Athira Pharma, Inc., a late clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing small molecules to restore neuronal health and slow neurodegeneration, has appointed Javier San Martin, MD, as Chief Medical Officer.

Dr. San Martin brings more than 25 years of drug development experience and a proven track record leading cross-functional product teams to drive global development and commercialization strategies for multiple drugs across large and rare diseases with significant unmet medical needs.

“We are pleased to welcome Javier to the team and are confident his insights and guidance will be instrumental as we advance the Company’s next phase of growth,” said Mark Litton, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Athira.

“Javier’s decades of drug development experience will be invaluable to Athira as we advance our pipeline of therapeutic candidates for neurodegenerative diseases, including fosgonimeton, which is in late-stage clinical development for Alzheimer’s disease with Phase 2/3 LIFT-AD data expected in the second half of 2024, and ATH-1105 for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) which is expected to enter the clinic this year,” he added.

Dr. Litton continued, “Javier’s deep background in clinical development and rare diseases, coupled with the neuroscience expertise of Dr. Hans Moebius, who is now serving as our Senior Scientific Advisor, will strengthen Athira’s position as a pioneer in drug development for patients with neurodegenerative disorders. Throughout his career, Javier has guided therapies from proof-of-concept through regulatory approval, with special emphasis on aligning late-stage development efforts with viable commercialization paths, and we are excited for him to bring his expertise to Athira.”

“I’m thrilled to join Athira at this key juncture in the Company’s growth, as we approach a late-stage data readout for fosgonimeton in Alzheimer’s disease and initiate the first-in-human trial of ATH-1105 in ALS,” said Dr. San Martin.

“I believe Athira’s therapeutic approach to targeting and promoting the neurotrophic hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) system has the potential to significantly alter the treatment paradigm for neurodegenerative diseases and provide profound benefit to patients in need of better treatment options,” added Dr. San Martin.

Dr. San Martin joins Athira from Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals, where he served as Chief Medical Officer and guided development teams to advance that company’s RNAi-based therapeutics in the metabolic and liver disease area. Before Arrowhead, he served as Senior Vice President and Head of Global Clinical Development at Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical, where he led the development of Crysvita (burosumab-twza), the first drug approved to treat the rare, inherited disease of x-linked hypophosphatemia.

Before that, Dr. San Martin served as Senior Vice President of Clinical Development at Alder Biopharmaceuticals, where he managed medical, regulatory, and clinical operations. Earlier, he led two major development programs as Global Development Leader for Amgen’s Bone Therapeutic Area and directed the anti-sclerostin antibody clinical program Eventiy (romosozumab-aqqg) through the end of Phase 2 and was responsible for the development and approval of Prolia (denosumab) for the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis. Before Amgen, Dr. San Martin spent seven years at Eli Lilly working on Phase 3b and Phase 4 clinical trials to support the successful launch and medical affairs activities for Evista and Forteo.