Late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company Acelyrin is continuing to grow at a fast pace with the appointments of Mina Kim as chief legal and administrative officer and Mardi C. Dier as chief financial and chief business officer.
Dier, a corporate strategy specialist, replaced former Chief Financial Officer Gil Labrucherie, who stepped down for personal reasons, according to a statement by Acelyrin. Labrucherie led the company’s recent series C funding round worth $300 million.
Dier and Kim, whose appointments were announced on Nov. 10, will report to Acelyrin Chief Executive Dr. Shao-Lee Lin.
Dier joined Acelyrin from Ultragenyx Inc., where she most recently served as executive vice president and chief financial officer. At the biopharmaceutical company, Dier was one of seven team members responsible for all major and strategic decisions and led corporate strategy, investor relations and global corporate communications, among other responsibilities.
Dier was previously Portola Pharmaceuticals’ chief financial officer and chief business officer. She led the completion of the company’s initial public offering and raised nearly $2 billion in capital before spearheading the company’s acquisition at the hands of biopharmaceutical company Alexion.
“Acelyrin is moving quickly with tremendous momentum as evidenced by the in-licensing and late-stage clinical success of izokibep, ability to raise more than $550 million in capital from a blue-chip syndicate of investors and recruitment of a word- class team,” Dier said in a statement. “I am thrilled to be joining at this important time to build the strongest possible finance function and lead efforts to further expand the portfolio in order to bring innovation to immunology and deliver new medicines to patients in need.”
Izokibep is Acelyrin’s inflammatory disease treatment that is in phase three of development for two different indications.
Kim, like Dier, brings to the company experience in handling several executive responsibilities simultaneously.
Prior to Acelyrin, she served as chief legal officer and head of corporate development at Emeryville biotech firm Zymergen.