Shahul received a Ph.D. in medicinal chemistry from Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani,
India. He has over 24 years of drug discovery and development in experience in anti-infectives, antiinflammatory, and oncology therapy areas. His expertise spans medicinal chemistry, structure-based
drug design, chemical toxicology, and pharmaceutical sciences.
As the CSO of Bugworks Research Inc., he is creating a robust pipeline of innovative and differentiated
projects across the anti-infective and oncology space. Previously, he was project leader at AstraZeneca
India Pvt. Ltd., where he gained global exposure in structure-based drug design, structure-activity
(property) relationship (SAR/SPR), and drug discovery.
He has led many lead generation and lead optimization projectsleading to clinical candidate selection,
while balancing potency, cell entry and target engagement, safety, and DMPK in parallel, while
simultaneously securing strong intellectual property. He is the primary inventor of two clinical
candidates, MMV253 (Phase 2 anti-malarial drug) and BWC0977 (Phase 1 anti-bacterial drug), coinventor of TBA-7371 (Phase 2 anti-TB drug) and has 25 international peer-reviewed publications and
15 patents.
As a lead medicinal c