BRIEF—Vera Therapeutics appoints chief medical officer

Californian immunology specialist Vera Therapeutics has appointed Celia Lin as chief medical officer. The firm has also appointed Tad Thomas as product development head and Joseph Young as SVP of finance.

Vera launched in early 2021 with an $80 million financing round.

Dr Lin was formerly senior medical director at Genentech, a part of Roche, where she held responsibility for a Phase III study and regulatory filing in an orphan disease. She was also a medical director in clinical development and medical affairs at Amgen.

Dr Thomas joined Vera from Codexis, where he served as associate VP of technical operations, overseeing preclinical development for biotherapeutic products.

Mr Young was formerly SVP of finance at Plexxikon, where he supported the company’s sale to Daiichi Sankyo for nearly $1 billion in 2011.

CEO Marshall Fordyce said: “We are excited to have Celia, Tad, and Joe join Vera in these vital roles as we advance the development of our lead clinical candidate, atacicept, for patients with IgA nephropathy and other autoimmune diseases.”