Paloma Pharmaceuticals employs a virtual model for drug development, using a small in-house workforce to reduce cash burn and to outsource all work to specialized contract research and development groups, economizing on the expense of maintaining in-house specialized teams. This also allows for flexibility and limited down-time to train expert drug development teams.

• David Sherris, Ph.D.

• Martin D. William

President and Chief Executive Officer
Dr. Sherris has over 25 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical and diagnostics world. Most recently, Dr. Sherris was the chief executive and founder of Sherris Pharma Partners, a consulting/out-sourcing company providing business development and R&D help with a niche focus in angiogenesis and vascular targeting. In addition, Dr. Sherris has worked with venture capital companies where he has both advised and raised seed money for biotech startups. Prior to his starting Sherris Pharma Partners, Dr. Sherris had been employed by pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies to manage external R&D (academic groups and contract research organizations) to augment and expand internal scientific programs. Dr. Sherris has been a frequently invited guest speaker at biopharmaceutical business and scientific conferences, a published author and holder of patents in a wide range of therapeutic areas. Dr. Sherris has held positions at Centocor, Unilever Research, Serono and OXiGENE where he was Chief Operating Officer and Vice President of Research and Development, as well as Chief Operating Officer of a joint venture between OXiGENE and Peregrine Pharmaceuticals, Arcus LLC. Dr. Sherris received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Utah, held a postdoctoral position in immunology at the Jackson Laboratory and a faculty position in the Department of Medicine, Division of Clinical Immunology at the Mt. Sinai Medical Center, New York, NY.


Director
Martin has almost two and a half decades of experience of building companies, developing, commercializing and partnering new products in the global biopharmaceutical business. He has closed more than $3 billion worth of corporate transactions, including numerous partnerships, M&A, private financings and public offerings. Prior to joining Tokai, Martin was chief business officer at Dicerna Pharmaceuticals, a venture-backed company focused on oncology, where he closed a $1.4 billion oncology partnership with Kyowa Hakko Kirin. Prior to his tenure at Dicerna, Martin was chief business officer at Synta Pharmaceuticals, with responsibility for corporate development, sales and marketing, corporate communications and medical affairs. While there, he successfully completed the company's IPO in 2007 and negotiated a $1 billion collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline for its lead oncology product. Prior to joining Synta, Martin held leadership positions at a variety of other public and privately held biopharmaceutical companies. He also directed the development and commercialization of several flagship brands for Glaxo, Hofmann-La Roche and Wyeth. These brands include several blockbusters, such as Glaxo's Zantac and Zofran; Hoffmann La-Roche's Xenical; and Wyeth's Zosyn/Tazocin. Martin holds an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, an M.S. from the University of Manchester, England, and a B.A. in biology from the University of Humberside in Hull, England.