of primary hyperoxaluria, as well as research programs for other rare, severe chronic kidney diseases. Chinook is building its pipeline by leveraging insights in kidney single cell RNA sequencing, human-derived organoids and new translational models, to discover and develop therapeutics with differentiating mechanisms of action against key kidney disease pathways. To learn more, visit www.chinooktx.com.
Cautionary Note on Forward-Looking Statements
Certain of the statements made in this press release are forward looking, including those relating to Chinook’s business, future operations, advancement of its product candidates and product pipeline, clinical development of its product candidates, including expectations regarding the advancement of its products and the timing of initiation and results of clinical trials. In some cases, you can identify these statements by forward-looking words such as “may,” “will,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “could,” “project,” “expect” or the negative or plural of these words or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those anticipated, including, but not limited to, our ability to develop and commercialize our product candidates, including initiation of clinical trials of our existing product candidates or those developed as part of the Evotec collaboration, whether results of early clinical trials or preclinical studies will be indicative of the results of future trials, our ability to obtain and maintain regulatory approval of our product candidates, our ability to operate in a competitive industry and compete successfully against competitors that may be more advanced or have greater resources than we do, our ability to obtain and adequately protect intellectual property rights for our product candidates and the effects of COVID-19 on our clinical programs and business operations. Many of these risks are described in greater detail in our filings with the SEC. Any forward-looking statements in this press release speak only as of the date of this press release. Chinook assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date of this press release.
