Acelyrin (SLRN) Announces CEO Change

ACELYRIN, INC. (Nasdaq: SLRN), a late-stage clinical biopharma company focused on accelerating the development and delivery of transformative medicines in immunology, today announced that ACELYRIN’s founder Shao-Lee Lin, M.D., Ph.D. has stepped down as Chief Executive Officer and that Mina Kim, chief legal and administrative officer at ACELYRIN, has been appointed Chief Executive Officer and to the company’s Board of Directors (the “Board”).

Ms. Kim brings more than 20 years of operational and leadership experience across a range of industries including synthetic biology, immunotherapy, renewable energy, and aviation. Ms. Kim played a pivotal role in ACELYRIN’s initial public offering and has served as ACELYRIN’s Chief Legal and Administrative Officer since November 2022. Prior to that, she served as Chief Legal Officer and Head of Corporate Development at Zymergen, Inc., where she led the company’s corporate strategy and business development teams and built its legal team. She also oversaw Zymergen’s 2021 IPO process and the company’s eventual sale to Ginkgo Bioworks.

Bruce Cozadd, chair of the ACELYRIN Board of Directors, said, “ACELYRIN is at an inflection point having recently announced early but exciting data for lonigutamab in thyroid eye disease and a positive late-stage trial for izokibep in psoriatic arthritis. The Board and Shao-Lee believe now is the right time to make these changes as we focus on prioritizing our portfolio to enable future success. Mina’s significant experience overseeing corporate strategy and corporate development, coupled with her knowledge of ACELYRIN’s pipeline and operations, make her the right person to lead ACELYRIN into its next chapter. The Board is confident that under Mina’s leadership ACELYRIN will realize its potential, driving value for shareholders and transforming patients’ lives.”

“I am honored to serve as the next Chief Executive Officer of ACELYRIN,” said Ms. Kim. “With encouraging data across our pipeline, we are continuing to advance our core mission of making a meaningful difference for patients. At the same time, we remain committed to reviewing our strategy, making disciplined decisions about portfolio prioritization and being responsible stewards of capital to best position our assets for successful development and potential commercialization in the future. I am excited to continue working with our employees and partners in this new capacity.”

Cozadd continued, “On behalf of the Board, I would like to recognize Shao-Lee for her vision in leading ACELYRIN from inception through to becoming a well-capitalized public company. She has built a talented and accomplished team, and created a promising portfolio of clinical stage programs, each with the potential to fulfill ACELYRIN’s mission of delivering meaningful new medicines for patients. We wish her all the best in the future.”

“Since the founding of ACELYRIN, we have been singularly focused on making a meaningful impact on patients’ lives by pursuing innovative approaches to speed the development of life-changing therapies,” said Dr. Lin. “Building and leading ACELYRIN to this moment in its history has been a tremendous honor and privilege. It is time for the next stage of evolution for the company. I wish the team every success in the continued pursuit of our mission to make meaningful new medicines for patients.”

In addition to Ms. Kim’s appointment, Shephard (Shep) Mpofu, M.D., MRCP, FRCP, who most recently served as ACELYRIN’s Senior Vice President of Development, has been promoted to the role of Chief Medical Officer, Gil Labrucherie, who serves as ACELYRIN’s Chief Financial Officer, has been named Chief Business Officer in addition to Chief Financial Officer, and Sanam Pangali, who most recently served as ACELYRIN’s Senior Vice President, Corporate Legal, has been promoted to Chief Legal Officer and Head of People.

Business Update and Key Upcoming Milestones
In a separate press release ACELYRIN provided an update on various corporate milestones and announced that it will forego hosting the previously scheduled Q1 2024 earnings call. The company will file the related quarterly report on Form 10-Q no later than May 14, 2024. The press release can be found on the investor relations section of the company’s website.

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