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Courtesy Martin Williams
The former CEO of cancer drug company Tokai Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in Cambridge, Mass., Martin Williams, told Mass High Tech he will be working to build a new company he co-founded aimed at neurodegenerative and Alzheimer’s disease.
Tokai announced last week that Williams had stepped down from his role as CEO but declined to say where he went when asked by Mass High Tech. Williams had taken over as CEO in September 2011, replacing acting CEO Seth Harrison. Williams was formerly chief business officer at Dicerna Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Synta Pharmaceuticals Inc.
This week, Williams contacted Mass High Tech to say he is working with Yuma Therapeutics Corp., which he said “is working on disease-modifying novel small molecules targeting the Tau pathway for Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases.”
“Many treatments on the market or in development only alleviate symptoms but do not slow or prevent disease progression,” he wrote in an email. “Also, as the dominance of abeta approaches in pharmaceutical research and development has been questioned, targeting Tau tangles is emerging as a promising alternative approach.”
In a filing with the Massachusetts Secretary of State’ office, Yuma Therapeutics is said to have been registered as a foreign corporation in September 2012 with its principal location on Massachusetts Avenue near Porter Square in Cambridge. It is also said to have been registered in Delaware in 2009.
While Williams is listed as director on the filing, also listed as president, secretary and director at Yuma is Yukari Perrella, the former vice president of business development of Alseres Pharmaceuticals, a public neuroscience biotech company in Hopkinton, Mass. Dr. Patricio “Pat” F. Reyes is also listed on the company’s website as founder, chief medical officer and chairman of the scientific advisory board. Reyes was formerly director of the Alzheimer’s disease and Cognitive Disorders Program at Barrow Neurological Institute – St. Joseph Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, Ariz.
The company's website says it has received funding from the Alzheimer Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF), and Williams said that while the exact amount of the funding is confidential, it is less than $1 million. He also said the company has federal grant funding.
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