Chinook Therapeutics Announces the Appointment of Andrew Oxtoby as Chief Commercial Officer

SEATTLE, Feb. 15, 2023 (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 Andrew Oxtoby as chief commercial officer.

“We are pleased to welcome Andrew to Chinook as we prepare for a year of important milestones for our atrasentan and BION-1301 programs,” said Eric Dobmeier, president and chief executive officer of Chinook Therapeutics. “Andrew is an accomplished industry leader with more than 20 years of global biopharmaceutical experience and a proven track record of building commercial strategies and executing numerous product launches. He will be a valuable addition to the Chinook team as we advance our pipeline and build out our commercial capabilities for atrasentan and future pipeline programs.”

Andrew has over two decades of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry, including extensive global experience involving numerous product launches across a wide array of therapeutic areas. He joins Chinook from Aimmune Therapeutics, where he most recently served as president and CEO and led the organization’s integration into its new parent company, Nestlé Health Science, and expanded Aimmune’s portfolio and therapeutic focus beyond food allergy into disease states related to gastrointestinal conditions. Prior to his role as president and CEO, he served as Aimmune’s chief commercial officer with a focus on building the company’s commercial organization in both the United States and Europe. Before joining Aimmune, Andrew spent 16 years at Eli Lilly and Company where he was responsible for Lilly’s U.S. insulin business as vice president of U.S. Diabetes Connected Care and Insulins, after previously serving as vice president of U.S. diabetes sales. His previous roles at Lilly include vice president of the international oncology business, general manager of the Netherlands operation as well as positions of increasing responsibility in finance, marketing and sales in the U.S. and Europe. Andrew holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University. He currently serves on the board of Damien Center, a non-profit organization providing support and services to people living with HIV in central Indiana.

“I'm excited for the opportunity to join Chinook at a pivotal time for the company and contribute to the late-stage development of potentially best-in-class therapies for rare, severe and chronic kidney diseases while making a meaningful impact on patients in an underserved disease area,” said Andrew Oxtoby, chief commercial officer of Chinook Therapeutics. “With a significant year ahead, I look forward to leading Chinook’s commercial efforts by building and growing a strong team to advance Chinook’s mission to change the course of kidney care for patients with high unmet need.”

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 proteinuric glomerular diseases. BION-1301, an anti-APRIL monoclonal antibody, is being evaluated in a phase 1/2 trial for IgA nephropathy. CHK-336, an oral small molecule LDHA inhibitor for the treatment of hyperoxalurias, is being evaluated in a phase 1 clinical trial in healthy volunteers. In addition, Chinook’s research and discovery efforts are focused on building a pipeline of precision medicines for rare, severe chronic kidney diseases with defined genetic and molecular drivers. Chinook is leveraging insights from kidney single cell RNA sequencing and large CKD patient cohorts that have been comprehensively panomically phenotyped, with retained biosamples and prospective clinical follow-up, to discover and develop therapeutic candidates with mechanisms of action targeted 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 cash forecasts and timing of initiation and results of clinical trials, and regulatory submissions, including the timing of the results of our phase 3 ALIGN trial and phase 2 AFFINITY trial of atrasentan, phase 1 clinical trial of CHK-336, and submission for potential accelerated approval. 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 or other strategic collaborations, 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 and macroeconomic conditions 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.