Tobira Therapeutics Announces Appointment of Dr. Laurent Fischer as Industry Co-chair of the Liver Forum Steering Committee

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Tobira Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:TBRA), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing therapies for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and other liver diseases, today announced that Laurent Fischer, M.D., the company’s chief executive officer, has been appointed to serve on the Liver Forum’s steering committee. The steering committee provides overall scientific leadership to the Liver Forum. The goal of the Liver Forum is to leverage the scientific community’s collective knowledge and experience with therapies to facilitate drug development for the treatment of liver disease.

“I’m honored to have been asked to join the steering committee for the Liver Forum,” said Dr. Fischer. “The team at the Forum has done a tremendous job in bringing together key stakeholders from industry, academia and regulators to help advance our understanding of NASH and other liver diseases, and to ultimately bring much needed therapies to patients. I am very excited to continue to drive forward this important endeavor.”

“The Liver Forum’s first two years of operation have been remarkably successful, including working with the FDA and EMA to establish recommendations for approval endpoints for NASH, a serious liver disease that impacts millions of people but does not yet have an approved treatment,” said Veronica Miller, Ph.D., executive director of the Forum for Collaborative HIV Research. “Laurent was a member of the group that initiated the Forum in 1996; we are excited to welcome him to the Liver Forum steering committee now to build upon the significant achievements we have made so far and to help lead, direct and set the vision for the Liver Forum.”

About the Liver Forum

The aim of the Liver Forum is to advance the regulatory sciences for the treatment of NASH and liver fibrosis by providing an independent and neutral venue for ongoing multi-stakeholder dialogue. The forum’s work will facilitate making the best science-based decisions on how to study efficacy and safety in real time, as our collective knowledge and experience with therapies for liver diseases advances. For more information, please visit www.hivforum.org/projects/drug-development/liver-forum.

About Tobira Therapeutics

Tobira is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of therapies for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and other liver diseases. The company's lead product candidate, cenicriviroc (CVC), is a first-in-class immunomodulator and dual inhibitor of CCR2 and CCR5 in late-stage development for the treatment of NASH, a serious liver disease that can progress to cirrhosis, liver cancer and liver failure. CVC is also being investigated to address primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), a disease which causes inflammation and scarring of the bile ducts, eventually leading to serious liver damage. Tobira’s pipeline also includes evogliptin, a selective DPP-4 inhibitor, which it plans to develop for NASH in combination with CVC. Learn more about Tobira at www.tobiratx.com.

Tobira® is a registered trademark owned by Tobira Therapeutics, Inc.

©2016 Tobira Therapeutics, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Forward Looking Statements

This release contains forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 including statements about our expectations for a Phase 3 trial and our plans for a Phase 1 trial for CVC with EVO. Forward-looking statements reflect management's current knowledge, assumptions, judgment and expectations regarding future performance or events. Although management believes that the expectations reflected in such statements are reasonable, they give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct and you should be aware that actual results could differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, the company's clinical development of cenicriviroc (CVC) and evogliptin (EVO); the potential timing and outcomes of clinical studies of Tobira’s product candidates undertaken now or in the future; the ability of the company to timely source adequate supply of its development products from third party manufacturers on whom the company depends; the company's limited cash reserves and its ability to obtain additional capital on acceptable terms, or at all; the company's ability to successfully progress, partner or complete further development of its programs; the uncertainties inherent in clinical testing; the timing, cost and uncertainty of obtaining regulatory approvals; the company's ability to protect the company's intellectual property; competition; changes in the regulatory landscape or the imposition of regulations that affect the company's products; and other factors listed under "Risk Factors" in the company's other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.