Xeno Biosciences Welcomes New CEO, Dennis D. Kim, MD, MBA Plus Secures Funding

Xeno Biosciences

Xeno Biosciences Inc.,: A strong clinical stage drug discovery and development company advancing therapeutics for the treatment of obesity and metabolic diseases, announced today a change in executive leadership as of September 2023, and the completion of an additional financing round in February of 2024. This financing of $1.15M will fund a Phase 1b trial of the company’s lead compound, Xen-101, in obese individuals. The trial is expected to have top line results by the end of the year.

Dennis D. Kim, MD, MBA

The new president and CEO, Dennis D. Kim, MD, MBA, has 25 years of obesity and metabolic drug development expertise experience and has brought multiple obesity and metabolic disease drugs to the clinic and to market, including Byetta® (exenatide), Symlin® (pramlintide), Contrave® (bupropion/naltrexone), and seladelpar. He has been involved in numerous IPO’s/secondary offerings and has been the chief medical officer of multiple public companies, most recently at CymaBay Therapeutics, where he oversaw the design and execution of seladelpar Phase 3 Pivotal Program.

Dr. Kim Notes

“I’m excited to be spearheading the development of Xeno’s new oral obesity drug which has been shown to have high tolerability in initial Phase I trial and has a novel mechanism of action. I have dedicated my career to this area of science and medicine. After many years of development, I am truly gratified to see obesity pharmaceuticals as having the potential to impact the lives of billions of people around the world. There is a strong unmet need for a drug with the profile of Xen-101 and I look forward to our Phase 1b clinical trial results in obese adults in the near future.”

“Dennis has an extraordinary depth of knowledge and is highly respected in the obesity field; I could not imagine anyone more perfect to lead our company,” said Jeff Arnold, Chairman and a Director at Xeno Biosciences since 2017. “We are delighted that he has decided to join us and lead this exciting project.”

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