WARMINSTER, Pa., Aug. 20, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Arbutus Biopharma Corporation (Nasdaq: ABUS), an industry-leading Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) therapeutic solutions company, today announced that Andrew Cheng, M.D., Ph.D., has been appointed to the Arbutus Board of Directors effective August 17, 2019.

“We are pleased to welcome Dr. Cheng to the Arbutus Board,” said Dr. Frank Torti, Chairman of the Arbutus Board of Directors. “I am confident Dr. Cheng, who brings a wealth of clinical development expertise in antivirals to our Board, will be of great value to our efforts to deliver a cure for people with chronic HBV.”

Dr. Cheng is currently President and Chief Executive Officer of Akero Therapeutics (Nasdaq: AKRO), a biotechnology company focused on the development of transformational treatments for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and other serous metabolic diseases.

Previously, Dr. Cheng spent nearly two decades at Gilead Sciences, Inc., where he most recently served as Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President. Dr. Cheng joined Gilead Sciences in 1999 and was responsible for leading the clinical development for numerous HIV/AIDS programs. During his tenure at Gilead, he also led the clinical development operations for several other therapeutic areas including oncology, inflammatory, respiratory and cardiovascular indications. Dr. Cheng received a B.A. from the Johns Hopkins University and a M.D. and Ph.D. from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. He is board certified in Internal Medicine.

"I look forward to working with the Arbutus Board of Directors and Executive Team as the Company looks to advance its two lead compounds through Phase 1a/1b clinical trials,” said Dr. Cheng. "I believe that Arbutus’ diverse pipeline, focused solely on HBV, holds great promise for people suffering from HBV.”

William Collier, President and Chief Executive Officer of Arbutus, added, “Dr. Cheng has extensive experience in the pharmaceutical industry and has achieved numerous successful clinical development outcomes for several antiviral compounds. We look forward to his guidance as we prepare for multiple clinical readouts from our HBV pipeline in the 2019/2020 timeframe.”

About Arbutus

Arbutus Biopharma Corporation is a publicly traded (Nasdaq: ABUS) biopharmaceutical company dedicated to discovering, developing and commercializing a cure for patients suffering from chronic Hepatitis B infection. Arbutus is developing multiple drug candidates, each of which have the potential to improve upon the standard of care and contribute to a curative combination regimen. For more information, visit www.arbutusbio.com.