BRISBANE, Calif., June 11, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Vera Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: VERA), a late clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing and commercializing transformative treatments for patients with serious immunological diseases, today announced the appointment of Christy J. Oliger to its board of directors, effective June 7, 2024. Ms. Oliger brings over 30 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, including being recognized for building highly effective teams and leading significant commercial product launches.

“We are delighted to welcome Christy to our Board during this important period in Vera’s history. Her extensive experience and counsel will be a valuable resource for the executive team as we advance the development of atacicept for the treatment of IgAN and begin planning for atacicept’s potential commercial launch,” said Marshall Fordyce, M.D., Founder and CEO of Vera Therapeutics.

Ms. Oliger currently serves on multiple public company boards, including Karyopharm Therapeutics, Replimune Group, and LAVA Therapeutics. She previously served on the boards of Sierra Oncology until its acquisition by GSK in 2022, Reata Pharmaceuticals until its acquisition by Biogen in 2023, and RayzeBio until its acquisition by Bristol Myers Squibb in 2024. In her most recent operational role, Ms. Oliger served as Genentech’s Senior Vice President, Oncology Business Unit Head from 2017 to 2020. During her tenure at Genentech, she held senior commercial leadership roles across a variety of therapeutic areas, including oncology, neurology, rare disease, respiratory, dermatology, and immunology. In addition, while at Genentech Ms. Oliger held senior R&D roles, including leading the Roche global portfolio management function. Ms. Oliger holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of California at Santa Barbara.

About Vera

Vera Therapeutics is a late clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing treatments for serious immunological diseases. Vera’s mission is to advance treatments that target the source of immunological diseases in order to change the standard of care for patients. Vera’s lead product candidate is atacicept, a fusion protein self-administered as a subcutaneous injection once weekly that blocks both B-cell Activating Factor (BAFF) and A PRoliferation-Inducing Ligand (APRIL), which stimulate B cells and plasma cells to produce autoantibodies contributing to certain autoimmune diseases, including IgAN, also known as Berger’s disease, and lupus nephritis. In addition, Vera is evaluating additional diseases where the reduction of autoantibodies by atacicept may prove medically useful. Vera is also developing MAU868, a monoclonal antibody designed to neutralize infection with BK virus (BKV), a polyomavirus that can have devastating consequences in certain settings such as kidney transplant. Vera retains all global developmental and commercial rights to atacicept and MAU868. For more information, please visit www.veratx.com.

Forward-looking Statements

Statements contained in this press release regarding matters, events or results that may occur in the future are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements include statements regarding, among other things, Vera’s plans to commercially launch atacicept and Vera’s product candidates, strategy, and regulatory matters. Because such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Words such as “potential,” “will,” “may,” “plan,” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon Vera’s current expectations and involve assumptions that may never materialize or may prove to be incorrect. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements as a result of various risks and uncertainties, which include, without limitation, risks related to the regulatory approval process, results of earlier clinical trials may not be obtained in later clinical trials, preliminary results may not be predictive of topline results, risks and uncertainties associated with Vera’s business in general, the impact of macroeconomic and geopolitical events, and the other risks described in Vera’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements contained in this press release speak only as of the date on which they were made and are based on management’s assumptions and estimates as of such date. Vera undertakes no obligation to update such statements to reflect events that occur or circumstances that exist after the date on which they were made, except as required by law.

For more information, please contact:

Investor Contact:
Joyce Allaire
LifeSci Advisors
212-915-2569
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Media Contact:
Mari Purpura
LifeSci Advisors
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