Arvinas CEO John Houston to retire, remain as board chair

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Arvinas, Inc. (NASDAQ:ARVN), a clinical-stage biotechnology company with a market capitalization of $585 million, announced Wednesday that John Houston, Ph.D., will retire from his positions as President and Chief Executive Officer after the company finds his successor. According to InvestingPro data, the company maintains a strong financial position with more cash than debt on its balance sheet, though it faces challenges with rapid cash burn.

Houston will continue to serve as Chairperson of the Board of Directors following his retirement from executive duties. The company’s board has initiated a search for a new CEO.

Houston joined Arvinas in January 2017 as President of Research and Development and Chief Scientific Officer before being appointed President and CEO in September 2017. He was named Chairperson in 2023.

During his eight-year tenure at the clinical-stage biotechnology company, Houston oversaw the advancement of six programs into clinical trials. Under his leadership, Arvinas reported the first positive pivotal Phase 3 trial for a PROTAC (Proteolysis Targeting Chimera) protein degrader and demonstrated that an orally administered PROTAC can achieve pharmacodynamic activity in the central nervous system. The company has shown impressive revenue growth, with InvestingPro reporting a nearly 500% increase in the last twelve months, though analysts do not expect profitability this year. Get detailed insights and 8 additional ProTips for Arvinas with an InvestingPro subscription.

"It has been an honor to lead Arvinas alongside incredibly talented colleagues and a supportive Board of Directors," Houston said in the press release statement.

Briggs Morrison, M.D., Arvinas Board Member and Lead Independent Director, credited Houston with guiding the company through significant milestones in protein degradation technology development.

Arvinas focuses on developing protein degradation therapies designed to harness the body’s natural protein disposal system to remove disease-causing proteins. The company’s clinical development programs include treatments targeting breast cancer, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, neurodegenerative disorders, and various cancers.

In other recent news, Arvinas Inc. and Pfizer Inc. have jointly submitted a New Drug Application (NDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for vepdegestrant, targeting ER-positive/HER2-negative ESR1-mutated advanced or metastatic breast cancer. This submission follows promising results from the Phase 3 VERITAC-2 trial, which showed a median progression-free survival of five months for vepdegestrant compared to 2.1 months in the control group. The trial results were presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s annual meeting and published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Analysts from H.C. Wainwright reaffirmed their Buy rating on Arvinas stock, while Leerink Partners downgraded it from Outperform to Market Perform, citing uncertainties in the competitive landscape of breast cancer treatments. Additionally, Arvinas announced the resignation of John Young from its board of directors and reported the election of three Class I directors at its recent annual meeting. Shareholders also approved executive compensation and the appointment of Deloitte & Touche LLP as the company’s independent auditor. These developments are based on recent disclosures and analyst evaluations.

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