CAMBRIDGE, Mass.– Boston Pharmaceuticals today announced the appointment of Juan Carlos Lopez-Talavera, M.D., Ph.D., as Acting Chief Medical Officer (CMO). Boston Pharmaceuticals is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company with a lead investigational asset in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (MASH), BOS-580, currently in Phase 2 development, and a Phase 1 asset, BOS-342, in development for hepatocellular carcinoma.
Dr. Lopez-Talavera joined Boston Pharmaceuticals in August 2023 and has since been instrumental in accelerating the development of BOS-580, which will advance to pivotal studies in 2024.
Dr. Lopez-Talavera is a physician-scientist and global leader in pharmaceutical research & development with over 25 years of experience in managing programs at all pipeline stages. He has led and contributed to the development and global approvals of several therapies for the treatment of liver diseases, including MASH, as well as immuno-oncology products. Prior to joining Boston Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Lopez-Talavera served in leadership roles at Roche, Bristol-Myers Squibb, AbbVie, Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Enterome Biosciences, and, most recently, Fractyl Health, where he was CMO. He succeeds Eric Svensson, M.D., Ph.D., who will be leaving the company to pursue other opportunities.
In announcing Dr. Lopez-Talavera’s appointment, Sophie Kornowski, PharmD, CEO of Boston Pharmaceuticals, said: “At a time when MASH is being recognized as a global epidemic and BOS-580’s data is proving to be most promising, I am thrilled to nominate Juan Carlos as our acting CMO, who will lead the R&D organization while we firm up our plans for pivotal studies. Juan Carlos is a great scientist and well-respected leader in the pharmaceutical and biotech world, and he brings much knowledge and experience in the field of hepatic diseases to the company.”
Dr. Lopez-Talavera added, “I have joined Boston Pharmaceuticals for the adventure of developing potent and highly differentiated medicines for liver diseases, with an approach that combines agility and evidence in decision making.”
Dr. Lopez-Talavera holds M.D. and Ph.D. degrees in Hepatology from Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, where he worked on the discovery of hepatitis C virus (HCV) with 2020 Nobel Prize laureates Michael Houghton and Harvey Alter. He completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Yale University and served as an Assistant Professor at the University of Pittsburgh.
