HLB taps new Elevar CEO to steer FDA push for breakthrough bile duct cancer drug

Bryan Kim, former University of Pennsylvania clinical professor and biotech entrepreneur who co-founded CAR-T developer Verismo Therapeutics, has been named CEO of Elevar Therapeutics. (Courtesy of HLB)

As Elevar Therapeutics races toward an FDA filing for its experimental bile duct cancer drug, parent company HLB has tapped Bryan Kim to steer the U.S. biotech through a high-stakes push for approval and commercialization.

Kim, who will continue as co-CEO of HLB Innovation and CEO of Verismo Therapeutics, takes over as Elevar readies a late September pre-NDA meeting with the FDA for rilapugratinib (RLY-4008), a breakthrough therapy–designated drug that has shown strong efficacy and tolerability in FGFR2 fusion–positive cholangiocarcinoma, a rare cancer with limited treatment options that could qualify for priority review.

HLB said the leadership change is meant to align executive expertise with the demands of launching a drug, from scaling the organization and upgrading operations to forging global partnerships and securing investment.

“Elevar has grown steadily thus far, but we decided to change leadership to prepare for the next stage of accelerating organizational growth and expanding our global business,” an HLB spokesperson said in the company’s release Wednesday.

Kim, a former tenured clinical professor at the University of Pennsylvania and founding member of Inovio Pharmaceuticals, has built and exited multiple biotech companies and has a track record in innovative drug development, including CAR-T therapies.

He co-founded HLB's U.S. affiliate Verismo in 2020 with Penn researchers Carl June and Michael Milone, the co-developers of Novartis’ Kymriah (tisagenlecleucel) CAR-T therapy, and Donald Siegel, director of Penn’s Clinical Cell and Vaccine Production Facility.

“At this crucial time, as we face new drug approval and global commercialization, I feel a deep sense of responsibility,” Kim said in a statement. “Leveraging my experience and global network, I will work to complete the approval process for our liver cancer drug, execute our commercialization and growth strategies, and help Elevar take a major step forward.”