Days after stepping down as chief scientific officer of Gilead Sciences (NASDAQ: [[ticker:GILD]]), John McHutchison has surfaced as the new president and CEO of South San Francisco-based Assembly Biosciences (NASDAQ: [[ticker:ASMB]]). Assembly said Wednesday that McHutchison will also join the company’s board of directors.
Last month, Gilead announced that McHutchison would leave after nearly a decade at the Foster City, CA drug maker. His last day was Aug. 2. At Assembly, McHutchison succeeds Derek Small, who co-founded the company in 2014. Assembly said that Small will return to life sciences venture firm Luson Bioventures. He will continue to advise Assembly and serve on its board. Assembly is developing drugs to treat hepatitis B viral (HBV) infection and microbiome diseases. The company’s lead drug, ABI-H0731, is in mid-stage testing for HBV.
