Tvardi Therapeutics Appoints Sujal Shah as Chairman and Adds Shaheen Wirk to the Board of Directors

HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Tvardi Therapeutics, Inc. (“Tvardi”), a privately held, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of STAT3 inhibitors, announced that current Board of Directors member Sujal Shah has been appointed Chairman, and experienced healthcare investor Shaheen Wirk, M.D. has been added to the Board of Directors.

Mr. Shah has been President and Chief Executive Officer at CymaBay Therapeutics since 2017, stewarding the company through the NDA filing of its lead compound which ultimately led to the recently announced acquisition of CymaBay by Gilead for $4.3 billion. Prior to 2017, he served as Chief Financial Officer taking CymaBay public in 2014. Formerly, Mr. Shah was a healthcare investment banker for global investment banks Citigroup and Credit Suisse. Mr. Shah received an M.B.A. from Carnegie Mellon University Tepper School of Business and M.S. and B.S. degrees in Biomedical Engineering from Northwestern University.

Newly appointed board member Dr. Wirk has more than 20 years of investment experience in public and private life science companies. He is the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Palkon Capital Management, a healthcare-dedicated investment firm launched in partnership with Julian Robertson and Tiger Management. Formerly, Dr. Wirk was a senior analyst at Bridger Capital. He completed research training programs in oncology and trauma surgery at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Rabin Medical Center through the National Institutes of Health Fogarty International Center, and Duke University Medical Center. Dr. Wirk earned his M.D., M.B.A., and B.S. degrees from Duke University.

“The appointment of Sujal as Chairman and the addition of Shaheen to Tvardi’s Board of Directors are instrumental to the success of Tvardi,” said Imran Alibhai, Ph.D., CEO of Tvardi. “Sujal’s operational experience guiding CymaBay through an NDA and the $4.3 billion acquisition by Gilead, combined with Shaheen’s proficiency in navigating the public markets, will be invaluable as we continue to develop our STAT3 inhibitors in Phase 2 trials.”

About Tvardi Therapeutics

Tvardi is a privately held, clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing small molecule inhibitors of STAT3, a key regulatory protein positioned at the intersection of many signaling pathways integral to the survival and immune evasion of cancer cells. STAT3 also plays a central role in the pathogenesis of many inflammatory and fibrotic diseases. The company is conducting Phase 2 clinical trials in STAT3-driven diseases: hepatocellular carcinoma (NCT05440708) and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (NCT05671835). To learn more, please visit tvardi.com or follow us on LinkedIn and X (Twitter).