Achieve Life Sciences Announces Appointment of Dr. Vaughn Himes to Board of Directors

SEATTLE and VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 14, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Achieve Life Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: ACHV), a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company committed to the global development and commercialization of cytisinicline for smoking cessation and nicotine addiction, is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Vaughn Himes to the company’s Board of Directors, effective immediately.

“We are pleased to welcome Dr. Himes to the Achieve board,” commented Rick Stewart, Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors. “As we continue to advance the cytisinicline clinical development program towards commercialization, Dr. Himes’ deep background and expertise will offer invaluable guidance to our management team.”

Dr. Vaughn B. Himes, PhD., currently serves as the Chief Technology Officer at Seagen, where he leads the manufacturing, supply chain, process sciences, and quality functions. He has more than 30 years of experience in product development and commercialization in the pharmaceutical and biotech industry, including previous roles as Senior Vice President of Technical Operations at ZymoGenetics, and Vice President of Worldwide Manufacturing Operations at Corixa Corporation.

Dr. Himes holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota and a B.A. in Chemistry from Pomona College.

About Achieve and Cytisinicline 
Tobacco use is currently the leading cause of preventable death that is responsible for more than eight million deaths worldwide and nearly half a million deaths in the United States annually.^1,2 More than 87% of lung cancer deaths, 61% of all pulmonary disease deaths, and 32% of all deaths from coronary heart disease are attributable to smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke.² Achieve’s focus is to address the global smoking health and nicotine addiction epidemic through the development and commercialization of cytisinicline.

Cytisinicline is a plant-based alkaloid with a high binding affinity to the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor. It is believed to aid in smoking cessation by interacting with nicotine receptors in the brain by reducing the severity of nicotine withdrawal symptoms and by reducing the reward and satisfaction associated with smoking.

Cytisinicline is an investigational product candidate being developed for treatment of nicotine addiction and has not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for any indication in the United States. For more information on cytisinicline and Achieve visit www.achievelifesciences.com.