Enanta Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENTA), a clinical stage biotechnology company dedicated to creating small molecule drugs for viral infections and liver diseases, today announced the election of Yujiro S. Hata, to its Board of Directors.

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Yujiro S. Hata, Board of Directors, Enanta Pharmaceuticals (Photo: Business Wire)

“We are thrilled to welcome Yujiro Hata to our Board of Directors,” said Jay R. Luly, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Enanta Pharmaceuticals. “His depth of expertise in business and corporate development, as well as his experience as a senior executive and an independent director of several public and private biotechnology companies, will bring complementary depth to our Board. Yujiro’s insights will be particularly valuable as we continue to explore combination therapies to advance our clinical pipeline in key therapeutic areas.”

“I am delighted to join Enanta as a member of its Board of Directors. Enanta’s proven, chemistry-driven approach to creating best-in-class small molecule drugs has allowed the company to develop a strong, differentiated portfolio of product candidates across virology and liver disease areas,” commented Mr. Hata. “I look forward to working with the team, especially in the upcoming year, when the combination of clinical data readouts in respiratory syncytial virus, hepatitis B virus, SARS-CoV-2 and non-alcoholic steatohepatitis has the potential to be truly transformative.”

Mr. Hata has more than 20 years of experience building companies that have developed innovative therapies. He currently serves as the Founder and CEO of IDEAYA Biosciences, an oncology-focused precision medicine company, which he founded in 2015. Under his leadership, IDEAYA formed a global partnership with GlaxoSmithKline to develop programs in synthetic lethality, an emerging field in oncology. From 2015 to 2018, Mr. Hata served as an Executive-in-Residence at 5AM Ventures. From 2014 to August 2015, he was Chief Operating Officer at Flexus Biosciences where he helped lead the company through its acquisition by Bristol-Myers Squibb in April 2015, and then he served as Chief Operating Officer at RAPT Therapeutics (formerly FLX Bio). Before then, Mr. Hata held roles of increasing responsibility, most recently as Vice President, Corporate Development and Strategy, at Onyx Pharmaceuticals, when the company achieved approvals of KYPROLIS® and STIVARGA®, leading to its acquisition by Amgen in October 2013. Previously Mr. Hata held business development roles at Enanta and at ImClone Systems, now a subsidiary of Eli Lilly and Company.

Mr. Hata serves on the Boards of Directors of Xencor and Expansion Therapeutics and is a Board Member of the Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego. He obtained his M.B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, his B.A. in Chemistry from Colorado College, and participated in undergraduate studies in Chemistry and Biology at Oxford University.

About Enanta

Enanta is using its robust, chemistry-driven approach and drug discovery capabilities to become a leader in the discovery and development of small molecule drugs for the treatment of viral infections and liver diseases. Enanta’s research and development efforts have produced clinical candidates for the following disease targets: respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19). Enanta is also conducting research in human metapneumovirus (hMPV).

Enanta’s research and development activities are funded by royalties from hepatitis C virus (HCV) products developed under its collaboration with AbbVie. Glecaprevir, a protease inhibitor discovered by Enanta, is sold by AbbVie in numerous countries as part of its leading treatment for chronic HCV infection under the tradenames MAVYRET® (U.S.) and MAVIRET® (ex-U.S.) (glecaprevir/pibrentasvir). Please visit www.enanta.com for more information.

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