CAMBRIDGE, Mass., February 1, 2021 – MOMA Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company discovering the next generation of precision medicines by targeting molecular machines that underlie human disease, today announced that Asit Parikh, M.D., Ph.D., has been appointed as the company’s president and chief executive officer, effective April 5, 2021. Dr. Parikh brings more than 20 years of academic and industry experience to MOMA. He will succeed interim founding CEO, Reid Huber, Ph.D., a partner at Third Rock Ventures, who will remain on MOMA’s Board of Directors.
“Asit shares MOMA’s singular focus on patients and brings to our team a deep and diverse R&D, strategy and business background. His experience leading successful interdisciplinary teams and building innovation-rich product portfolios will be highly synergistic with MOMA’s team of passionate drug hunters,” said Dr. Huber. “Asit’s appointment as MOMA’s CEO marks an important milestone toward our goal of transforming the lives of patients. We are thrilled to welcome him to our team.”
Prior to MOMA, Dr. Parikh served as senior vice president and head of Takeda’s gastroenterology unit since 2012. Under his leadership, Takeda has achieved global approvals for Entyvio® for ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, European adult and U.S. pediatric approvals for Gattex®/Revestive® for short bowel syndrome, Japan and China approvals for Takecab®/Vocinti® for acid related disorders, a European approval for Alofisel® for perianal fistulizing Crohn’s disease, and a U.S. approval for Motegrity® for chronic constipation. Prior to Takeda, he worked in the clinical research division at Millennium Pharmaceuticals, where he held leadership roles in inflammation and oncology drug development. Dr. Parikh remains actively engaged in the practice of medicine as a consulting gastroenterologist at Newton-Wellesley Hospital in Newton, Mass., and serves as a board member of Ambys Medicines, Phathom Pharmaceuticals and Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Basic Sciences. Dr. Parikh earned his Ph.D. in biochemistry and M.D. from Vanderbilt University, completed his internal medicine residency at the University of Pennsylvania and subspecialty training in gastroenterology at Massachusetts General Hospital. He performed postdoctoral research in cancer biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
“I joined MOMA in large part because of its unique and compelling vision – the possibility that systematically drugging molecular machines can deliver an entirely new class of medicines to patients who need them,” said Dr. Parikh. “MOMA’s approach, coupled with its world-class team and scientific founders, represented an unprecedented opportunity to join a disruptive young biotech poised to make a true difference in medicine.”
About MOMA Therapeutics
MOMA Therapeutics is committed to discovering the next generation of precision medicines by targeting molecular machines that underlie human disease. Bringing together seminal scientific advancements in biochemistry, biophysics, structural biology, chemistry and functional genomics, the company is establishing a platform to exploit a key vulnerability inherent to all enzymes in the class: their dependence on well-coordinated, stepwise changes in protein conformation. By focusing this platform on disease-causing targets, MOMA aims to develop high impact, precision medicines for patients with unmet medical needs. MOMA Therapeutics is a private company launched in 2020 and is financed by world-class biotech investors, including Third Rock Ventures, Nextech Invest, Cormorant Asset Management, Creacion Ventures, Casdin Capital, Alexandria Venture Investments and Rock Springs Capital.
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