Asit Parikh
About Asit Parikh
Asit Parikh, M.D., Ph.D., has served as an independent director of Phathom Pharmaceuticals since December 2019. He is Chief Executive Officer and a director of MOMA Therapeutics (since April 2021), and previously led Takeda Pharmaceuticals’ Gastrointestinal Therapeutic Area Unit (SVP, 2014–2021). He holds a B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (Northwestern), an M.D. and Ph.D. (Vanderbilt), completed internal medicine residency (University of Pennsylvania), gastroenterology fellowship (Massachusetts General Hospital), and postdoctoral work in cancer biology (MIT) . Age 52 as disclosed in the 2024 proxy; director tenure class runs through the 2027 annual meeting as a Class II director .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Tenure | Committees/Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Takeda Pharmaceuticals | SVP & Head, Gastrointestinal Therapeutic Area Unit | Oct 2014 – Mar 2021 | Led GI TAU; contributed to vonoprazan’s market entry in Japan across seven indications . |
| Takeda Pharmaceuticals | Various roles | 2006 – 2014 | Progressive leadership roles prior to GI TAU . |
External Roles
| Organization | Role | Tenure | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| MOMA Therapeutics | CEO & Director | Apr 2021 – present | Private biotechnology company; role disclosed in PHAT proxy . |
| Other public company boards | — | — | None disclosed in PHAT proxy biographies . |
Board Governance
- Independence: Board determined Dr. Parikh is independent under Nasdaq rules .
- Board class and term: Class II director; term runs to 2027 annual meeting .
- Attendance: Board met 10 times in 2024; each director attended at least 75% of board and applicable committee meetings .
- Anti-hedging/pledging: Company policy prohibits short sales, puts/calls, hedging transactions, margin accounts, or pledges by directors .
| Committee | Role | Chair? | Meetings (FY2024) | Independence/Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nominating & Corporate Governance | Member | Yes (Chair) | 1 | Committee members deemed independent; oversees governance, director selection; operates under written charter . |
| Compensation | Member | No | 5 | Members deemed independent, non-employee directors under Rule 16b-3; operates under written charter; oversight of clawback policy . |
| Audit | Not a member | — | 5 (committee) | Audit committee comprised of Kunz (Chair), Karbe, Schroeder (replaced Socks on Apr 17, 2025); all members independent and financially literate . |
Fixed Compensation
| Component | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Annual director retainer (cash) | $50,000 | Standard non-employee director retainer . |
| Committee chair retainers | Audit $20,000; Compensation $15,000; Nominating & Corporate Governance $10,000 | Paid in addition to director retainer . |
| Committee member retainers (non-chair) | Audit $10,000; Compensation $7,500; Nominating & Corporate Governance $5,000 | Paid per committee served . |
| Non-executive chairman retainer | $40,000 | Applies to chairman (not Parikh) . |
| Parikh 2024 cash fees | $67,500 | Sum of director retainer + compensation committee membership + N&CG chair fee . |
Performance Compensation
| Equity Component | Grant Details | Vesting | 2024 Grant Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Annual RSU grant (2024) | 10,500 RSUs granted on May 23, 2024 at $10.30/share | Vests on first anniversary of grant or next annual meeting, subject to service . | $108,150 (grant-date fair value) . |
| Annual stock option grant (2024) | 17,500 options (program increased effective May 23, 2024) | Annual grants vest on first anniversary or next annual meeting, subject to service; options priced at FMV on grant date . | $121,280 (grant-date fair value for 2024 awards) . |
| Initial director equity (program terms, effective May 23, 2024) | 21,000 RSUs + 35,000 options (for newly-elected directors) | One-third vests at first anniversary; remainder quarterly over next 24 months . |
Performance metrics in director pay: None disclosed; director equity awards are time-based (no revenue/EBITDA/TSR metrics specified) .
Other Directorships & Interlocks
| Topic | Disclosure |
|---|---|
| Compensation committee interlocks | None; no PHAT executive served on another entity’s board/comp committee creating an interlock . |
| Related-party transactions | Audit committee reviews related-party transactions; none involving Parikh are disclosed in proxy excerpts reviewed . |
Expertise & Qualifications
- Deep GI therapeutic area leadership (Takeda GI TAU) and commercialization experience tied to vonoprazan in Japan .
- Executive leadership in biotech (CEO of MOMA Therapeutics) .
- Extensive scientific and medical training: Northwestern (B.S.), Vanderbilt (M.D., Ph.D.), UPenn (residency), MGH (fellowship), MIT (postdoc) .
Equity Ownership
| Date | Total Beneficial Ownership | % of Shares Outstanding | Components |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 7, 2025 | 138,000 shares | <1% | 73,500 shares held directly; 45,000 options exercisable within 60 days; 19,500 RSUs vesting within 60 days . |
| Dec 31, 2024 (outstanding awards) | — | — | 45,000 options outstanding; 10,500 RSUs outstanding (annual grant) . |
| Mar 28, 2024 | 90,000 shares | <1% | Beneficial ownership per 2024 proxy . |
Policy signals:
- No pledging/hedging permitted for directors under insider trading policy .
- Company maintains clawback policy for executive incentive compensation (director equity not specified) .
Insider Trades
| Date (File/Trade) | Type | Shares | Price | Post-Transaction Holdings | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 13, 2025 (filed Mar 17, 2025) | Open-market buy | 10,000 | $4.42 | 85,500 | and and |
| May 5, 2025 | Open-market buy | 5,000 | $2.60 | 90,500 | and SEC index |
| May 6, 2025 | Open-market buy | 5,000 | $2.40 | 95,500 | and SEC index |
| Jun 2, 2025 (filed Jun 5, 2025) | Open-market buy | 10,500 | n/a | 113,500 | and SEC index |
| Dec 12, 2024 | Open-market buy | 10,000 | $8.12 | 75,500 | |
| Sep 9, 2024 | Open-market buy | 7,500 | $11.72 | 93,000 | |
| May 22, 2024 | Equity award acceptance | 10,500 | n/a | 65,500 |
Note: Company disclosed one late Section 16 filing—Form 4 for Asit Parikh filed March 21, 2025 “was not filed on a timely basis” .
Compensation Peer Group (Director Benchmarking Context)
- For setting 2024 director and executive compensation, PHAT used a peer group of 17 life sciences companies (market cap $160mm–$2bn as of Oct 2023) including: Aclaris, Arcutis, Ardelyx, Cogent, Coherus, Crinetics, Deciphera, Intercept, Ironwood, Mirum, Protagonist, Revance, Rhythm, Seres, Travere, UroGen, Xeris .
- Pay Governance advised increasing director equity grants in May 2024 to align with market practices; board approved increases (annual: 10,500 RSUs + 17,500 options; initial: 21,000 RSUs + 35,000 options) .
Governance Assessment
- Alignment signals: Independent status; chairing Nominating & Corporate Governance; consistent meeting participation at/above 75%; equity-heavy director compensation (RSUs/options) designed to align with shareholder value creation .
- Ownership: Beneficial stake of 138,000 shares as of Apr 7, 2025, including directly held shares and in-the-money options within 60 days; ongoing open-market purchases in 2024–2025 increase personal exposure .
- Controls/Policies: Anti-hedging/pledging policy in place; clawback policy maintained (executive incentive compensation) .
- RED FLAGS: One late Form 4 filing in March 2025 (Section 16 compliance lapse) . No director stock ownership guidelines disclosed for directors in reviewed excerpts (executive guidelines not specified and noted as not required for executives) ; Nominating & Corporate Governance committee met once in FY2024, which may limit frequency of governance oversight but is not uncommon for small-cap biotech boards .