Terns Appoints Veteran Biopharmaceutical Executive Ann E. Taylor, M.D. to Board of Directors

FOSTER CITY, Calif., Sept. 28, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Terns Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“Terns” or the “Company”) (Nasdaq: TERN), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing a portfolio of small-molecule single-agent and combination therapy candidates for the treatment of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and other chronic liver diseases, today announced the appointment of Ann E. Taylor, M.D., to the Company’s Board of Directors. Dr. Taylor previously served as the Chief Medical Officer of AstraZeneca plc and brings to the Terns Board of Directors more than 35 years of experience in drug development.

“NASH remains an area of significant unmet need and I believe Terns’ approach, which seeks to combine best-in-class molecules with clinically validated mechanisms in NASH, will play a significant part in the treatment of NASH patients,” said Dr. Taylor. “I am proud to join this strong and diverse team and look forward to working with the rest of the board and the management team in developing truly transformative medicines.”

“We are excited to have Ann join our board of directors and to have access to her drug development expertise and network,” said Senthil Sundaram, Chief Executive Officer of Terns. “Ann is a seasoned drug development veteran who has a wealth of experience in bringing treatments to patients across a broad spectrum of challenging areas. The board and I look forward to Ann’s contributions to Terns as we generate meaningful clinical data over the coming months and years.”

Dr. Taylor served as the Chief Medical Officer of AstraZeneca until her retirement in August 2021. Her broad-based leadership experience includes clinical development, portfolio strategy, regulatory strategy, biomarker strategy, patient safety and quality assurance across AstraZeneca’s entire portfolio. Prior to becoming Chief Medical Officer, from April 2018 to March 2019, Dr. Taylor was the Head of Clinical Biologics at MedImmune, a wholly owned subsidiary of AstraZeneca. Prior to AstraZeneca, Dr. Taylor held various leadership roles at Novartis Institute for BioMedical Research (Global Head of Portfolio Management, Interim Head of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disease Area, Global Head of Translational Medicine for Metabolism) and Pfizer (Portfolio Lead for Obesity, Frailty and Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disease Franchise). Dr. Taylor also serves on the board of directors of Unlearn.AI, a company seeking to accelerate clinical development through the use of artificial intelligence. She has authored and co-authored numerous peer-reviewed publications and served on the editorial board of several peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Taylor is a Board-certified endocrinologist and received her M.D. from Harvard Medical School. She received her B.A. in biology magna cum laude from the University of California, San Diego.