Patient-founded DART Therapeutics names CEO

Gene Williams, co-founder and CEO of DART Therapeutics LLC

Monday, September 10, 2012

DART Therapeutics isnt your ordinary therapeutics business. The Cambridge therapeutics startup focused on treatments for Duchenne muscular dystrophy(DMD), a fatal neuromuscular disorder with no current treatment affecting one in 3,500 boys worldwide, has made several new executive appointments to its leadership team.

DART Therapeutics LLC has appointed its co-founder and executive chairman, Gene W. Williams as its CEO. In addition, the company has named Ernest Bush as chief scientific officer; Dr. Elliot Goldstein as its chief medical officer; and Cabot Brown as chief financial officer.

Founded in 2010 by Williams and patient foundations in DMD, the Nash Avery Foundation and Charleys Fund, DART is a patient-funded biotech business focused on DMD and other rare diseases. Charleys Fund was founded by Tracy and Benjamin Seckler, parents of Charley Seckler who was diagnosed with DMD in 2004. The Nash Avery Foundation was created by Tom Wicka, whose son Nash was diagnosed with DMD. The patient-advocate groups created DART to make DMD research and drug development faster and less expensive, according to Seckler, Charleys dad and president of Charleys Fund.

The families took matter into their own hands when they tapped Williams and founded the business. Since its launch, DART has made great progress, according to Williams.

DART acquired halofunginone, an anti-fibrotic drug candidate, and spun it out of Halo Therapeutics.

Prior to joining DART Therapeutics, Williams held several executive roles in life sciences businesses including the role of senior vice president at Genzyme. Bush has more than 30 years of experience in research and development having worked at Hoffman La-Roche, where he was responsible for the preclinical safety department. Goldstein, DARTs new chief medical officer, held several management roles on pharmas and biotechs inclduing Sandoz, Novartis, SB (now GSK) and Maxygen. Brown has spent more than two decades in the financial markets including Carabiner, LLC, Seven Hills Group and Brown, McMillan & Co.

Our unique model allows us to structure deals which can attract investment capital, but also to invest in areas which benefit the entire community, and to pursue programs with primarily a therapeutic return - all of which contribute to our mission, Williams said.

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Patient-founded DART Therapeutics names CEO