SAN MATEO, CA, and Shanghai, China, April 12, 2018 – Terns Pharmaceuticals Inc., a global biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing molecularly-targeted, oral, small molecule drugs to treat liver disease and cancer, announced today the addition of Juan Carlos Lopez-Talavera, M.D., Ph.D. and Chuan (Joe) Shih, Ph.D. as scientific advisors.

“As we prepare to enter the clinic with two lead compounds, TERN-101 and TERN-201, for the treatment of NASH in multiple markets, having Dr. Lopez-Talavera and Dr. Shih as resources will be invaluable,” said Weidong Zhong, Ph.D., President and CEO of Terns. “Their expertise in liver disease and oncology drug discovery and development is highly relevant and complimentary to that of our internal team and we have already started integrating them into their advisory function.”

Juan Carlos Lopez-Talavera, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Lopez-Talavera has over 20 years of experience in the biopharma industry, with extensive expertise in liver and gastrointestinal diseases. Most recently, Dr. Lopez-Talavera was Senior Vice President, Head of Medical Affairs and member of the Executive Team at Intercept Pharmaceuticals. Previously he held positions at AbbVie as Head of Medical Affairs, Global Research and Development, Bristol Myers Squibb, where he was Vice President and Global Development Lead, and at Roche Laboratories as Senior Medical Director. Before moving into industry, Dr. Lopez-Talavera was Assistant Professor with the Divisions of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, and Endocrinology and Pathology at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and Associate Professor of Medicine with the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona and Attending Physician of the Liver Unit at the Hospital General Universitari Vall D’Hebron in Barcelona.

Dr. Lopez-Talavera was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Yale University School of Medicine, and Clinical Observer at Sloan Kettering Memorial Cancer Center. He holds an M.D. and a Ph.D. in Hepatology from the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona.

Chuan (Joe) Shih, Ph.D.
Dr. Shih is currently a Venture Partner of Lilly Asia Ventures with over 30 years of experience working within the life sciences industry. Before joining Lilly Asia Ventures, he was the Director of the Institute of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Research (IBPR) of the National Health Research Institutes (NHRI), a premier new drug discovery institute in Taiwan. Prior to IBPR, Dr. Shih led drug discovery and translational medicine teams across multiple therapeutic areas at Crown Biosciences, Inc. Lilly Research Laboratories and Eli Lilly and Company. Over his career, Dr. Shih has led discovery efforts that have resulted in or contributed to multiple successful commercial products. He received numerous achievement awards throughout his career including the 2006 American Chemical Society “Heroes of Chemistry” Award for his role in the discovery and development of Alimta®.

Dr. Shih received his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Ohio State University. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University under Nobel Laureate Professor E. J. Corey.

About Terns Pharmaceuticals
Based in San Mateo, CA., and Shanghai, China, Terns Pharmaceuticals is a global biopharmaceutical company committed to discovering and developing molecularly targeted, oral, small molecule drugs to treat liver disease and cancer. The company combines expertise in disease biology, medicinal chemistry and extensive clinical development capabilities in China to advance its growing pipeline of drugs that are optimized against clinically validated targets or targets that have significant preclinical validation. Using a capital-efficient drug discovery model, the company’s mission is to bring promising new therapies to patients in underserved markets via global and region-specific development programs.

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China Media Contact:
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