Aerami Therapeutics has issued a statement following the death of CEO Lisa Yañez, who was killed in a car accident on May 2, 2023 in Chapel Hill, NC, USA, offering condolences to Yañez’s family and announcing that former CEO and current Executive Chairwoman Anne Whitaker will assume leadership of the company.
Yañez joined Aerami in June 2022 as Chief Operating Officer and took over as CEO in January 2023. The company said, “Lisa possessed limitless empathy, intellect, bravery, and compassion. Lisa’s career, fueled by her endless curiosity and passion for helping others, was magnificent, but most important to her was her family, whom she loved dearly. Our thoughts are with Lisa’s family and her extensive network of friends and colleagues.”
Whitaker commented, “We and everyone who knew Lisa Yañez have suffered a major loss with her passing. Lisa was a passionate, authentic leader who worked shoulder to shoulder with her colleagues, always focused on bringing solutions to help people live longer and better lives. She was a shining star in our healthcare community, and I feel very privileged to have had the opportunity to call her a colleague and a friend. I am confident that by working closely with the experienced and committed Aerami leadership team, we will honor Lisa’s legacy by executing on our pulmonary hypertension clinical programs and maintaining our focus on improving the lives of the patients we serve.”
Aerami (formerly Dance Biopharm), is partnered with Vectura on development of AER-901 nebulized imatinib for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and for the treatment of pulmonary hypertension associated with interstitial lung disease (PH-ILD). The company’s pipeline also includes its AER-501 insulin SMI and AER-601 exenatide SMI for post-prandial hyperglycemia in Type 2 diabetes.
Read the Aerami Therapeutics press release.
