Celtarys is a newly created company focused on the development of innovative chemical tools that improve the efficiency of the High Throughput Screening (HTS) process in early drug discovery:
Our proprietary technology allows the synthesis of fluorescent ligands with excellent performance features in terms of affinity, potency and selectivity that can be used in a variety of biological assays, from competitive binding assays to microscopy or kinetic studies.
Avoiding the use of radioactivity
Improving the performance of HTS and lead optimization assays
Reducing costs
Team
Celtarys is a spin-off of the University of Santiago de Compostela.
Our patented proprietary technology is based on the scientific work of the research group of Prof. Eddy Sotelo, which combines a long-tracked expertise in medicinal chemistry & chemical biology with a deep knowledge of GPCR structure.
We count also with the expertise in pharmacology and HTS of the group of Prof. Mabel Loza, a worldwide leader in early drug discovery collaborative projects with pharma companies.
Celtarys has a multidisciplinary and balanced team with different profiles that provide expert knowledge in each area necessary to develop and market novel products, designed from the real unmet needs in the complex early drug discovery scenario.
Founders
Eddy Sotelo
Co-founder and Scientific Leader
Eddy is Professor of Organic & Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC). He studied Chemistry at the University of Habana (BSc, 1993) and undertook PhD studies in Medicinal Chemistry at the USC (1995-2000). After postdoctoral studies in Bari and Barcelona (2003-2005), he joined the Institute of Industrial Pharmacy of the USC (2006-2010) and in 2011 was appointed as associate professor. In 2015 Eddy awarded the prestigious Salvador de Madariaga mobility grant for a stay as a visiting professor at the University of Cambridge (Department of Chemistry).
His group is involved in discovering novel drugs and molecular probes that target GPCRs (https://www.sotelolab.es) with an emphasis on contemporary GPCR concepts (e.g., GPCR oligomerization, biased signaling and allosteric modulation). He has published over 100 papers and several book chapters, being the principal investigator of 11 research projects and 20 collaborative research contracts with biotech companies. Eddy and his team developed the proprietary synthetic methodology laying the groundwork of the Celtarys company.
Jhonny Azuaje
Co-founder
Dr. Jhonny Azuaje is a medicinal chemist and an expert in multicomponent chemistry. He earned his Bachelor's degree in Chemistry from the Central University of Venezuela and completed his doctoral thesis at the University of Santiago de Compostela, thanks to a scholarship from the Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho Foundation. His doctoral thesis, focused on the development of multicomponent synthetic methodologies in Medicinal Chemistry, received the extraordinary doctoral prize. It resulted in a dozen publications and an international patent enabling the efficient and environmentally friendly capture of isonitriles.
During his postdoctoral stage, Jhonny contributed to implementinng the drug discovery platform utilized by the ComBioMed group and developed and patented the conjugation technology employed by Celtarys Research.
Jhonny has played a key role in the development of three drugs currently in clinical trials. He is the author of over 40 scientific articles in leading journals in the fields of medicinal chemistry and organic chemistry and holds two patents.
Since 2017, Jhonny has been a senior researcher at Oncostellae and is a founding partner of Celtarys Research (2021).
Maria Majellaro
Co-founder and CSO (Chief Scientific Officer)
After earning her degree in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology from the University of Bari (Italy), Dr. Maria Majellaro completed her PhD as “Doctor Europeus” in “Biomolecular Sciences in Pharmacology and Medicine” in 2018. From 2018 to 2021, she worked at the University of Santiago de Compostela as a Post-doctoral research associate in the group of Prof. Eddy Sotelo, as part of the IGNICIA technology transfer project, contributing to the development and validation of Celtarys' proprietary technology. She co-founded Celtarys in 2021 and has since been the Scientific Director.
Her scientific expertise ranges from organic synthesis to medicinal chemistry, particularly in the field of GPCR ligands assay development, leading the entire pipeline of the company and custom development for pharmaceutical, biotech, and academic groups.
Mabel Loza
Co-founder
Professor of Pharmacology and head of BioFarma pharmacology research group at the University of Santiago de Compostela. Leader in the field of Early Drug Discovery at Spanish and European levels, endorsed by the participation in more than 90 research programs as principal investigator, founded by public and private institutions. She has participated actively in the development of 15 NCE that have reached clinical trials in the specific programs of R&D transfer in drug development of different pharmaceutical companies.
Dr. Loza is author of 190 articles in indexed journals in the Journal Citation Report and more than 300 contributions at national and international congresses in Pharmacology, Medicinal Chemistry and Drug Discovery, Coordinator of the Drug Discovery Galician Network, the Drug Discovery Spanish Network of Excellence (REDEFAR) and the ES-OPENSCREEN Network connected to the ERIC EU- OPENSCREEN. She is member of the Board of trustees of Kæertor Foundation, a non for profit foundation for promoting reciprocal transference in open innovation in drug discovery. As an entrepreneur, she has promoted the foundation of three companies (Pharmatools Digital Interactive SL, Allelyus and Oncostellae)
Javier Sardina
Co-founder
Graduated in Organic Chemistry at the University of Santiago de Compostela (1980) where he also obtained his PhD (1985). Between 1986 and 1988 he worked as a postdoc in the laboratory of Prof. Henry Rapoport, at the University of California, as a Fulbright Scholar.
He is currently Professor of Organic Chemistry at the University of Santiago de Compostela where he leads a research group with a wide range of scientific interests, from organic synthesis to sustainable chemistry and scientific software development. He has extensive experience in technology transfer, noting that in 2004 he participates in the creation of the company MestreLab, where he acts as Director of its Scientific Advisory Board, and in 2018 he co-founded the knowledge-based company Sigillum Knowledge Solutions.
Team
Maria Majellaro
Co-founder and CSO (Chief Scientific Officer)
After earning her degree in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology from the University of Bari (Italy), Dr. Maria Majellaro completed her PhD as “Doctor Europeus” in “Biomolecular Sciences in Pharmacology and Medicine” in 2018. From 2018 to 2021, she worked at the University of Santiago de Compostela as a Post-doctoral research associate in the group of Prof. Eddy Sotelo, as part of the IGNICIA technology transfer project, contributing to the development and validation of Celtarys' proprietary technology. She co-founded Celtarys in 2021 and has since been the Scientific Director.
Her scientific expertise ranges from organic synthesis to medicinal chemistry, particularly in the field of GPCR ligands assay development, leading the entire pipeline of the company and custom development for pharmaceutical, biotech, and academic groups.
Alessandro Scandurra
Business Development
During his PhD at the Polytechnic University of Madrid, Alessandro consolidated his knowledge in Molecular biology and Biophysics, working in the characterization of the nitrogenase enzyme and its possible genetic transposition to eukaryotic organisms for a project financed by Melinda and Bill Gates. Since 2015, Alessandro has accumulated a wide range of international experiences, working in different commercial and management roles for different life sciences companies such as Merck group, Abcam, Novoptim and Bio-techne.
Along his path, Alessandro has also worked as business developer for numerous start-up (Lume, IDEA Biomedical and Startquake S.L.), defining their market and technology road map. Thanks to this multidisciplinary experience, Alessandro is responsible in the definition of the marketing strategy and product market penetration at Celtarys Research.
Manuela Berlanga
Business Development
Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy, Manuela has developed a research career in Early Drug Discovery with more than 17 years of research experience in a leading pharmaceutical company with particular focus in research, including biological assays, data mining, implementation of new technologies and project management. Her experience in GSK gave her a broad knowledge on hit to lead drug discovery strategies in a wide variety of therapeutic areas and target classes. Manuela counts also with international experience, working as a Project Manager in GSK R&D, and as lab consultant for The Earth Institute (Columbia University) in Ghana.
She was a key member of the executive team charged with strategic and business development on a nutritional start-up, managing and training a multidisciplinary business team. Thanks to her scientific and managing experiences, Manuela is a key member for the marketing strategy and product market penetration at Celtarys Research.
Rodrigo Bernárdez
Principal Scientist
Chemistry Department
Dr. Rodrigo Bernárdez studied Chemistry at the University of Geneva (Switzerland) obtaining his BSc and MSc degrees. Then he carried out his PhD studies in “Chemical Science and Technology” at the University of Santiago de Compostela. After receiving his PhD, he worked as Post-doctoral research associate, in the group of Prof. Eddy Sotelo, where he gained research experience on hit to lead drug discovery strategies while collaborating with a pharmaceutical company. Rodrigo joined Celtarys in 2022, where he works on the synthesis of fluorescent ligands.
Paolo Destito
Principal Scientist
Chemistry Department
After a degree in Chemistry at the University of Calabria (Italy), Dr. Paolo Destito earned his PhD in Chemical Biology in 2019 at the University of Santiago de Compostela under the guidance of Professor José Luis Mascareñas and Fernando Lopez. From 2019 to 2023 he worked as a synthetic chemist at GalChimia and in 2023 he joined Celtarys as Principal Scientist.
His scientific expertise is focused on the synthesis and characterization of complex organic compounds for applications in medicinal chemistry and chemical biology.
Sandra Ortigueira
Research Assistant
Chemistry Department
After completing her studies in Biotechnology at Rovira i Virgili University in Tarragona, in 2021 she earned a Master’s degree in Drug Research and Development, enhancing her skills in the field. She gained experience in quality control and HPLC equipment while working at a pharmaceutical company. Since November 2022, Sandra has been a Research Assistant at Celtarys Research, where she likely applies her expertise in Biotechnology and Drug Research to company’s research projects.
Lucia González
PhD student
Chemistry Department
After graduating in Pharmacy in the University of Santiago de Compostela, Lucía joined the ComBioMed group, led by Eddy Sotelo, where she developed adenosine receptor modulators. She was later awarded the Industrial PhD GAIN 2021 grant alongside Celtarys Research. Once in Celtarys, Lucía has been working on designing and synthesizing fluorescent E3 ligase ligands.
Tamara Camino
Research Scientist
Biology Department
After graduating in Biology, she obtained her PhD in Endocrinology in 2022. During this period, she has trained and developed different molecular biology techniques based on the use of extracellular vesicles as biomarkers and therapeutic targets in metabolic diseases.
Adrián Robles
Principal Scientist
Chemistry Department
Dr. Adrián Robles Baños obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from the University of Santiago de Compostela (Spain) before completing his PhD in Medicinal Chemistry in 2019 under the supervision of Concepción González Bello. Throughout his doctoral studies, he has focused on the synthesis of innovative organic compounds with promising biological properties.
After completing his PhD, Dr Adrián Robles Baños worked as a synthetic chemist at GalChimia from 2020 to 2024. In 2024, he took on the role of Principal Scientist at Celtarys.
His academic and industrial expertise lies in the synthesis of small and large organic molecules with significant biological relevance.
Board of Directors
Eddy Sotelo
Co-founder and Scientific Leader
Eddy is Professor of Organic & Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC). He studied Chemistry at the University of Habana (BSc, 1993) and undertook PhD studies in Medicinal Chemistry at the USC (1995-2000). After postdoctoral studies in Bari and Barcelona (2003-2005), he joined the Institute of Industrial Pharmacy of the USC (2006-2010) and in 2011 was appointed as associate professor. In 2015 Eddy awarded the prestigious Salvador de Madariaga mobility grant for a stay as a visiting professor at the University of Cambridge (Department of Chemistry).
His group is involved in discovering novel drugs and molecular probes that target GPCRs (https://www.sotelolab.es) with an emphasis on contemporary GPCR concepts (e.g., GPCR oligomerization, biased signaling and allosteric modulation). He has published over 100 papers and several book chapters, being the principal investigator of 11 research projects and 20 collaborative research contracts with biotech companies. Eddy and his team developed the proprietary synthetic methodology laying the groundwork of the Celtarys company.
Maria Majellaro
Co-founder and CSO (Chief Scientific Officer)
After earning her degree in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology from the University of Bari (Italy), Dr. Maria Majellaro completed her PhD as “Doctor Europeus” in “Biomolecular Sciences in Pharmacology and Medicine” in 2018. From 2018 to 2021, she worked at the University of Santiago de Compostela as a Post-doctoral research associate in the group of Prof. Eddy Sotelo, as part of the IGNICIA technology transfer project, contributing to the development and validation of Celtarys' proprietary technology. She co-founded Celtarys in 2021 and has since been the Scientific Director.
Her scientific expertise ranges from organic synthesis to medicinal chemistry, particularly in the field of GPCR ligands assay development, leading the entire pipeline of the company and custom development for pharmaceutical, biotech, and academic groups.
Javier Sardina
Co-founder
Graduated in Organic Chemistry at the University of Santiago de Compostela (1980) where he also obtained his PhD (1985). Between 1986 and 1988 he worked as a postdoc in the laboratory of Prof. Henry Rapoport, at the University of California, as a Fulbright Scholar.
He is currently Professor of Organic Chemistry at the University of Santiago de Compostela where he leads a research group with a wide range of scientific interests, from organic synthesis to sustainable chemistry and scientific software development. He has extensive experience in technology transfer, noting that in 2004 he participates in the creation of the company MestreLab, where he acts as Director of its Scientific Advisory Board, and in 2018 he co-founded the knowledge-based company Sigillum Knowledge Solutions.
Santi Dominguez
Non Executive Director
Santi Dominguez graduated from University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain, in 1995. After 10 years in different commercial and management roles in the speciality chemicals industry, he moved into technological entrepreneurship. Santi cofounded Mestrelab Research SL, a Spanish scientific software business, in 2004, and managed as CEO its development to a partial 8 figure exit in 2018 and continuous high growth development since then. Simultaneously, he cofounded IMSPEX Diagnostics Ltd, a UK diagnostics and analytical instrumentation company in 2011, in which he has overseen as CEO and Executive Chairman several funding rounds, the acquisition of a German company, GAS GmbH, and the partial sale of IMSPEX to a Chinese corporation, Hanon Instruments Ltd.
Santi is also a seed investor in over a dozen technology projects and has occupied a number of board positions, more notably 9 years on the board of eMolecules Inc, a California chemical e-commerce startup which has developed into a World leader in its vertical. Santi has extensive experience of creating startups and developing them into commercially successful businesses with high exit potential.
Scientific Advisory Board
Julio Castro
CEO & Founder Palobiofarma
Graduated in Chemistry in Havanna.
Phd in Organic chemistry, Konstanz University, Germany.
Medicinal Chemist at Bayer, Germany.
Head of Department Medicinal Chemistry at Almirall, Spain
R&D director at Oryzon Genomics
Since 2008 CEO & Founder Palobiofarma. Serial entrepreneur, involved in the foundation of several biotech companies like Oncostellae, Medibiofarma and Origobiopharma.
María Jesús Blanco
Vice President and Head of Chemical Sciences at Atavistik Bio
Maria-Jesus Blanco is Vice President and Head of Chemical Sciences at Atavistik Bio, a biotech located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She has been working in the pharmaceutical industry for over 20 years, playing leadership roles in the drug discovery and development of small molecules and new chemical modalities across multiple therapeutic areas. Maria joined Atavistik Bio from Sage Therapeutics, where she served as Head of Chemistry and Sr. Director. Maria began her career at Eli Lilly and Company in Indianapolis where she held positions of increasing responsibility over 17 years, including Director of Discovery Chemistry Research & Technologies. Maria was part of the team that discovered FDA-approved Reyvow (for the treatment of migraine) and has actively contributed to the delivery of 14 compounds to clinical studies.
Maria obtained her BS and PhD degree in Organic Chemistry from the University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain. She held postdoctoral positions at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with Prof. Masamune and at University of Strasbourg, France with Nobel Laureate Prof. Sauvage. Maria has >100 scientific publications, presentations, patent and patent applications. She was elected as a member of the executive committee of the American Chemical Society (ACS) National Division of Medicinal Chemistry, being the 2023 Division Chair. She is currently an associate editor for ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters. In 2021, she was inducted as an ACS Fellow for her lasting service to chemistry, society, and medicine.
Marc Vendrell
Full Professor of Translational Chemistry and Biomedical Imaging at The University of Edinburgh
Prof. Marc Vendrell graduated in Chemistry at the University of Barcelona in 2007 before joining the Singapore Bioimaging Consortium to work in synthetic fluorophores for optical imaging. In 2012 he started his independent career as an Academic Fellow at the University of Edinburgh to develop and translate optical probes for imaging immune cells in humans. His research has led to several license agreements with industry to commercialise fluorescent technologies worldwide and it has been recognised with international awards and distinctions: ERC Consolidator Grant (2017), Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (2017), Marcial Moreno Lectureship (2018) and SRUK Emerging Talent Award (2019). Since 2020, he is appointed as Personal Chair of Translational Chemistry and Biomedical Imaging and is the Chemistry Lead for API Synthesis and Healthcare Technologies at the College of Medicine and Veterinary Medicine at the University of Edinburgh.
Work with us
We currently do not have any open positions, but we are always eager to meet new people who can contribute to Celtrays' success. If you are interested send us your application.
Our Collaborators
Celtarys Research collaborates with several academic research groups and companies expert in drug discovery research.
Professor Ago Rinken
Dr. Miguel Abal
Dr. Gemma Brugal
Dr. Marialessandra Contino
Celtarys is part of Scientist.com the world’s largest AI-powered marketplace for medical research.
Partners
Celtarys Research has been selected and funded under the Proof-of-Concept Ignicia Program of the Galician Agency for Innovation, GAIN
