Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. announced the appointments of Darren Cline and Thomas McCourt to its Board of Directors. Mr. Cline is a seasoned pharmaceutical industry executive with over 30 years of strategic and operational experience in building commercial organizations. Mr. Cline currently serves as Chief Executive Officer and President of Epygenix Therapeutics, a clinical stage company developing therapies for rare epilepsies.

Prior to this, Mr. Cline served as the U.S. Chief Commercial Officer of GW Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Jazz Pharmaceuticals), where he was responsible for commercial and medical affairs activities associated with Epidiolex®. Prior to joining GW Pharmaceuticals, Mr. Cline held the role of Executive Vice President, Commercial at Seagen where he managed operations with the commercial launch of Adcetris®. Prior to joining Seagen, Mr. Cline held key commercial leadership roles at Intermune, Alexion and Amgen.

Mr. Cline currently serves on the board of directors of Pyxis Oncology. Mr. Cline received his B.S. in Business Marketing from San Diego State University and an MBA from Pepperdine University. Mr. McCourt is an accomplished biopharmaceutical executive with over 30 years of experience building commercial strategies and capabilities across multiple companies.

Mr. McCourt currently serves as Chief Executive Officer of Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, a role he has held since June 2021. Since joining Ironwood in 2009, Mr. McCourt has served as Senior Vice President of Marketing and Sales, Chief Commercial Officer, and President, leading the commercial launch of LINZESS®, now a blockbuster product. Prior to joining Ironwood, Mr. McCourt led the U.S. brand team for Prolia® at Amgen and held several senior commercial roles within Novartis AG, including leading the launch and growth of ZELNORM™.

In addition, Mr. McCourt was a founding team member at Astra Merck Inc., where he led the development of the medical affairs and science liaison group, and then served as brand manager for PRILOSEC® and NEXIUM®. Mr. McCourt also served as an independent director and chair of the nominating and corporate governance committee at Acceleron Pharma before their acquisition. In 2022, he received the ASGE President's Award in recognition of his pivotal contribution to the field of gastrointestinal endoscopy and treatment.

Mr. McCourt received his B.S. degree in Pharmacy and Pharmacology from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.