Portolano brings 25 years of experience in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries, he has focused on leadership roles in organizations that develop orphan specialty medicines for patients with rare diseases. He joined Azafaros from Ultragenyx Pharmaceuticals (USA), where he served as Head of Europe since 2016. At the biopharmaceutical Company he was responsible for all aspects of the company’s business in the European market, as well as the oversight of the company’s European offices.  Prior to Ultragenyx, Portolano spent a decade at Celgene, most recently as Vice President, Strategy & Commercial Operations. Earlier in his career, Portolano held various senior commercial, business development and general management positions at Genzyme and Sigma-Tau. He received a Doctor of Medicine from Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II.

Azafaros was founded in 2018 to address rare genetic metabolic disorders through a pipeline of oral small molecules with disease-modifying potential. Co-Founder and first CEO, Olivier Morand, recently left the company.