Velia Therapeutics Announces Appointment of Veteran Drug Developer, John McHutchison, AO, MD as President and Chief Executive Officer

• Dr. McHutchison is a world-renowned physician, scientist, and drug developer who has led the research and development of numerous marketed therapies for chronic hepatitis B (HBV), chronic hepatitis C (HCV) and multiple other serious diseases.
• Dr. McHutchison is the former CEO and President at Assembly Biosciences, and a noted biotech industry leader with extensive executive experience.
• He joins Shelly Meeusen, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer and Velia's scientific co-founders; Eric Olson, PhD, Alan Saghatelian, PhD, Richard Scheller, PhD and Jonathan Weissman, PhD.

SAN DIEGO, July 19, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Velia Inc. a biotechnology company pioneering the therapeutic potential within the dark matter of the human proteome, backed by The Column Group and Foresite Capital, today announced the appointment of industry leader John McHutchison, AO, MD as President and Chief Executive Officer. Dr. McHutchison will work alongside Velia's Chief Scientific Officer (CSO), Shelly Meeusen, PhD, and her scientific team as they deploy Velia's state of the art discovery platform to identify and uncover the therapeutic potential of novel microproteins.

"We're thrilled to welcome John and benefit from his incredible experience and success bringing forward important new medicines," stated Dr. Meeusen. "I could not ask for a better partner to help guide Velia's formidable discovery engine towards the most promising therapeutic opportunities.  We look forward to uncovering the extraordinary potential of this new field together."

Dr. McHutchison is an internationally recognized and accomplished industry leader and drug developer. As the former CSO and Head of Research & Development for Gilead Sciences and subsequently the CEO and President at Assembly Biosciences, Dr. McHutchison brings decades of executive leadership and experience in developing novel therapeutics. He spearheaded numerous New Drug Applications (NDAs) and supplemental label updates across multiple therapeutic areas, including treatments for chronic HBV, and the curative treatment regimens for chronic HCV.  Collectively, these therapeutics represent some of the most successful drug launches in the pharmaceutical industry and most importantly, have helped treat and cure millions of patients world wide.

"I am excited to join the Velia team, a company with enormous potential, and a groundbreaking approach to developing a new field of therapeutic targets," said Dr. McHutchison. "The strength and breadth of our founders and our scientific team in combination with the unparalleled science we are exploring gives me confidence that we are going to treat serious diseases in transformational ways." 

Millie Ray, PhD, Board Director at Velia, added, "We are extremely fortunate to have John join us at Velia. His leadership skills in small and large companies, and his track record coupled with Velia's exceptionally talented team, will no doubt drive novel discoveries to once again positively impact patients."

About Velia

Founded in 2021, Velia builds upon the seminal work of its scientific founders to explore the rich biology of the human microproteome. The company's innovative discovery platform deploys cutting edge technologies, computational biology, and advanced automation to mine the dark matter of the human proteome for novel therapeutic targets. Founders - Eric Olson, PhD, Alan Saghatelian, PhD, Richard Scheller, PhD and Jonathan Weissman, PhD – have built technologies to identify novel protein coding sequences hidden within the human genome. Their groundbreaking work highlights both the magnitude and extent of the biology contained within the microproteome. To date, Velia has identified thousands of microproteins and the list continues to grow. Current focus areas for the Velia discovery engine are auto-immunity and oncology, with the potential to expand to numerous other therapeutic areas. Ongoing efforts are aimed at prioritizing disease drivers in order to have the most significant impact on human health.

For more information about Velia, the management team and our founders, please visit www.veliatx.com and engage with us on LinkedIn.

SOURCE Velia