April 29, 2015 – Cambridge, Mass. – Yumanity Therapeutics, a company focused on transforming drug discovery for diseases caused by protein misfolding, today announced the appointment of Paulash Mohsen as chief business officer. Mr. Mohsen joins Yumanity from Cubist Pharmaceuticals and brings more than 18 years of operational, commercial and business development experience in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries.
"I am excited to welcome Paulash to the Yumanity team as we continue to build our operational infrastructure and advance our drug discovery programs targeting neurodegenerative diseases," said Tony Coles, M.D., chairman and chief executive officer of Yumanity. "Paulash has extensive experience in both larger pharmaceutical companies and rapidly growing biotech companies across a variety of key functions. As a result, he brings a unique blend of strategic, operational, commercial and corporate development expertise that is well suited to our long-term plans."
"Diseases affecting the brain and central nervous system represent the largest global healthcare challenges and several of the greatest unmet medical needs due to the overwhelming personal and economic consequences for patients, caregivers and society," said Mr. Mohsen. "I am proud to join Yumanity's esteemed founders and team and support such a critical mission – discovering therapies for devastating diseases of protein misfolding including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and ALS."
Mr. Mohsen joins Yumanity from Cubist Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Merck) where he most recently served as country manager in Canada, leading the company's first international operation from conceptualization through commercialization. In this role, he led the launch of DIFICID (fidaxomicin) in Canada and oversaw the company's commercial, scientific and general and administrative functions. Prior to that, Mr. Mohsen was vice president, strategy and business operations for Optimer Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Cubist), and helped establish the commercial infrastructure and led U.S. launch preparedness for DIFICID. Prior to Cubist, Mr. Mohsen held strategic and operational roles of increasing responsibility at Pfizer from 1997 to 2011, including vice president strategy and vice president, multi-channel management. Mr. Mohsen holds a B.S. in chemical engineering from Brown University, an M.S. in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.
Protein Misfolding and Neurodegenerative Diseases
DNA, the foundational code for all proteins, is initially decoded into long, linear strands of amino acids. These simple strands must fold into precise and highly distinct shapes to form functional proteins. When folding goes awry, the consequences can be disastrous, causing disruption of basic cellular processes. Most neurodegenerative diseases – including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and ALS – are caused by protein misfolding. Current research and drug discovery efforts have been stymied by a lack of adequate tools to study the protein folding defects that are at the heart of these diseases and discover new drugs that will correct them. Yumanity hopes to address these gaps through its three, innovative and integrated discovery platforms centered on the science of protein misfolding.
An estimated 50 million people worldwide suffer from neurodegenerative diseases1,2, with no currently approved disease-modifying therapies available. As modern therapeutic interventions increase life expectancy, the number of patients suffering from these diseases is expected to double every 20 years.1 Costs for treating these diseases are currently estimated at $650 billion and expected to grow to more than $1 trillion by 2030.1,2
About Yumanity Therapeutics
Yumanity Therapeutics is transforming drug discovery for neurodegenerative diseases caused by protein misfolding. Formed in 2014 by renowned biotech industry leader, Tony Coles, M.D., and protein folding science pioneer, Susan Lindquist, Ph.D., the company is initially focused on discovering disease-modifying therapies for patients with Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Leveraging its three integrated platforms, Yumanity's innovative new approach to drug discovery and development concentrates on reversing the cellular phenotypes and disease pathologies caused by protein misfolding. For more information, please visit yumanity.com.