Achieve Life Sciences Appoints Benjamin Halladay as CFO Ahead of Cytisinicline Commercialization

With an NDA submission already on file and a potential commercial launch approaching, Achieve Life Sciences has installed a CFO whose prior role included steering a commercial-stage pharma through a $1.1 billion acquisition, a signal that pre-launch financial infrastructure is now the company's operational priority. Benjamin Halladay takes effect October 5, 2026, succeeding Mark Oki, who held the position through the Phase 3 program and NDA filing.

Halladay arrives from Esperion Therapeutics, where he served as CFO from November 2022 to July 2026 across a portfolio generating more than $400 million in annual revenue. During that tenure he managed balance sheet deleveraging, a business development acquisition, and the finance workstream for Esperion's sale to ARCHIMED at a 58% share-price premium. Earlier positions at Pfizer, covering Lipitor and Chantix within the Primary Care business unit, give him direct exposure to large-scale launch execution, a background directly relevant to cytisinicline's anticipated U.S. smoking cessation rollout.

For supply chain and manufacturing leads tracking cytisinicline's path to market, the appointment carries a clear operational read: Achieve is now building the financial controls and capital allocation framework that will govern commercial-scale production decisions, vendor contracting, and launch-readiness spend. Halladay's stated focus on pre-launch discipline, establishing financial and operating foundations before the first prescription, aligns with the planning horizons that plant heads and QA directors typically engage well ahead of a product's commercial authorization.

Cytisinicline's NDA for smoking cessation in adults is supported by two completed Phase 3 studies and an open-label long-term safety study. The compound also holds Breakthrough Therapy designation for vaping cessation, following a completed Phase 2 study and an end-of-Phase 2 meeting with FDA, a regulatory position that could accelerate a second indication through review.

The measurable checkpoint ahead is FDA action on the cytisinicline NDA, against which Halladay's capital efficiency mandate and commercial launch experience will be tested.

Source: Achieve Life Sciences, Inc. via GlobeNewswire, October 1, 2026.