• Dr. Gaggar is an experienced industry executive with substantial infectious disease expertise and proven record of successfully leading early- and clinical-stage antiviral programs

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Nov. 08, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Assembly Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: ASMB), a biotechnology company developing innovative antiviral therapeutics targeting serious viral diseases, today announced that Anuj Gaggar, MD, PhD, has joined the company as chief medical officer. Dr. Gaggar is an infectious disease specialist and seasoned executive whose experience has focused on the development of new therapies in viral diseases including chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV) and hepatitis D virus (HDV) infections.

“We are excited to have Dr. Gaggar join Assembly Bio’s leadership team at an incredibly important time for the organization,” said Jason Okazaki, chief executive officer and president. “Anuj’s depth and breadth of experience in successfully developing life-changing antiviral therapies will be instrumental to executing on our plans to have four portfolio compounds in the clinic in 2024, with the goal of improving the lives of patients suffering from herpesviruses and viral hepatitis.”

“I am thrilled to join Assembly Bio in its commitment to bringing next-generation antiviral treatments to patients,” said Dr. Gaggar. “The programs targeted to be in the clinic next year—two long-acting helicase-primase inhibitors for herpes simplex virus, next-generation capsid assembly modulator ABI-4334 for the treatment of HBV, and orally bioavailable HDV entry inhibitor ABI-6250—offer the potential to improve therapeutic options for patients in areas with significant unmet medical need. I look forward to working with the strong scientific organization at Assembly Bio to advance these programs.”

Dr. Gaggar joins from Arrive Bio, a private early-stage biotechnology company that he co-founded and served as chief executive officer. Prior to Arrive Bio, Dr. Gaggar served for almost 10 years as a senior member of the Gilead Sciences clinical research team where he was responsible for scientific clinical development strategy and execution. As vice president, clinical research, he led the HBV cure development program, including the design and execution of global clinical trials and was the project lead for early development programs and HBV translational studies. Dr. Gaggar also contributed to the registrational studies for Vemlidy^® (tenofovir alafenamide), Sovaldi^® (sofosbuvir) and Veklury^® (remdesivir) and served as project team lead for a portfolio of approved HCV therapeutics. He is widely published in basic and clinical virology with more than 95 publications.

Dr. Gaggar was a clinical fellow in infectious diseases at the University of California, San Francisco, where he also served as chief resident. He received his MD and PhD from the University of Washington and his BS in chemistry from Stanford University.

About Assembly Biosciences

Assembly Biosciences is a biotechnology company dedicated to the development of innovative small-molecule antiviral therapeutics designed to change the path of serious viral diseases and improve the lives of patients worldwide. Led by an accomplished team of leaders in virologic drug development, Assembly Bio is committed to improving outcomes for patients struggling with the serious, chronic impacts of herpesvirus, hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis delta virus (HDV) infections. For more information, visit assemblybio.com. 

Forward-Looking Statements

The information in this press release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to materially differ. These risks and uncertainties include: Assembly Bio’s ability to realize the potential benefits of its collaboration with Gilead, including all financial aspects of the collaboration and equity investments; Assembly Bio’s ability to initiate and complete clinical studies involving its therapeutic product candidates, including studies contemplated by Assembly Bio’s collaboration with Gilead, in the currently anticipated timeframes or at all; the occurrence of any event, change or other circumstance that could give rise to the termination of Assembly Bio’s collaboration with Gilead; safety and efficacy data from clinical or nonclinical studies may not warrant further development of Assembly Bio’s product candidates; clinical and nonclinical data presented at conferences may not differentiate Assembly Bio’s product candidates from other companies’ candidates; results of nonclinical studies may not be representative of disease behavior in a clinical setting and may not be predictive of the outcomes of clinical studies; and other risks identified from time to time in Assembly Bio’s reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC). You are urged to consider statements that include the words may, will, would, could, should, might, believes, hopes, estimates, projects, potential, expects, plans, anticipates, intends, continues, forecast, designed, goal or the negative of those words or other comparable words to be uncertain and forward-looking. Assembly Bio intends such forward-looking statements to be covered by the safe harbor provisions contained in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. More information about Assembly Bio’s risks and uncertainties are more fully detailed under the heading “Risk Factors” in Assembly Bio’s filings with the SEC, including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K. Except as required by law, Assembly Bio assumes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

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