SAN MATEO, Calif. & SHANGHAI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 17, 2019

Terns Pharmaceuticals Inc., a global biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing molecularly targeted, oral, small-molecule drugs to treat NASH and cancer, announced today the appointment of Erin Quirk, M.D. as Chief Medical Officer (CMO). Dr. Quirk brings more than two decades of clinical medicine and drug development experience, most recently serving as Vice President of Clinical Research at Gilead Sciences.

“Erin is a highly accomplished clinician with an extensive track record in developing and registering new treatments for infectious diseases and liver diseases. Her expertise will be invaluable as we advance our portfolio of NASH drugs, including TERN-101, TERN-201, and future pipeline candidates, through the clinic,” said Weidong Zhong, Ph.D., President and CEO of Terns. “We are delighted to have Erin join us at this critical time in our company’s growth, as her proven leadership and background in both early and late-stage drug development make her well suited to lead the growing Terns clinical development team.”

Dr. Quirk commented, “I am excited to be a part of this dedicated team focused on developing treatments for NASH, which currently has no approved treatments. I look forward to leveraging my clinical development background to advance these important drug candidates.”

Previously Dr. Quirk was Vice President, Clinical Research at Gilead Sciences where she oversaw all phases of clinical development for Gilead’s HIV treatment, prevention and cure franchise and was responsible for strategy and life-cycle maintenance for the company’s HIV portfolio, advancing multiple compounds and combination products into clinical development and through the approval process. She also led the clinical development of small molecules within Gilead’s emerging and neglected viral diseases portfolio, including antivirals for Ebola virus disease. Prior to joining Gilead, Dr. Quirk was Director of Clinical Research at Merck where she advanced clinical trials for Merck’s investigational HIV vaccine products and oversaw the clinical development of small molecules for hepatitis C virus infection. Dr. Quirk holds an MD from the University of Colorado and completed training in internal medicine and infectious diseases at Washington University in St. Louis where she was a faculty member prior to joining the pharmaceutical industry.

About Terns Pharmaceuticals

Based in San Mateo, CA., and Shanghai, China, Terns Pharmaceuticals is a global biopharmaceutical company committed to discovering and developing molecularly targeted, oral, small molecule drugs to treat liver disease and cancer. The company combines expertise in disease biology, medicinal chemistry and extensive clinical development capabilities in China to advance its growing pipeline of drugs that are optimized against clinically validated targets or targets that have significant preclinical validation. Using a capital-efficient drug discovery model, the company’s mission is to bring promising new therapies to patients in underserved markets via global and region-specific development programs. Terns plans to focus initial development activities on regulatory approval in China and explore clinical development in additional global markets. For more information, visit www.TernsPharma.com.

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