Achieve Life Sciences names Andrew Goldberg as CEO, adds board members

Achieve Life Sciences Inc. (NASDAQ: ACHV) appointed Andrew D. Goldberg, MD, as chief executive officer and board member, effective upon closing of the company's recently announced financing. The Seattle-based pharmaceutical company also named two new board directors.

Goldberg, a dual board-certified physician in critical care medicine and emergency medicine, previously served as portfolio manager at Marshall Wace and partner at Vivo Capital. He has served as board director or observer at 19 life sciences companies, including Tarsus Pharmaceuticals through FDA approval and Elektrofi through its $900 million acquisition by Halozyme Therapeutics.

Richard Stewart, outgoing president and CEO who co-founded Achieve, will remain on the board. Thomas King, board chairman, said Goldberg's clinical experience and healthcare investment track record position him to drive operational excellence and financial execution for the company.

The company appointed Lucian Iancovici, MD, managing director at TPG, and Aaron E. Royston, MD, managing partner at venBio, to the board effective upon the financing closing. Both bring extensive life sciences investment experience.

Achieve announced financing of up to $354 million, comprising $180 million upfront and $174 million dependent on milestone warrant exercises. The company is developing cytisinicline as a treatment for nicotine dependence, with an FDA review underway following submission of its New Drug Application in June 2025. The FDA assigned a target action date of June 20, 2026.

Cytisinicline would be the first new treatment for nicotine dependence in two decades if approved. The company completed two Phase 3 studies for smoking cessation and a Phase 2 study for vaping cessation. The FDA granted breakthrough therapy designation for the vaping indication.

The information is based on a company press release.

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