FORMA Therapeutics Appoints Dr. Rob Sarisky to Chief Business Officer

WATERTOWN, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--FORMA Therapeutics announced today that Rob Sarisky, Ph.D. has been appointed Chief Business Officer. Dr. Sarisky is an experienced scientific and business professional from the pharmaceutical industry, most recently serving as Vice President of Oncology Business Development and Licensing within Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a Johnson & Johnson company.

“I look forward to joining this exciting company at the forefront of cancer research, where they’ve placed a laser focus on the patient, transformative science and creative business approaches to address unmet medical needs and build value.”

“Rob has negotiated and executed on a broad range of global business agreements with both industry and academia, with a particular focus on oncology, making him an ideal fit for FORMA at this stage of our growth,” said Steven Tregay, President and CEO of FORMA Therapeutics. “He will continue FORMA’s successful collaboration track record, leveraging our innovative LLC/’NewCo’ business model to provide additional liquidity opportunities for FORMA shareholders.”

“It’s extremely rewarding to be offered a role that builds on my R&D and business development experience in such an entrepreneurial setting,” said Dr. Sarisky. “I look forward to joining this exciting company at the forefront of cancer research, where they’ve placed a laser focus on the patient, transformative science and creative business approaches to address unmet medical needs and build value.”

Prior to joining Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Sarisky held positions of Vice President of External Research and Early Development within Johnson & Johnson, Sr. Director of Immunology Research at Centocor, and Director of Virology at GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Sarisky received his B.S. degree in Biology from the University of Scranton, a Ph.D. in Genetics from the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, completed his postdoctoral training at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, and holds an M.B.A. in Marketing from Lehigh University. He has authored more than 120 publications and patents and served on the Editorial Board for two scientific journals. He has been active in the academic community by serving on the University of Pennsylvania Executive Advisory Committee for the HHMI Graduate Training in Medical Sciences, the University of Miami Innovation Corporate Advisory Council, the University of North Carolina Innovation Transfer and Development Initiative, adjunct Professor for Drexel University School of Medicine and an Advisory Board member for Indiana University's Biotechnology Program.

About FORMA Therapeutics

FORMA Therapeutics targets essential cancer pathways to create transformative small molecule cancer therapies. FORMA’s novel approach to accessing high value drug targets, many of which pose significant challenges to conventional discovery approaches, leverages the integration of its innovative drug discovery technologies and oncology expertise, enabling efficient screening, discovery and rational development of small molecule drug candidates with qualified cellular mechanisms of action. FORMA is building a robust pipeline of cancer therapies in areas such as tumor metabolism, protein-protein interactions and epigenetics. FORMA is headquartered in Watertown, MA. www.formatherapeutics.com