Chinook is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company discovering, developing and commercializing precision medicines for rare, severe chronic kidney diseases.
Chronic kidney diseases are a severe and growing worldwide problem with a lack of effective treatments often leading to dialysis, transplantation, and high costs to health care systems. In the U.S. alone, kidney diseases affect an estimated 37 million people and account for over $120 billion in annual costs.
Drug development in kidney diseases is experiencing a resurgence due to greater understanding of disease biology, utilization of novel translational platforms and patient stratification tools, and emergence of accelerated regulatory pathways based on surrogate endpoints. These dynamics have converged to create attractive opportunities for the development of precision therapies.
At Chinook, we are focused on rare, severe chronic kidney diseases with well-defined clinical pathways. Our lead clinical program, atrasentan, is an endothelin receptor antagonist that was in-licensed from AbbVie in 2019. The phase 3 ALIGN trial of atrasentan is currently enrolling patients with IgA nephropathy and the phase 2 AFFINITY trial of atrasentan is currently enrolling patients with proteinuric glomerular diseases. BION-1301, an investigational anti-APRIL monoclonal antibody, is being evaluated in a phase 1/2 trial for IgA nephropathy. We are also advancing CHK-336 for the treatment of primary hyperoxaluria towards a planned initiation of a phase 1 clinical trial in healthy volunteers in the first half of 2022. In addition, we are conducting research programs in other rare, severe chronic kidney diseases. We seek to build our pipeline by leveraging insights in single cell RNA sequencing of patient kidney samples, human-derived organoids and new translational models in order to discover and develop therapeutics with mechanisms of action targeted against key kidney disease pathways.
Leadership
Eric Dobmeier
President and Chief Executive Officer
Eric Bjerkholt
Chief Financial Officer
Tom Frohlich
Chief operating Officer
Delphine Imbert, PhD
SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, CMC AND TECHNICAL OPERATIONS
Jodi Jamieson
Vice President, Human Resources
Charlotte Jones-Burton, MD, MS
Senior Vice President, Product Development and Strategy
Andrew King, DVM, PhD
chief scientific officer
Renata Oballa, PhD
Vice President, Research Operations and Vancouver Site Head
Kirk Schumacher, JD
Senior Vice President AND GENERAL COUNSEL
Eric Dobmeier
President and Chief Executive Officer
Eric is President and CEO of Chinook Therapeutics. Previously, he was President and CEO of Silverback Therapeutics, a Seattle-based biotechnology company in the immuno-oncology space. Prior to that, he spent more than 15 years at Seattle Genetics, most recently as Chief Operating Officer, where he oversaw business development, corporate communications, manufacturing, program/alliance management activities and corporate strategy initiatives. While at Seattle Genetics, Eric was also directly involved in raising more than $1.2 billion in equity capital, and led negotiation and completion of multiple corporate alliances with leading biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. Earlier in his career, he represented technology companies in connection with public and private financings, mergers and acquisitions and corporate partnering transactions. Eric has a J.D. from University of California, Berkeley School of Law and an undergraduate degree from Princeton University. He is also a director of Atara Biotherapeutics.
Eric Bjerkholt
Chief Financial Officer
Eric is CFO of Chinook Therapeutics. He most recently served as CFO of Aimmune Therapeutics, Inc. overseeing financial reporting, budgeting, internal controls, investor relations, business development, facilities and information technology, and also led the acquisition of Aimmune by Nestlé Health Science for $2.6 billion. Prior to Aimmune, Eric spent 13 years at Sunesis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where in addition to CFO, he served in various capacities, including Executive Vice President of Corporate Development and Finance, Corporate Secretary and Chief Compliance Officer. Previously, Eric held senior executive finance roles at IntraBiotics Pharmaceuticals, Inc., LifeSpring Nutrition, Inc. and Age Wave, LLC and spent seven years in healthcare investment banking at J.P. Morgan & Company, Inc. He is currently a member of the board of directors of Graybug Vision, Inc. as well as a member of the board of directors and chair of the audit committee of Cerus Corporation. Eric holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and a Cand.Oecon. from University of Oslo in Norway.
Tom Frohlich
Chief operating Officer
Tom is chief operating officer at Chinook Therapeutics, overseeing the business development, CMC, quality, new product planning, program management and program team leadership functions. Tom co-founded and joined Chinook in January 2019 as chief business officer. Prior to Chinook, he served as entrepreneur-in-residence at Versant Ventures. From 2014 to 2018, Tom was VP of business development at Arbutus Biopharma, where he played a key role in multiple transactions including a licensing deal with Alexion and the merger of Tekmira/Oncore. Prior to that, Tom spent over 12 years working internationally at J&J and Merck in various roles leading commercial strategy across all stages of product development, including the global launches of telaprevir and Stelara. Tom has a B.Sc. in biochemistry from the University of Victoria and an MBA from the University of Oxford.
Delphine Imbert, PhD
Senior Vice President, CMC and Technical Operations
Delphine is Senior Vice President, CMC and Technical Operations at Chinook Therapeutics. Prior to Chinook, Delphine was Senior Vice President, Pharmaceutical Sciences at Dermira where she established Dermira’s fully virtual CMC, manufacturing, and supply chain capabilities enabling the successful development, approval, and launch of QBREXZA® (glycopyrronium) cloth in hyperhidrosis, as well as the progression of a portfolio of small molecules at all stages of development and the development of lebrikizumab up to Phase 3 until its acquisition in 2020 by Eli Lilly and Company. Prior to Dermira, Delphine served as Vice President, Pharmaceutical R&D at Anacor Pharmaceuticals, and held various leadership roles at ALZA Corporation (a Johnson & Johnson company) and Cellegy Pharmaceuticals. Delphine conducted her postdoctoral training at the University of California, San Francisco, holds a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Cincinnati, and a Master’s degree in Chemical Engineering and Chemistry from Chimie ParisTech, Paris, France.
Jodi Jamieson
Vice President, Human Resources
Jodi is the Vice President, Human Resources for Chinook Therapeutics. Prior to Chinook, Jodi spent 7 years in senior leadership roles within Human Resources at Seattle Genetics, a Seattle based biotechnology company, from managing all of the HR Business Partners to creating and managing the Talent Development group. Previously, Jodi was Director, Human Resources at Microsoft, managing an international team with offices in Vancouver, Canada and London, England. Before that, Jodi held various roles in International HR in the entertainment industry, including Fox Filmed Entertainment and Sony Pictures Entertainment, where she helped to build new lines of business, develop new programs and utilized her expertise in all areas of HR. Jodi received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Charlotte Jones-Burton, MD, MS
Senior Vice President, Product Development and Strategy
Charlotte is Senior Vice President of Product Development and Strategy, overseeing clinical development, clinical operations, medical affairs and program management. Charlotte is dedicated to creating healthier communities globally through drug development, patient advocacy and people engagement/empowerment. Her three-pronged approach reflect her personal values of community, service and health and wellness. Charlotte combines her leadership in research and people development with her clinical acumen in order to positively impact the lives of patients and communities who suffer with chronic diseases. Charlotte is a pharmaceutical executive who has spent over a decade in the pharmaceutical industry leading clinical trial development for multiple medicines across various disease areas including cardiovascular and renal diseases. Her most recent role was VP, Global Clinical Development Head, Nephrology at Otsuka Pharmaceutical Development & Commercialization, Inc. Charlotte earned a medical degree and Master of Science degree in Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, with a concentration in Clinical Research, from the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Charlotte’s postgraduate training included an internal medicine residency and a nephrology fellowship at the University of Maryland Medical Systems. Charlotte is active in numerous professional associations and organizations and founded Women of Color in Pharma (WOCIP), a non-profit professional society focused on transforming the pharmaceutical landscape with women of color. As its President, Charlotte is leading the growth of the organization in the US and EU. Charlotte was recognized in 2021 as one of the industry’s top 100 inspiring people by PharmaVoice and awarded the 1st ever Global Icon Award by WOCIP. She is the recipient of the 2020 NJ BIZ Best 50 Women in Business, an inductee in the MM&M 2020 Hall of Femme and received the MM&M Platinum Award for Outstanding Contribution to Healthcare in 2020.
Andrew King, DVM, PhD
chief scientific officer
Andrew is chief scientific officer at Chinook Therapeutics, overseeing the discovery research, non-clinical development and translational medicine teams. Andrew joined Chinook in May 2019 as head of renal discovery and translational medicine. Prior to joining Chinook, Andrew was senior director of discovery and translational biology at Ardelyx, where he and his teams played key roles in delivering small molecule candidates for the treatment of cardio-renal diseases, as well as elucidating the novel molecular mechanism of action of tenapanor, currently under NDA review by the FDA for the treatment of hyperphosphatemia in dialysis patients. Previously, Andrew spent over seven years at AbbVie in roles of increasing responsibility and led the renal discovery scientific strategy to treat chronic kidney disease. Andrew received his Ph.D. in pharmacology from Michigan State University and completed training in Veterinary Medicine and Surgery at Murdoch University in Australia.
Renata Oballa, PhD
Vice President, Research Operations and Vancouver Site Head
Renata is VP of Research Operations and Vancouver Site Head at Chinook Therapeutics. Prior to Chinook, Renata was VP of Chemistry at Inception Sciences Canada where she and her team played a key role in the development of small molecule drug candidates for the treatment of dry age-related macular degeneration and immuno-oncology, including the acquisition of an HtrA1 development candidate by Ophthotech. Previously, Renata was Director of Chemistry at Xenon Pharmaceuticals and Merck with expertise across multiple disease areas including pain, anti-infectives, diabetes and osteoporosis. She was a key contributor to the development of Odanacatib and the team lead responsible for MK-8245. Renata received her Ph.D. under the supervision of Dr. Edward Piers (UBC) and conducted post-doctoral research in the laboratory of Dr. Ian Paterson (University of Cambridge, UK).
Kirk Schumacher, JD
Senior Vice President AND GENERAL COUNSEL
Kirk is SVP and General Counsel of Chinook Therapeutics. Before joining Chinook, he was principal at KDS Law Group, assisting life sciences companies with various legal needs including intellectual property licensing, corporate partnering transactions and manufacturing, clinical and research contracting. Prior to that, Kirk was at Seattle Genetics for over 10 years serving most recently as their SVP, Legal Affairs and Compliance and General Counsel, overseeing all aspects of the company’s legal, compliance and intellectual property functions. While there, Kirk also led the legal negotiation of many corporate alliances, including the ex-U.S./Canada development and commercialization collaboration with Takeda Pharmaceutical Company for ADCETRIS®, as well as multiple ADC collaborations and public financings. He began his legal career in Seattle representing technology companies with public and private financings, mergers and acquisitions, and licensing transactions. Kirk received his B.A. from the University of Wisconsin – Madison and his J.D. from Columbia University.
Board of Directors
Eric Dobmeier
President and CEO
Srini Akkaraju
Director
Jerel Davis
Lead Director
William M. Greenman
Director
Michelle Griffin
Director
Ross Haghighat
Director
Mahesh Krishnan
Director
Dolca Thomas
Director
Eric Dobmeier
President and CEO, Chinook Therapeutics
Eric is President and CEO of Chinook Therapeutics. Previously, he was President and CEO of Silverback Therapeutics, a Seattle-based biotechnology company in the immuno-oncology space. Prior to that, he spent more than 15 years at Seattle Genetics, most recently as Chief Operating Officer, where he oversaw business development, corporate communications, manufacturing, program/alliance management activities and corporate strategy initiatives. While at Seattle Genetics, Eric was also directly involved in raising more than $1.2 billion in equity capital, and led negotiation and completion of multiple corporate alliances with leading biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. Earlier in his career, he represented technology companies in connection with public and private financings, mergers and acquisitions and corporate partnering transactions. Eric has a J.D. from University of California, Berkeley School of Law and an undergraduate degree from Princeton University. He is also a director of Atara Biotherapeutics.
Srini Akkaraju
Director, Samsara Biocapital
Srinivas Akkaraju, M.D., Ph.D., has served as a one of our directors since July 2019. Dr. Akkaraju is a Founder and Managing General Partner at Samsara BioCapital. Previously, from April 2013 to February 2016, he served as a General Partner of Sofinnova Ventures. From January 2009 until April 2013, he served as Managing Director of New Leaf Venture Partners. Previously, he served as a Managing Director at Panorama Capital, LLC, a private equity firm. Prior to co-founding Panorama Capital, he was with J.P. Morgan Partners, which he joined in 2001 and of which he became a Partner in 2005. From October 1998 to April 2001, he was in Business and Corporate Development at Genentech, Inc. (now a wholly owned member of The Roche Group), a biotechnology company, most recently as Senior Manager.
Prior to joining Genentech, Dr. Akkaraju was a graduate student at Stanford University, where he received his M.D. and a Ph.D. in Immunology. He received his undergraduate degrees in Biochemistry and Computer Science from Rice University. Dr. Akkaraju also serves as a director of Seattle Genetics, Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Syros Pharmaceuticals, and Aravive. Previously, Dr. Akkaraju served as a director on the boards of Barrier Therapeutics, Eyetech Pharmaceuticals, ZS Pharma, Synageva Biopharma Corp., aTyr Pharma, and Amarin Corporation plc.
Jerel Davis
Lead Director, Versant
Jerel Davis, Ph.D., is a Managing Director based in Vancouver, Canada. Since joining Versant in 2011, he has been involved in launching and investing in a number of Versant’s portfolio companies including Quanticel (sale), Novira (sale), Crispr (2016 IPO), Inception 4 (sale), Inception 5 (sale), Northern, Turnstone, BlueRock, Repare, VenatoRx and Akero. He has led Versant’s execution of creative corporate transactions with multiple pharmaceutical partners including Celgene, Roche and Bayer, and was instrumental in establishing Versant’s presence in Canada, including the creation of our company-building infrastructure in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal. Jerel was promoted to Managing Director at Versant in 2015.
Prior to joining Versant, Jerel was Associate Principal at McKinsey and Company where he advised healthcare corporations in pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical device and molecular diagnostics. He has worked in a number of healthcare markets globally including the U.S., Europe, China, Russia and India. Jerel earned his doctorate from Stanford University, where he also completed his post-doctoral research.
William M. Greenman
Director, Cerus Corporation
William M. Greenman has served as a member of the board of directors of Aduro since June 2010. Mr. Greenman has served as the President, Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board of directors of Cerus Corporation, a publicly traded biomedical products company, since April 2011. Since joining Cerus Corporation in 1995, Mr. Greenman has served in several executive and management positions, including as the Chief Business Officer and President of Cerus Europe. Prior to Cerus Corporation, Mr. Greenman worked in various marketing and business development positions in the Biotech Division of Baxter International Inc., a publicly traded medical equipment company, from 1991 to 1995. Mr. Greenman received a B.A.S. in Biological Sciences and Economics from Stanford University.
Michelle Griffin
Director
Ms. Griffin currently serves on the board of directors of Adaptive Biotechnologies Corporation, a publicly traded life sciences equipment company, including as chair of the audit committee, where she has served since March 2019, Acer Therapeutics, Inc., a publicly traded company, including as chair of the audit committee, where she has served since September 2017 and HTG Molecular Diagnostics, Inc., a publicly traded company, including as chair of the audit committee, where she has served since August 2018. Ms. Griffin previously served on the board of directors and as chair of the audit committee of PhaseRx, Inc., formerly a publicly traded company, from 2016 to 2018, OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals Inc. (now Achieve Life Sciences, Inc.) from 2008 to 2011 and Sonus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (now Achieve Life Sciences, Inc.), from 2004 to 2008. Ms. Griffin served as the Controller of Corixa Corp., from 1994 to 1997 and was its Chief Financial Officer from 1997 to 2005, the Executive Vice President, Operations and Chief Financial Officer at OncoGenex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from 2011 to 2013, the Acting Chief Executive, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Trubion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. from 2009 until its acquisition in 2010 and as its Chief Financial Officer from 2006 to 2009 and served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Dendreon Corp. from 2005 to 2006. Ms. Griffin holds a B.S. in Marketing from George Mason University, an M.B.A. from Seattle University and has passed the certified public accountant exam.
Ross Haghighat
Director, Triton Systems, Inc.
Ross Haghighat is a co-founder and has served as a member of our board of directors since 2009. With over 30 years of experience, Mr. Haghighat has been a founder, co-founder and board member of more than a dozen private and public technology companies in the US, Europe, Middle East and Australia, including Triton Systems, Inc., Coretek, SI2 Technologies, FRX Polymers and Fluence Corporation. With a passion to help entrepreneurs and young companies achieve global growth and presence, he continues to share his knowledge and experience to transform companies from early-stage to successful corporations. Mr. Haghighat holds a B.S. in Advanced Materials Engineering and a Master of Science in Organometallic Chemistry from Rutgers University, as well as a Master of Business Administration from Boston College.
Mahesh Krishnan
Director, DaVita Inc.
Mahesh Krishnan, M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A., FASN is group vice president of research and development at DaVita Inc. and brings more than 20 years of practicing nephrology and industry experience to our board of directors. In his current role, Dr. Krishnan is responsible for strategic partnerships in technology and research and development at DaVita, as well as medical policy in Washington, D.C. Previously, Dr. Krishnan served as DaVita’s first international chief medical officer in which he oversaw its growth in 10 countries. Dr. Krishnan is an expert on quality measurement and data systems in dialysis and in the past, guided the policy and implementation of the ESRD bundle, one of Medicare’s first value-based purchasing programs. He has a passion for service design to improve the quality, efficiency and effectiveness of healthcare delivery. Prior to joining DaVita, Dr. Krishnan was at Amgen, where he served as medical director for Epogen®, head of global health economics and outcomes research for nephrology and medical policy lead for all domestic Amgen products. Before Amgen, Dr. Krishnan was a practicing nephrologist in Northern Virginia. He has served on editorial boards, has written two books and has more than 60 peer-reviewed publications. Dr. Krishnan earned his medical degree from The Jefferson Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University. He holds an M.P.H. from Johns Hopkins University and an M.B.A. in medical services management at the Johns Hopkins Carey School of Business.
Dolca Thomas
Director, Principia Biopharma
Dr. Thomas is the Executive Vice President, Head of Research and Development and Chief Medical Officer of Equillium since January 2021. She served as Principia’s Chief Medical Officer from 2018 until the Sanofi acquisition in September 2020. From 2016 to 2018, Dr. Thomas was Vice President and Global Head of Translational Medicine for Immunology, Inflammation, and Infectious Disease at Roche, where she was responsible for advancing multiple product candidates through clinical development. From 2012 to 2016, Dr. Thomas held roles of increasing responsibility at Pfizer, including Vice President of Clinical Development and Clinical Immunophenotyping, and Vice President and Chief Development Officer of the Biosimilars Research and Development Unit where she was responsible for all stages of development of multiple assets. From 2008 to 2012, Dr. Thomas began her industry career at Bristol-Myers Squibb as Director of Global Clinical Development in Immunology, where from 2008 to 2012, she was involved in clinical drug development including the development and approval of the immunosuppressive drug, Belatacept. Prior to her career in drug development, Dr. Thomas was a faculty member at Weill Cornell Medicine’s Department of Nephrology and Transplantation Medicine. Dr. Thomas received a B.A. in sociology and a M.D. from Cornell University.