Healthcare Industry News: Concert Pharmaceuticals
News Release - September 3, 2009
Steven Holtzman Joins Satori Pharmaceuticals' Board of Directors
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Sept. 3 -- (Healthcare Sales & Marketing Network) -- Satori Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, a privately held developer of therapeutics for Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and other neurodegenerative disorders, today announced that Steven Holtzman, CEO and co-founder of Infinity Pharmaceuticals, has joined its Board of Directors."We are excited to have Steve join as another important addition to our board," said Dr. Jeffrey Ives, Satori CEO. "Satori's ability to attract industry leaders, as well as our $22 million Series B financing earlier this year, highlights the promise of our innovative therapeutic approaches. Steve is a talented leader and builder of successful biotechnology companies. His involvement will be significant to us as we continue to grow Satori into a leading neurodegenerative disease drug discovery company."
Prior to co-founding Infinity in 2001, from 1994-2001 Steve served as an early leader and the Chief Business Officer of Millennium Pharmaceuticals. At Millennium he was a principal architect in crafting successful multi-million dollar technology deals which were instrumental in building a leading biotechnology company. Prior to joining Millennium, from 1986-1994, Mr. Holtzman was a founder and Executive Vice President of DNX Corporation, the first commercial developer of transgenic animal technology. Prior to DNX, in the early 1980s, Mr. Holtzman conceived of and was the founding Executive Director of the Ohio Edison Program, the nation's first state government program directed to achieving economic development through funding young technology-based ventures and university/industry collaborative research and development efforts.
From 1996-2001, Mr. Holtzman served as a presidential appointee to the National Bioethics Advisory Commission, the principal advisory body to the President and Congress on ethical issues in the biomedical and life sciences. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Anadys Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and of the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), and a Trustee of the Berklee College of Music.
"I am delighted and feel privileged to join Satori's team of world leaders in the field of Alzheimer's research and drug discovery," says Mr. Holtzman. "As recent data from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative clearly demonstrate, Satori's flagship program focuses on the most compelling target for preventing the progression of Alzheimer's."
Alzheimer's disease is a debilitating disorder characterized by the progressive loss of memory, thought and language. More than 5.2 million people in the US alone suffer from Alzheimer's disease and it is estimated that this form of dementia strikes more than 1 in 8 adults in the US over the age of 65 years. By 2050, it is estimated that the number of new cases each year will double in the US to greater than 959,000. Available therapies provide only temporary symptomatic relief.
On the Satori board, Mr. Holtzman joins Dr. Ives; Dr. Thomas Salzmann, Chairman of the Board and former EVP of Preclinical Development at Merck, and Board member at Sirtris and Concert Pharmaceuticals; Mr. Chris Ehrlich, General Partner at InterWest Partners; Mr. Ed Mathers, Partner at NEA; Dr. Ilan Zipkin, Partner at Prospect Venture Partners; Dr. Bennett Shapiro, PureTech Senior Partner and former EVP of Basic and External Research at Merck; and Ms. Daphne Zohar, PureTech Managing Partner.
About Satori(TM) Pharmaceuticals
Satori Pharmaceuticals is committed to the development of disease modifying therapies for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases through the targeting of the key neurotoxic mediators and pathways of neurodegenerative diseases.
Satori (www.satoripharma.com) was founded in 2005 by Dr. Mark Findeis, PureTech Ventures and a group of world renowned neurodegenerative disease experts and experienced drug discoverers, including Dennis Selkoe, M.D., the Vincent and Stella Coates Professor of Neurologic Diseases at the Brigham and Women's Hospital, an affiliate of Harvard Medical School; Donald Price, M.D., Professor of Pathology, Neurology, and Neuroscience and Vice Chair for Research in the Department of Pathology and Director of the Division of Neuropathology at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; Christopher Eckman, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Molecular Neuroscience, The Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, FL; and Tom Salzmann, Ph.D., former Executive Vice President, Merck Research Labs and board member of Sirtris Pharmaceuticals and Concert Pharmaceuticals.
This release may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Such forward-looking statements reflect, among other things, management's current expectations, plans and strategies, and anticipated financial results, all of which are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and factors that may cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Many of these risks are beyond our ability to control or predict including the company's need for additional funds, the company's dependence on a limited number of compounds, the early state of the products the company is developing, uncertainties relating to clinical trials and regulatory reviews, competition and dependence on collaborative partners, the company's ability to avoid infringement of the patent rights of others, and the company's ability to obtain adequate patent protection and to enforce these rights. Because of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. Furthermore, forward-looking statements speak only as of the date they are made. Satori Pharmaceuticals does not undertake any obligation to update or review any such forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Source: Satori Pharmaceuticals
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