Achieve Life Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: ACHV) announced the appointment of three senior executives who previously worked at Verona Pharma, a company acquired by Merck & Co. for $10.8 billion in October 2025.

Christopher Martin joined Achieve's board of directors after serving as chief commercial officer at Verona Pharma, where he led commercial strategy for Ohtuvayre, a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease treatment. Mark Zappia was named senior vice president of commercial operations, and Jim Willis was appointed vice president of sales and sales enablement.

The appointments follow Dr. Andrew Goldberg's selection as chief executive officer in April 2026 and the company's recent financing of up to $354 million, which included $180 million upfront and up to $174 million from milestone-based warrants tied to FDA approval of cytisinicline.

"Having anchored Verona Pharma's U.S. market transition, I saw firsthand the discipline and excellence this team brings to a commercial launch," said Goldberg in a statement.

Tom King will step down from the board in June 2026, with Dr. Lucian Iancovici assuming the chairman role.

Achieve Life Sciences focuses on developing cytisinicline as a treatment for nicotine dependence. The company submitted a new drug application to the FDA in June 2025, which was accepted for review in September 2025. The FDA assigned a target review completion date of June 20, 2026.

The drug candidate is being developed for smoking cessation based on two completed Phase 3 studies. The company has also completed a Phase 2 study for vaping cessation and conducted an end-of-Phase 2 meeting with the FDA for a potential vaping indication.