Team & partners
A small core with a deep external bench
Strategy, chemistry and program direction are held in house. Everything a larger company would staff as a standing department runs through named specialist groups who have already done the work on these molecules. Between them, the people below have taken compounds to FDA approval, led programs inside large pharmaceutical organizations, and executed the chemistry, biology, formulation and translational work behind both candidates.
Core internal team
Strategy and chemistry, held in house
- Founder of Azalla Pharmaceuticals; leads corporate strategy, partnerships and program direction.
- Oversees clinical and development execution strategy across both assets.
- Extensive experience operating in highly regulated environments, including leading a publicly traded company listed across US, Canadian and international exchanges.
- Track record in navigating complex cross-border regulatory frameworks and building multidisciplinary technical, operational and regulatory teams.
- Medicinal chemistry leader with four clinical-stage compounds, more than 40 publications and more than 40 patents across a 25-year career.
- Contributed to the early development of a checkpoint inhibitor that went on to FDA approval and became a foundational immuno-oncology therapy.
- Has held R&D leadership roles at several biopharmaceutical companies.
- Leads compound design, synthesis strategy and chemistry execution for J-041 and J-019.
Lead external contributors
The people who built the formulation and ran the studies
Both have led their respective workstreams since 2022 under contract research and consulting engagements, and continue to support ongoing development. Neither is an employee, officer or equity partner of Azalla Pharmaceuticals.
- Drug delivery and formulation expert with experience in liposomal and nanoparticle therapeutics, including a marketed FDA-approved liposomal product.
- Led end-to-end formulation development of J-041 since 2022.
- Designed and optimized multiple delivery platforms — PLGA, lipid and polymer-free nanoparticles — and identified the lead Tween-coated nanoparticle formulation with superior in vivo pharmacokinetics.
- Developed the analytical and plasma stability methods supporting translational progression.
- Designed and executed the in vivo efficacy studies for both J-019 and J-041 since 2022.
- Demonstrated broad cytokine inhibition in validated inflammation models and benchmarked activity against an active corticosteroid comparator.
- Guided progression into the autoimmune and inflammatory bowel disease models and integrated pharmacokinetic readouts.
- Delivered early in vivo validation of the mechanism across the key inflammatory pathways.
Embedded discovery & translational platform
An embedded discovery and development team
Four senior leaders from an integrated discovery and development organization work on the programs as an embedded team, covering in vivo biology, discovery biology, DMPK and discovery chemistry. Between them they carry more than 75 years of drug development experience and a direct hand in more than 15 IND submissions.
- Advanced IBD candidates from preclinical into clinical development, including two candidates in IBD and ocular programs that advanced from preclinical into clinical phases.
- Deep expertise across inflammatory and autoimmune disease models.
- Leads disease-relevant efficacy models for J-019 and the autoimmune pipeline.
- More than 27 years of experience; has led more than 70 drug discovery programs.
- Delivered multiple leads and clinical candidates.
- Oversees integrated biology and translational execution.
- More than 23 years of experience; has supported more than 15 IND submissions.
- Contributed significantly to the discovery and development of a marketed antimalarial agent at a major international pharmaceutical company.
- Leads PK/PD modeling, human dose prediction and IND-enabling strategy.
- More than 25 years of experience in inflammation and oncology; played a key role in more than 25 integrated discovery projects.
- Delivered two clinical candidates into Phase 1 and Phase 2 cancer trials alongside eight preclinical candidates.
- Supports medicinal chemistry optimization and scale-up readiness.
Partners & counsel
Execution roster
- In vivo pharmacology & translational biology
- Independent CRO. Designed and executed the efficacy studies for both compounds, plus the terminal cytokine and histopathology analyses.
- Cell-based receptor pharmacology
- Independent assay provider. CB2 functional characterization and the PPARγ binding and transactivation work.
- Integrated discovery & development platform
- Embedded specialist organization spanning in vivo biology, discovery biology, DMPK and discovery chemistry.
- Disease-model execution
- Specialist provider supporting additional autoimmune disease models.
- Intellectual property counsel
- Specialist patent firm. Prosecutes both composition-of-matter families and manages the international docket.
- FDA regulatory counsel
- Specialist FDA regulatory firm supporting orphan designation and IND strategy.
External contributors and named individuals outside the core internal team contribute to Azalla’s programs through structured consulting and contract research engagements. They are not employees or officers of Azalla Pharmaceuticals. The identities of our contract research organizations, assay providers and counsel are disclosed to partners and prospective investors under a confidentiality agreement.
Talk to us about the programs
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