Our Company

Dr. Andrew Cheng joined Akero in September 2018, as President and Chief Executive Officer. Prior to joining Akero, Andrew served as Gilead Sciences’ Senior Vice President from 2009-2015, then became Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, during which time, he was responsible for the clinical development for the HIV program resulting in 11 FDA/EMA approved products. His past responsibilities also included medical affairs and the creation of the development operations department (regulatory affairs, clinical operations, pharmacovigilance, project management, clinical pharmacology, and biometrics), which covered clinical development support in multiple therapeutic areas including oncology, inflammation, respiratory, cardiovascular, HIV, and liver diseases.

Andrew previously served on the board of directors of Syntimmune, Inc., which was acquired by Alexion, and in August 2019, joined the board of directors of Arbutus Biopharma Corporation. He holds a BA in biology from Johns Hopkins University, and an MD and PhD in cellular and molecular biology from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. He completed his internal medicine residency at UCLA, and was board certified in internal medicine.

Dr. Seidenberg is a founding managing director of Westlake Village BioPartners and a general partner at Kleiner Perkins, a leading venture capital firm. A longtime life sciences investor, she has incubated-invested 25 biotech ventures.

Dr. Seidenberg has a demonstrated ability to identify and accelerate medically meaningful molecules through development. Her expertise is grounded in her significant senior level industry experience with leadership roles at Amgen, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Merck Research Laboratories. Most recently, at Amgen, Dr. Seidenberg was chief medical officer and head of global development.

Dr. Seidenberg holds a Bachelor of Science degree in biology and anthropology from Barnard College and attended medical school at the University of Miami School of Medicine. She completed her medical residency at Johns Hopkins University and the George Washington University, and Fellowship at the National Institutes of Health.

Kurt joined Abingworth in January 2015, bringing over 25 years of experience in life science investment. He began his career as a biotechnology and healthcare analyst in 1990, and then was promoted to Vice President and Portfolio Manager at Franklin Templeton. Kurt then became a General Partner at MPM Capital in 2000. In 2009, he co-founded venBio, a US healthcare investment firm and most recently was a Partner in the San Francisco office. He holds board positions at CymaBay, Jasper Therapeutics, Orbus Therapeutics, SFJ Pharmaceuticals, Tizona Therapeutics, Trishula Therapeutics, Vaxcyte and Vera Therapeutics.  He was formerly on boards at Aurinia, CRISPR Therapeutics, Cytos, Kesios, Facet and Somaxon. Kurt holds a Bachelor of Science in Business and Economics and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.

Maha joined Sofinnova as a Partner in 2019. In 2020, she was promoted to General Partner. She is an experienced investor in biopharma companies, with over two decades in venture capital investing and public equities portfolio management. She focuses on development stage investments in therapeutics. She is currently a member of the board of directors of Aerovate, Amplyx, Northsea, and Vera.

Prior to joining Sofinnova, Maha was a Managing Partner of Oxalis Capital.  Prior to founding Oxalis in 2018, Maha was a Partner at Sectoral Asset Management since 2008, where she formed and led a dedicated investment team and advisory board to drive investments in private companies. Two of these companies were Ascendis and Apellis, both also Sofinnova portfolio companies. Additionally, she was a Portfolio Manager for a family of funds, that invested in publicly listed and private healthcare companies. Prior to Sectoral, Maha was Vice-President at Ventures West Management since 2004, a venture capital firm focusing on technology and life sciences in Canada and the United States.  She started her venture capital career in 1999 at T²C² Capital Bio, a seed fund focused on Canadian start-ups.

Maha received her PhD in Pharmacology and BSc in Biology from McGill University, and is a CFA charterholder. She is currently Chair of the board of Exactis Innovation, a Canadian oncology precision medicine network.

Mr. Enright is a Managing Director and Founder of Longitude Capital. Prior to Longitude Capital, Mr. Enright was a Managing Director of Pequot Ventures where he co-led the life sciences investment practice. Prior to Pequot, he was a Managing Member of the Delta Opportunity Fund at Diaz & Altschul Capital Management. Mr. Enright began his investment career at PaineWebber Development Corporation. Mr. Enright also has significant life sciences operations experience, including senior executive positions at Valentis (VLTS), Boehringer Mannheim (acquired by Roche) and Sandoz (now known as Novartis). Mr. Enright currently serves on the boards of Aptinyx (APTX), CuraSen Therapeutics, Dascena, Epirium Bio (formerly Cardero Therapeutics), Jazz Pharmaceuticals (JAZZ), Orbus Therapeutics, Rivus Pharmaceuticals, Vera Therapeutics as well as the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA). Selected prior board memberships include Aimmune (AIMT, acquired by Nestlé Health Science), Codexis (CDXS), Corcept Therapeutics (CORT), Esperion Therapeutics (ESPR), Horizon Pharmaceuticals (HZNP), InfaCare Pharmaceutical, MAP Pharmaceuticals (MAPP, acquired by Allergan), Prestwick Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Lundbeck), Sequenom (SQNM, acquired by LabCorp), Threshold Pharmaceuticals (THLD) and Vaxcyte (PCVX). Mr. Enright holds an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania and a B.S. in Biological Sciences from Stanford University.

Dr. Fordyce brings more than 15 years’ experience leading teams in drug discovery, development, clinical translation, and commercialization of new treatments.

Before founding Vera, Fordyce was the founder and CEO of gene-editing company Trucode Gene Repair, Inc., having previously served as an entrepreneur in residence at Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers.

Earlier in his career, Fordyce served as Senior Director of clinical research at Gilead Sciences, Inc., where he contributed to seven new drug approvals and served as project lead for Gilead’s TAF/GENVOYA development program.

With subspecialty training in infectious disease from Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Fordyce was previously Chief Resident at NYU Bellevue and spent two years as a translational research fellow at Rockefeller University.

Fordyce currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation. He received his BA from Harvard University and his MD from Harvard Medical School.