Thursday, January 8, 2009

Cambridge’s Satori lands $22M; taps Pfizer exec as CEO

By Mass High Tech staff

Three years after it launched, Satori Pharmaceuticals Inc., a Cambridge-based developer of drugs for neurodegenerative disorders, reports it has taken its first full round of venture funding, worth $22 million, and added a seasoned CEO.

Leading the round were Calif.-based firms InterWest Partners, Prospect Venture Partners, and New Enterprise Associates Inc. The company’s founding investor, PureTech Ventures of Boston, and other existing investors also participated in the new funding. Previously Satori had raised $3 million in seed financing, according to officials.

Joining Satori as its new CEO is Jeffrey Ives, former senior vice president at Pfizer Inc. He will help co-founder Mark Findeis, head of research, further develop its pipeline of drugs to treat such conditions as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and others. While at Pfizer, Ives led central nervous system and oncology teams that discovered more than 50 clinical candidates including multiple new products and was a co-leader of in-licensing teams for Pfizer products including Celebrex and Aricept, according to Satori. He most recently served as senior vice president, research portfolio leader, and senior vice president of pharmacokinetics, dynamics and metabolism.

Satori is focused on disease modifying therapies that block disease progression by targeting the key neurotoxic mediators of Alzheimer’s disease.