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 1b trial for IgA nephropathy. We are also advancing CHK-336 for the treatment of primary hyperoxaluria towards a planned IND submission in late 2021/early 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 Business Officer
Alan Glicklich, MD
Chief Medical Officer
Jodi Jamieson
VP, Human Resources
Andrew King, DVM, PhD
Head of Renal Discovery and Translational Medicine
Renata Oballa, PhD
VP, Research Operations and Vancouver Site Head
Kirk Schumacher, JD
SVP 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 and Adaptive Biotechnologies.
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 Business Officer
Tom is Chief Business Officer at Chinook Therapeutics as well as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Versant Ventures. Prior to Chinook, Tom was VP of business development at Arbutus Biopharma where he played a key role in multiple transactions including the merger of Tekmira/Oncore and the spin-out of Genevant. Previously, Tom worked 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.
Alan Glicklich, MD
Chief Medical Officer
Alan is the Chief Medical Officer at Chinook Therapeutics. Prior to Chinook, Alan was Chief Medical Officer at Bird Rock Bio, a San Diego based biotechnology company focused on clinical development of monoclonal antibodies. Before that, Alan was VP of clinical development at Arena Pharmaceuticals. Prior to Arena he was VP of clinical affairs at Savient pharmaceuticals and Veloxis Pharmaceuticals. Alan has also served in senior clinical roles at Mitsubishi-Tanabe Development America, Bristol Myers Squibb, Sanofi-Aventis and Regeneron. Alan has a medical degree from the University of Wisconsin, an MBA from Emory University, and a BA in biology from the University of Chicago.
Jodi Jamieson
VP, 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.
Andrew King, DVM, PhD
Head of Renal Discovery and Translational Medicine
Andrew is the Head of Renal Discovery and Translational Medicine at Chinook Therapeutics. Prior to 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 tenanapor, currently in late-stage clinical development for the treatment of hyperphosphatemia in dialysis patients. Previously, Andrew led the Renal Discovery scientific strategy to treat chronic kidney disease at AbbVie. 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
VP, 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
SVP 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
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 and Adaptive Biotechnologies.
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.
Dolca Thomas
Director, Principia Biopharma
Dr. Thomas has served as Principia’s Chief Medical Officer since 2018. 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.