CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- MoMa Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company discovering the next generation of precision medicines by targeting molecular machines that underlie human disease, today announced the appointment of Hans Bitter, Ph.D., as senior vice president and head, data science. In this inaugural role, Dr. Bitter will lead MOMA’s team of scientists, engineers and modelers to mine biological and chemical data to advance MOMA’s research and development efforts. In addition, MOMA further expanded its leadership team with the addition on Nazareth Martinez Shedden as vice president, strategic finance.

“Hans is an acclaimed data scientist and a proven leader who brings exceptional expertise in structuring and interrogating data for the purpose of answering complex questions about human biology – a skillset that will propel us closer to our vision of unlocking molecular machines as a critically important target class,” said Asit Parikh, M.D., Ph.D., chief executive officer of MOMA. “Together with the additional appointment of Nazareth, we now have the full complement of scientific and business leaders to mobilize MOMA’s business strategy going forward. I am thrilled to welcome both Hans and Nazareth to our team.”

Prior to MOMA, Dr. Bitter served as senior vice president data sciences and chief data officer for Oncology at bluebird bio, where he built the company’s integrated data science function and led a team of more than 20 scientists, biostatisticians and engineers that supported both clinical and preclinical research. Prior to bluebird bio, Dr. Bitter was the global head of oncology bioinformatics at the Novartis Institutes of Biomedical Research, where he led data science efforts spanning both discovery and clinical development. Previously, he was head of bioinformatics for virology and immunology and deputy global head of bioinformatics and statistics at Hoffman-LaRoche. Over the course of his career, Dr. Bitter has co-authored more than 40 scientific publications and several patents. He holds a Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley and a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Princeton University.

“MOMA is uniquely positioned to deliver on its mission of targeting the molecular machines that underlie human disease, which represent an entirely new class of precision medicines,” said Dr. Bitter. “There exists a tremendous opportunity to utilize cutting edge computational methods to advance drug discovery and development at MOMA. Computation is now very much at the center of discovering new medicines, and a major focus in building MOMA’s ATPase discovery platform.”

Ms. Shedden joins MOMA from Takeda, where she was head of finance. There, she led finance for three distinct business units – neuroscience, gastrointestinal and oncology – and was responsible for a yearly budget of $1.4 billion and a portfolio of more than 50 assets. She held roles of increasing responsibility during her 15-year career at Takeda, culminating in leadership of a high-performing finance team supporting research and development functions, global project teams, portfolio analytics, business development and strategic planning. Prior to Takeda, Ms. Shedden was a senior financial manager at Millennium Pharmaceuticals, where she provided financial planning and analysis support for research and development investment in oncology. She holds an MBA with a focus in finance from Northeastern University and a graduate degree in pharmacy from Kennedy University in Buenos Aires.

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.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211005005677/en/