Achieve Life Sciences Promotes John Bencich to Chief Executive Officer
September 30, 2020 at 05:30 pm IST
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Achieve Life Sciences, Inc. announced the promotion of John Bencich to Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Bencich has been serving as Achieve's Chief Financial and Operating Officer since 2017. Mr. Bencich will join the Board of Directors in his role as Chief Executive Officer. Rick Stewart, Achieve's current Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, will remain with Achieve as the Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors. Additionally, Dr. Cindy Jacobs will be promoted to the role of President. Dr. Jacobs has been serving as the Chief Medical Officer of Achieve since 2017 and will continue in this role leading the regulatory and clinical development efforts for cytisinicline. Dr. Anthony Clark will step down from the Board of Directors but will remain in his role as Chief Scientific Officer. Mr. Jerry Wan, currently Achieve's Sr. Director of Accounting Operations, will assume the role of Principal Accounting Officer.
Achieve Life Sciences, Inc. is a late-stage clinical pharmaceutical company. The Company is engaged in development and commercialization of cytisinicline for smoking cessation and nicotine addiction. The Companyâs product candidate, cytisinicline, is a naturally occurring, plant-based alkaloid. Cytisinicline is structurally similar to nicotine and has a well-defined, dual-acting mechanism of action that is both agonistic and antagonistic. Cytisinicline is a partial agonist that binds with high affinity to the alpha-4 beta-2, nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in the brain. Through its dual-acting partial agonist/partial antagonist activity, cytisinicline helps reduce nicotine cravings, withdrawal symptoms and reward and satisfaction associated with smoking. It is developing cytisinicline as an aid to smoking cessation and treatment for nicotine addiction to address the limitations of both prescription drugs and of over the counter (OTC) products.
ACHIEVE LIFE SCIENCES, INC. 
