Rivus Pharmaceuticals Inc., a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company dedicated to improving cardiometabolic health, today announced the appointment of Jayson Dallas, M.D., executive chairman for Rivus Pharmaceuticals, as Chief Executive Officer. Allen Cunningham, who previously held the post, will transition to the role of Chief Operating Officer. In this role, Allen will continue to drive day-to-day operations and clinical development of the company’s lead candidate HU6, a first-in-class controlled metabolic accelerator (CMA) designed to treat serious cardiometabolic diseases.
“I have been highly impressed by Rivus’ differentiated pipeline, the strength of the company’s team and operations, and the scientific rigor underlying our trial designs,” said Dr. Dallas, CEO, Rivus Pharmaceuticals. “I’m honored to now step into this role as Chief Executive and more directly apply my experience, in partnership with Allen and the Rivus team, to advance our programs and business, and deliver on our mission to bring next generation therapies for cardiometabolic disease to the millions of patients who need them.”
Rivus is advancing a new class of therapies, called Controlled Metabolic Accelerators (CMAs), designed to address excess fat and treat a broad range of cardiometabolic diseases by safely leveraging a natural metabolic process called mitochondrial uncoupling. CMAs provide a novel, measured approach to activating this natural process, resulting in weight loss, reduction of HbA1c, and reduction of liver fat while preserving skeletal muscle mass. Rivus is currently enrolling a Phase 2a clinical trial evaluating its lead candidate HU6 to treat obese participants with HFpEF and will begin to enroll a Phase 2b trial to treat obese participants with type 2 diabetes at risk of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) later this summer.
“This is an exciting moment in time for Rivus. We have solid early clinical data supporting the use of HU6, to treat a broad range of cardiometabolic conditions and Phase 2 clinical trials in obese patients with HFpEF and type 2 diabetes will enroll this year, with data readouts anticipated next year,” said Mr. Allen Cunningham, COO, Rivus Pharmaceuticals. “Jayson has been a partner and advisor to me and to the team for the past two years and brings considerable experience in building and scaling companies, navigating public markets, strategic partnerships and commercialization strategy. I am looking forward to elevating that relationship and to supporting the company and pipeline in this next phase of growth and development.”
Dr. Dallas has served as executive chairman of the board of Rivus Pharmaceuticals since April 2021. He previously was President and Chief Executive Officer of Aimmune Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing treatments for potentially life-threatening food allergies. Prior to joining Aimmune, he served as the first Chief Commercial Officer and Executive Vice President of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical, Inc., a publicly held biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel products for rare and ultra-rare diseases. Before joining Ultragenyx, Dr. Dallas served as General Manager of Roche, and held senior management roles at Genentech. Dr. Dallas holds an M.D. from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa and an M.B.A. from Ashridge Business School in the United Kingdom. Dr. Dallas also serves on the Boards of Galecto Inc. and Antag Pharmaceuticals.
About HU6 and CMAs
HU6 is a Controlled Metabolic Accelerator (CMA) that provides a novel, measured approach to activating mitochondrial uncoupling, a natural process in the body by which the body generates heat. By ferrying protons out of the mitochondrial intermembrane space, CMAs cue the increased oxidation of sugars and fats, while maintaining the same baseline production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Activating this process results in the reduction of accumulated fat and sugars throughout the body, while preserving and restoring skeletal muscle mass.
About Rivus Pharmaceuticals
Rivus Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leader in mitochondrial biology, is dedicated to improving cardiometabolic health by advancing a new class of medicines, Controlled Metabolic Accelerators (CMAs). Harnessing a natural metabolic process, CMAs target a significant risk factor for these diseases – obesity, the result of excess fat accumulation in the body. Rivus’ first-in-class small molecule therapy, HU6, represents a tremendous opportunity to empower patients on their journey to better health when facing a broad range of conditions, including obesity, heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), type 2 diabetes, and Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)/ metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH). For more information, please visit www.rivuspharma.com.
