ARCA biopharma, Inc. announced that it has expanded the company's clinical trial leadership team with three new hires in clinical development and quality assurance vice president -- clinical development, senior director quality, and senior clinical program manager. These new hires will join existing ARCA employees in overseeing the execution of GENETIC-AF, the company's Phase 2B/3 clinical trial evaluating Gencaro as a potential treatment for atrial fibrillation. Christopher Dufton, PhD, Vice President, Clinical Development, was previously Director of Clinical Research at Gilead Sciences.

Prior to Gilead, Dr. Dufton was Associate Director of Clinical Development at Myogen, Inc., where he was a member of the development team responsible for the clinical program that led to the approval of Letairis(R) (ambrisentan) for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). Letairis is now approved in the U.S. and Europe for the treatment of PAH. Sharon Perry, Senior Director Quality, was previously Director of Quality Assurance (QA) at Accera Pharma.

Ms. Perry also brings additional relevant QA experience from her prior work at Gilead Sciences, PR Pharmaceuticals and Pfizer. Jennifer Merriweather, Senior Clinical Program Manager was previously Clinical Program Manager at Gilead Sciences. Ms. Merriweather also brings additional relevant clinical development experience from her work with Myogen, Inc.