Kirkland, Wash. – October 28, 2026 -- EIT Pharma has appointed Dr. Joseph Toerner, a 26-year veteran of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as Chief Medical Officer, effective immediately, while its lead hepatitis D candidate lonafarnib is under regulatory review.
Former FDA hepatology director takes clinical lead on two programs
Toerner will provide medical and clinical leadership across EIT Pharma's development programs. That includes supporting the ongoing regulatory review of lonafarnib, a late-stage, first-in-class oral therapy for chronic hepatitis D (CHD), and peginterferon lambda, a Phase 2 treatment for severe acute viral respiratory infections.
EIT Pharma describes lonafarnib as the only oral therapeutic candidate in late-stage clinical development for CHD. The drug has not been approved by the FDA or any other regulatory authority, and its safety and efficacy have not been established.
Toerner directed the FDA's Division of Hepatology and Nutrition from 2020 to 2024
His earlier FDA roles covered antiviral drug development, vaccines, drug safety and regulatory policy. After leaving the agency in 2024, he founded Joseph Toerner, LLC, a consultancy advising on drug development in hepatology, nutrition, vaccines and infectious diseases.
Toerner holds an M.D. from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and an M.P.H. from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. He completed his internal medicine residency at Case Western and an infectious disease fellowship at Georgetown University Medical Center. He is board certified in Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases.
CEO Kawas points to regulatory pathway expertise
CEO Dr. Leen Kawas said "few understand the path from clinical evidence to approved therapy as deeply" as Toerner. Toerner said CHD patients have too few treatment options and that he will work with Kawas's team to advance lonafarnib and lambda.
EIT Pharma cautioned that there is no assurance the FDA will approve the New Drug Application (NDA) for lonafarnib or that the product will become commercially available.