In Memoriam – Friend, Scientific Innovator, Advisor and Board Chair Dr. Tadataka Yamada Has Passed Away


SAN DIEGO, Aug. 05, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Prometheus Biosciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: RXDX), with great sorrow announced today that its Chairman of the Board, Tadataka (Tachi) Yamada, M.D., KBE, passed away unexpectedly on August 4, 2021.

“As I reflect on my time with Tachi, one word in the forefront of my mind is impact. His passion for identifying and solving big problems in healthcare and biotech, as well as his penchant for impacting humanity, is evident in his legacy of professional and academic achievements. There are few others whose work has touched so many lives,” said Mark McKenna, President and CEO of Prometheus Biosciences. “On behalf of the Board of Directors, Prometheus management team and employees, we deeply mourn his loss and extend our sympathies to his family."

Over the course of his career, Dr. Yamada left an impact on many lives as a physician scientist who became a pillar of the healthcare community and a luminary leader and mentor for many companies. He had served as Prometheus’ Board Chair since June 2018 and as a Venture Partner at Frazier Life Sciences since June 2015. He was a co-founder of and served as Chair of the Board of Directors for Phathom Pharmaceuticals, Passage Bio and Scout Bio. He also served as Chair of Icosavax and served as member of the Board of Directors of Agilent Technologies, Inc., Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd, GlaxoSmithKline Inc., and CSL Limited.

Before joining Frazier, Dr. Yamada was Chief Medical and Scientific Officer at Takeda Pharmaceuticals in Tokyo, as well as a member of the Board of Directors, where he was responsible for all of Takeda’s research & development activities. Prior to Takeda, Dr. Yamada was President of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Global Health Program in Seattle, where he oversaw over $9 billion in grants for applying technologies to address major health challenges of the developing world.

About Prometheus Biosciences
Prometheus Biosciences, Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering a precision medicine approach for the discovery, development, and commercialization of novel therapeutic and companion diagnostic products for the treatment of immune-mediated diseases, starting first with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The Company’s precision medicine platform, Prometheus360, combines proprietary bioinformatics discovery methods with one of the world’s largest gastrointestinal bioinformatics databases to identify novel therapeutic targets and develop therapeutic candidates to engage those targets. Prometheus is headquartered in San Diego, CA.

Prometheus Biosciences Contact:
Noel Kurdi
VP Investor Relations and Communications
(646) 241-4400
nkurdi@prometheusbiosciences.com

Media Contact:
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CanaleComm, an Ashfield Health Company
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