Robert A. Galemmo, Jr., Ph.D.

Senior Medicinal Chemist
Southern Research Institute
2000 Ninth Avenue South
Birmingham, AL 35205
Phone: 205-581-2915
E-mail: galemmo@southernresearch.org

Biography

Dr. Galemmo joined Southern Research in 2011 as a Senior Medicinal Chemist with more than 25 years of previous experience in medicinal chemistry ranging from bench scientist to department head in major pharmaceutical and small biotech companies. He has practiced in several therapeutic areas including gastroenterology, inflammation, oncology, cardiovascular, and CNS. Within these areas, he has worked with target types that include kinases, proteases, GPCRs, and ion channels.

Throughout his career, Dr. Galemmo has been associated with multiple development and clinical candidates including RG 12525, an LTD4 antagonist that proceeded to Phase II clinical trials for asthma, as well as JNJ 38877605, a highly selective inhibitor of cMet kinase currently in cancer clinical trials. In addition, he served as the first project leader of the DuPont program that led to the development of Apixaban/Eliquis^®, the BMS/Pfizer orally available factor Xa anticoagulant. Dr. Galemmo obtained his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from The Ohio State University under Professor Leo A. Paquette. He is the author of 46 scientific publications and an inventor on 42 patents and applications.

Research Focus: Discovery of Small Molecule Anti-Cancer and CNS Therapeutics

Dr. Galemmo's research interests are in medicinal chemistry and drug discovery. Currently, his program is focused on the discovery of novel inhibitors of the serine proteases implicated in cancer metastasis and kinases driving neurodegenerative disease. His laboratory uses structure-based and knowledge-based techniques to design focused, drug-like compound libraries to identify unique, proprietary leads. The lead series are optimized through solution phase parallel synthesis and rapid in vitro characterization of analogs for inhibition activity, solubility, permeability, and metabolic stability. Analogs meeting stringent selection criteria based on their performance in in vitro studies are examined with in vivo pharmacokinetic studies to identify robust candidates for evaluation in models of drug target engagement and human disease. Dr. Galemmo's objective is to create drug development candidates that will survive the rigors of clinical evaluation and improve outcomes for patients with some of the most fatal diseases.