Madrigal Pharmaceuticals Promotes Rebecca Taub, M.D., Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President of Research & Development, to Newly Created Position of President of Research & Development

-- Dr. Taub to present at the 5th Paris NASH Meeting to be held on July 11-12, 2019 --

CONSHOHOCKEN, Pa., July 11, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. MDGL announced today the promotion of Rebecca Taub, M.D., to the newly created positon of President of Research & Development. Dr. Taub has served as Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President of Research & Development, of Madrigal  since 2016. She is also a member of the Company's Board of Directors.

Paul Friedman, M.D., Chairman and CEO of Madrigal, stated, "As we continue to advance resmetirom forward in Phase 3 clinical development in both NASH and earlier stage NASH/NAFLD patients with dyslipidemias, and as we seek to add to the professional resources of the Company, Becky's leadership as President of R&D promises to be of great value to all of our key stakeholders."

Fred Craves, Ph.D., Lead Director of Madrigal, said, "This promotion to President is well-deserved. Becky's deep expertise in liver disease and her understanding of the pleiotropic pharmacological effects of resmetirom (MGL-3196) were the critical factors in the founding of Madrigal. She has been primarily responsible for the development of the key clinical data that have made Madrigal a successful public biopharma company."

"Through Becky's outstanding stewardship, resmetirom has advanced into Phase 3 clinical development with the potential to become an important new medicine for people with NASH," Dr. Craves continued. "Additionally, based on its cardiovascular risk reducing profile, resmetirom has the potential to not only demonstrate a highly favorable benefit in patients with advanced NASH but, ultimately, in the broader population of earlier stage NASH/NAFLD patients being treated for LDL-cholesterol and atherogenic lipid lowering.  It has been a privilege for me to have worked with Becky this past decade. We are all very grateful for her extraordinary contributions."

Rebecca Taub

Prior to the merger of privately held Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc., with Synta Pharmaceuticals in July 2016, from 2011 to 2016, Dr. Taub served as Chief Executive Officer and as a Director of Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. From 2008 to 2011, prior to Madrigal, Dr. Taub served as Senior Vice President, Research and Development of VIA Pharmaceuticals and as Vice President, Research, metabolic diseases at Hoffmann-La Roche from 2004 to 2008.

Presentation at the 5th Paris NASH Meeting

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals will have a poster presentation at the 5th Paris-NASH meeting in Paris, France. "EFFECTS OF RESMETIROM 60 AND 80 MG IN A 36-WEEK STUDY OF NASH PATIENTS" will be communicated on Thursday July 11, 2019. Presentation times will be from 10:00-10:30am and 3:30-4:00pm by Dr. Rebecca Taub, Madrigal President of Research and Development.

About NASH and NAFLD

Non-alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH) is a common liver disease in the United States and worldwide, unrelated to alcohol use, that is characterized by a build-up of fat in the liver, inflammation, damage (ballooning) of hepatocytes and increasing fibrosis. Although people with NASH may feel well and often do not know they have the disease, NASH can lead to permanent damage, including cirrhosis and impaired liver function in a high percentage of patients.

Patients with NASH, and its more prevalent precursor, Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD), are at heightened cardiovascular risk.  In fact, patients suffering from these conditions die more frequently from cardiovascular events than from their liver disease.  Multiple factors may contribute to this risk, including elevated levels of LDL-C and excess liver fat. Patients with NASH and NAFLD, however, may not undergo a biopsy to confirm a NASH diagnosis until they reach the more advanced stages of fibrosis (F2 – F4).  A significant segment of this large group of patients may also suffer from diabetes and metabolic syndrome, and have lipid levels that are above target despite treatment with established therapies.  These patients may benefit from therapy to lower their lipid levels, including excess liver fat.

About Resmetirom (MGL-3196)

Among its many functions in the human body, thyroid hormone, through activation of its beta receptor, plays a central role in controlling lipid metabolism, impacting a range of health parameters from levels of serum cholesterol and triglycerides to the pathological buildup of fat in the liver. Attempts to exploit this pathway for therapeutic purposes in cardio-metabolic and liver diseases have been hampered by the lack of selectivity of older compounds for the thyroid hormone receptor (THR)-β, chemically-related toxicities and undesirable distribution in the body.

Madrigal recognized that greater selectivity for thyroid hormone receptor (THR)-β and liver targeting might overcome these challenges and deliver the full therapeutic potential of THR-β agonism. Madrigal believes that resmetirom is the first orally administered, small-molecule, liver- directed, truly β-selective THR agonist. 

About Madrigal Pharmaceuticals

Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. MDGL is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company pursuing novel therapeutics that target a specific thyroid hormone receptor pathway in the liver, which is a key regulatory mechanism common to a spectrum of cardio-metabolic and fatty liver diseases with high unmet medical need. Madrigal's lead candidate, resmetirom, is a first-in-class, orally administered, small-molecule, liver-directed, thyroid hormone receptor (THR) β- selective agonist. For more information, visit www.madrigalpharma.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This communication contains "forward-looking statements" made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements contain words such as "expect," "could," "may," "might," "will," "be, "predict," "project," "intend," "believe," "estimate," "continue," "future," or the negative thereof or comparable terminology and the use of future dates. Forward-looking statements reflect management's current knowledge, assumptions, judgment and expectations regarding future performance or events. Such forward-looking statements include but are not limited to statements or references concerning: our primary and secondary study endpoints and their achievement potential; optimal dosing levels for resmetirom; projections regarding potential future NASH resolution, fibrosis treatment, cardiovascular effects and lipid treatment; the achievement of enrollment objectives concerning patient number and/or timing; and potential NASH or NAFLD patient risk profile benefits.  Although management believes that the expectations reflected in such statements are reasonable, they give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct and you should be aware that actual results could differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, the company's clinical development of resmetirom, enrollment uncertainties, outcomes or trends from competitive studies, the risks of achieving potential benefits in a study that includes substantially more patients than our prior study, the timing and outcomes of clinical studies of resmetirom, and the uncertainties inherent in clinical testing. Undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. Madrigal undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect new information, events or circumstances after the date they are made, or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. Please refer to Madrigal's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for more detailed information regarding these risks and uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied. We specifically discuss these risks and uncertainties in greater detail in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in Part I, Item 1A of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018, as well as in our other filings with the SEC.

Investor Contact:

Marc Schneebaum, Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. IR@madrigalpharma.com

Media Contact:

Mike Beyer, Sam Brown Inc. mikebeyer@sambrown.com  312 961 2502