David Shapiro

David Shapiro has considerable experience in drug development and was Chief Medical Officer and head of R&D at Intercept Pharmaceuticals from 2007 until 2019 where he led the development of obeticholic acid. This program culminated in the drug’s approval for the treatment of primary biliary cholangitis and the first successful Phase 3 study and regulatory filing for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), the most prevalent liver disease in the developed world. Prior to this, he was CMO at Idun Pharmaceuticals which was acquired by Pfizer in 2005. David served as President of the Scripps Medical Research Center at Scripps Clinic and held senior appointments at several biotechnology companies. Prior to joining the biotech sector, he led Merck’s highly competitive hypertension clinical research program. David received his medical degree from Dundee University and undertook post-graduate training in general and respiratory medicine in Oxford and the University of Vermont. He is both a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London and a Fellow of the College’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine. David has lectured and organized numerous symposia on improving the drug development process and served twice on the Executive Committee of the American Academy of Pharmaceutical Physicians and in 2015-2017 was Co-Chairman of the interdisciplinary Liver Forum, a group of academic, industry and regulatory members focused on speeding the pathway for new therapeutics in NASH.