Hepion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced the appointments of Anand Reddi, M.S., and Kaouthar Lbiati, M.D., to its Board of Directors, effective immediately. Mr. Reddi has an accomplished history, spanning a variety of activities including corporate strategy, strategic partnerships, R&D strategy, investor relations, corporate affairs, medical affairs, international commercial operations, global marketing, market access and patient advocacy during his time in the global biopharmaceutical industry. He is currently Vice President of Corporate Strategy and External Affairs & Engagement, as well as Chief of Staff at Adverum Biotechnologies, a clinical-stage gene therapy company targeting unmet medical needs in ocular and rare diseases.

Prior to joining Adverum, Mr. Reddi held strategic and operational leadership positions of increasing responsibility during his seven-year career at Gilead Sciences, most recently serving as Director and Head, Digital Innovation Customer Engagement. At Gilead, Mr. Reddi was instrumental in establishing international access and emerging markets initiatives in over 140 countries for the HIV medicines Truvada®, Descovy®, Genvoya® and Biktarvy®; hepatitis B treatments Viread® and Vemlidy®; and the hepatitis C cures Sovaldi®, Harvoni®, Epclusa® and Vosevi®; resulting in over 20 million patients with access to these treatments in resource limited settings. Previously, he was active in HIV/AIDS global health policy, basic science and clinical research focused on bone tissue engineering, and skin cancer metastasis and signal transduction.

Mr. Reddi has authored or co-authored more than 20 peer-reviewed articles in scientific journals such as Science, Nature Biotechnology, JAMA Pediatrics, and AIDS; written op-eds for several major media outlets, such as The Washington Post and The New York Times; and is a featured blogger on The Huffington Post. He holds a Master of Science degree from the University of Colorado School of Medicine, where he studied medicine. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history and a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from the University of Michigan.

In addition, Mr. Reddi has the distinction of serving as a J. William Fulbright Scholar in South Africa. Dr. Lbiati is a multi-functional executive with a combination of scientific, business, finance, global health policy, and health economics skills. She is currently Vice President, Strategy & Corporate Development at Cytovia Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company specializing in immuno-oncology and cell therapies.

Dr. Lbiati previously served in global and regional leadership roles at Amgen, Glaxo Smith Kline, and Sanofi, where she supported the registration, launch and/or indication extension and reimbursement of three innovative cancer drugs – Blincyto®, Jevtana® and Votrient® – in the U.S., EU and MENA regions, with a focus on global medical affairs; strategic planning, health economics and outcomes research; and market access across multiple countries. Most recently, Dr. Lbiati has served as a strategic advisor to several biotech companies and venture capital firms. She headed the portfolio strategy at Steba Biotech (a radio-pharmaceutical and oncology company); served as a medical technology investment consultant to Forepont Capital Partners; and was Director, Strategic Market Access at Amaris, a global pharmaceutical consulting company. Dr. Lbiati received a Doctor of Medicine degree from Rabat, Morocco's Mohammed V University, a fellowship in oncology from the Gustave Roussy Institute in Paris, a Specialized Executive Master's degree in Strategy & Management from ESSEC Business School in Paris, and a Master of Science in International Policy and Health Economics from the London School of Economics.