Senior Management
David Happel
Chief Executive Officer & Director
David Happel joined Sagimet as chief executive officer in October 2022, bringing extensive industry experience, and a strong track record of developing and executing corporate business strategies, raising private and public capital, negotiating M&A transactions, scaling operations and commercializing products. He was most recently president and chief executive officer of Cognoa, a pediatric behavioral health company developing AI-based technologies for developmental and behavioral health conditions, including the first FDA-authorized diagnostic aid, Canvas Dx, for autism. Mr. Happel was previously CEO of Chrono Therapeutics and has held several executive and commercial positions at Horizon Therapeutics, Raptor Pharmaceuticals, Dynavax Technologies and Chiron. Mr. Happel has a BA in chemistry from Indiana University and an MBA from Indiana State University.
Eduardo Bruno Martins, MD, DPhil
Chief Medical Officer
Dr. Martins joined Sagimet in February 2021, bringing more than 20 years of experience as a leader in the US and global biopharmaceutical industry. Dr. Martins has worked in various therapeutic areas, including hepatology, vaccines, allergy and immunology, orphan diseases, and oncology, from translational research to Phase 4 clinical studies. His previous experience includes leadership of large-scale multinational clinical trials as well as building and leading multifunctional global teams in large pharmaceutical and small biotechnology companies. Most recently at AbbVie, Dr. Martins was vice president of clinical development and led the clinical development of cenicriviroc for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and a collaboration with Verily (an Alphabet company) on artificial intelligence and virtual staining applied to liver biopsy. Prior to joining AbbVie, Dr. Martins served as vice president of clinical development at Allergan. Previously, he was a member of the executive leadership team as senior vice president of liver and infectious disease drug development at Eiger Biopharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on development of therapies for the treatment of chronic hepatitis D and orphan diseases. Prior to that, he held leadership positions at Gilead Sciences; Genentech; Dynavax Technologies; Intermune; SciClone Pharmaceuticals; University Hospital, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and the Organisation Mondiale d’Endoscopie Digestive. He holds a doctorate (DPhil) degree from the University of Oxford (UK) and an MD from Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil).
Thierry Chauche
Chief Financial Officer
Thierry Chauche joined Sagimet as chief financial officer in May 2024, bringing over 20 years of financial and operational leadership experience in finance and healthcare companies. Most recently, he served as the chief financial officer of Provention Bio, a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company focused on intercepting and preventing immune-mediated diseases including Type 1 Diabetes, where he focused on the successful execution of several financings, the commercial launch of Tzield®, and the company acquisition by Sanofi in April 2023. Before Provention Bio, Mr. Chauche was the Vice President and Head of Strategic Financial Planning & Analysis at Alexion Pharmaceuticals. Prior to Alexion Pharmaceuticals, he served in roles of increasing responsibility at Intercept Pharmaceuticals, Novartis, and Rothschild & Cie. Mr. Chauche holds an MS in engineering from Ecole Des Ponts ParisTech and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
Marie O’Farrell, PhD
Senior Vice President of Research and Development
Dr. O’Farrell has led Sagimet’s R&D team as senior vice president of research and development since 2019 and previously served as Sagimet’s senior director of translational sciences from 2013 to 2016. Dr. O’Farrell started her career in drug development in 1998 at Systemix (Novartis) working on stem cell based gene therapy. Since then she has taken positions of increasing responsibility at several companies, primarily in the areas of metabolic disease and oncology. Dr. O’Farrell has  a successful track record using innovative translational and biomarker strategies to guide clinical development. At Sugen, she led the clinical oncology biomarker team for the kinase inhibitor sunitinib (SUTENT™). At Phenomix, she led the nonclinical and clinical pharmacology teams for the DPP4 inhibitor dutogliptin to late Phase 3 trials in Type 2 diabetes and was a member of joint drug development teams with Plexxikon, Forest and Chiesi. Dr. O’Farrell has also led drug development programs at Pathway Therapeutics and Revitope.
Dr. O’Farrell has authored or co-authored over 35 peer-reviewed research articles. She holds an Honors B.Sc. degree from University College Cork (Ireland), a PhD in biochemistry from University of Manchester (England) and conducted postdoctoral research at the DNAX Research Institute in Palo Alto.
Elizabeth Rozek, Esq
General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer
Elizabeth Rozek joined Sagimet in April 2023, bringing more than 20 years of legal and corporate experience. From December 2020 to December 2022, Ms. Rozek served as general counsel and chief compliance officer of pediatric behavioral digital health company Cognoa, Inc. From January 2010 to December 2020, she served in roles of increasing responsibility at Basilea Pharmaceutica International Ltd., a Swiss-listed biopharmaceutical company with global operations developing and commercializing anti-infective and oncology products, where she was ultimately named general counsel and corporate secretary. From 2001 to 2006, Ms. Rozek served as a US Department of Justice civil prosecutor on the team that successfully prosecuted the tobacco industry under RICO. As general counsel and chief compliance officer of Sagimet, Ms. Rozek serves as an internal strategic business partner and leads the legal organization, including corporate governance, IP and compliance functions. Ms. Rozek received a BA from Brown University, an MA from University of California San Diego and a JD from the University of California Berkeley.
Robert D’Urso
Senior Vice President of New Products
Robert D’Urso joined Sagimet as senior vice president of new products in September 2024, bringing over two decades of leadership experience in the U.S. and global pharmaceutical sector. Previously, Mr. D’Urso served as U.S. Country Manager for ISDIN, an international leader in dermatology, where he spearheaded the successful launch of its U.S. subsidiary and established a robust portfolio of both therapeutic and aesthetic dermatology treatments. Before joining ISDIN, Mr. D’Urso held the position of senior director of U.S. dermatology at Promius Pharma, the branded dermatology division of Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, where he played a pivotal role in advancing the company’s dermatological offerings. Prior to that, he held progressively senior roles at Ferndale Laboratories, driving growth across multiple dermatology portfolios. Robert holds a BS in Chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an MBA from Northwood University.
