Dr. Matt Devalaraja is the Founder, President and CEO of Nipuna Therapeutics, Inc., a precision immunology company. He is a serial entrepreneur with a keen interest in improving human health, with more than 20 years of drug discovery and development experience in biotech and pharma.
Dr. Devalaraja was the founder, CSO and Head of R&D of Corvidia Therapeutics, which was acquired by Novo-Nordisk for $2.1B in 2020. He is the founding Chairman of MediSyn-Bio; founder of Protean Bio; and a member of the Board of AUM Biosciences. As Director of the Emerging Innovations Unit at AstraZeneca, he developed the core hypothesis of precision cardiovascular therapeutics that formed the basis for the spinout which would become Corvidia Therapeutics. Prior to AstraZeneca, he was Head of the Immunology Research, Pharmacokinetics and Toxicology groups at Human Genome Sciences, and was integral to the approval of Benlysta™, the first Lupus drug, and Raxibacumab for Anthrax.
Dr. Devalaraja received his Ph.D. from the University of Kentucky and completed his post-doctoral training at Vanderbilt University. He obtained his basic degree in veterinary medicine from Acharya N. G. Ranga Agricultural University in India.