molecular-machines
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Asit Parikh
Asit Parikh is a physician-scientist turned biotech chief executive who runs MOMA Therapeutics, a Cambridge, Massachusetts company built around the idea of systematically drugging molecular machines - the highly dynamic, shape-shifting proteins that most drug hunters avoid. An MD-PhD trained at Vanderbilt with clinical roots in gastroenterology, he spent two decades at Millennium and Takeda, where he helped steer the inflammatory bowel disease drug vedolizumab (Entyvio) from research to global blockbuster, before taking the CEO seat at MOMA in 2021. He has since raised a $150 million Series B and signed a roughly $2 billion partnership with Roche to push precision cancer medicines toward the clinic.
MOMA Therapeutics
MOMA Therapeutics is a Cambridge, Massachusetts biotech building precision small-molecule medicines against 'molecular machines' - the highly dynamic, shape-shifting enzymes (ATPases, GTPases and related proteins) that power cellular processes and underlie cancer and other diseases. Spun out of Third Rock Ventures in 2020 by four academic leaders in protein biophysics and structural biology, MOMA's proprietary KNOMATIC platform fuses deep structural insight, advanced hit-finding (fragment and DNA-encoded library screening) and machine-learning-driven lead optimization to drug targets long considered intractable. The company has raised about $236M, advanced its first oncology program into the clinic, and partnered with Roche and Bayer.