Ailux Appoints Former AstraZeneca Executive Maria Belvisi as Chief Scientific Officer to Lead Drug Development Strategy
Key Insights
Ailux (search) has appointed Maria G. Belvisi, Ph.D., former Senior Vice President of R&D at AstraZeneca, as Chief Scientific Officer to advance its evolution from AI-driven biologics discovery to integrated drug development.
Belvisi led AstraZeneca's global Respiratory & Immunology R&D organization of approximately 500 scientists and championed tozorakimab from preclinical development through Phase 3 investment decision.
The appointment supports Ailux (search)'s goal of achieving first clinical entry by 2027, with Belvisi establishing a new UK research site to complement the company's Shanghai operations.
Ailux (search), an AI-native biotech company headquartered in Shanghai, has appointed Maria G. Belvisi, Ph.D., as Chief Scientific Officer, marking a pivotal step in the company's transformation from AI-driven biologics discovery to a fully integrated drug development organization. The appointment comes as Ailux targets its first clinical entry by 2027.
Leadership Transition from AstraZeneca
Belvisi joins Ailux (search) from AstraZeneca, where she served as Senior Vice President of Research and Development for Respiratory & Immunology within BioPharmaceuticals R&D. During her tenure, she led a global organization of approximately 500 scientists across the UK, Sweden, the US, and Spain, building what has been described as one of the industry's most innovative and productive early R&I portfolios.
Her most notable achievement at AstraZeneca was championing tozorakimab, a potential first-in-class IL-33 (search) antibody, from early preclinical development through the Phase 3 investment decision. The program recently achieved primary endpoints in both the OBERON and TITANIA trials in COPD (search), results that have been widely recognized as landmark for the field and potentially transformational for COPD patients.
Strategic Role and UK Expansion
In her new role, Belvisi will oversee Ailux (search)'s scientific strategy and program development while establishing and leading a new UK research site. This expansion will complement the company's existing research capabilities in Shanghai and strengthen its presence in key innovation hubs worldwide.
"Maria is exactly the kind of scientific leader Ailux (search) needs at this stage of our journey," said Alex Li, Chief Executive Officer of Ailux. "She has spent her career turning bold scientific hypotheses into medicines that reach patients — building programs from scratch, taking them through the clinic, and doing so at a scale that few have matched. We are building Ailux to go the full distance, and Maria's scientific leadership will be central to every step of that journey."
AI-Native Drug Discovery Platform
Ailux (search) operates as a wholly-owned subsidiary of XtalPi (search), combining proprietary biologics platforms with advanced wet-lab capabilities in a 30,000 square foot facility. The company employs approximately 150 people across China, the UK, and the US, and has established collaborations with major pharmaceutical companies including Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson, and UCB (search).
"What drew me to Ailux (search) is the genuine integration of AI and biology — not AI as a tool applied to conventional drug discovery, but as a co-equal foundation for how programs are conceived and built," said Belvisi. "I believe Ailux's platform and team give us a real opportunity to originate first-in-class and best-in-class medicines, and I am excited to join the team and work together to build a global company that can deliver transformative therapies to patients."
Academic and Industry Experience
Belvisi brings more than three decades of experience spanning both academia and industry. She continues to hold a professorship at the National Heart & Lung Institute, Imperial College London, where she has trained more than thirty PhD students and published over 250 peer-reviewed papers. Her previous leadership roles include serving as Research Director of the European Respiratory Society from 2013 to 2016 and founding IR Pharma, a contract research organization focused on respiratory therapeutics.
She is a Fellow of the European Respiratory Society, the British Pharmacological Society, and the Academy of Medical Sciences, and was named one of Endpoints News' "20 Outstanding Women in Biopharma" in 2021.
The appointment underscores Ailux (search)'s ambition to integrate AI and biology at a foundational level, accelerating the discovery and development of first-in-class and best-in-class therapies as the company advances toward clinical development milestones.