Joe Kovalchin

Dr. Joseph Kovalchin is the Executive Director of Research at Allievex. He leads the in vivo discovery research/toxicology program, in both the biologics and small molecule spaces and has 15 years of industry experience in non-clinical pharmaceutical research and development. In his current role, he is responsible for the study execution of non-clinical development studies across Allievex’s portfolio of assets.

Prior to Allievex, Joe was the Senior Director of Translational Pharmacology at Amathus Therapeutics where he led all in vivo discovery efforts in models of lysosomal storage disorders and Parkinson’s disease. He also served as the Director of Research at CoLucid Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLCD), where he led the non-clinical development of lasmiditan from 2015, until CoLucid was purchased by Eli Lilly in 2017. He has been integrally involved in various roles from early stage discovery through Phase 3 clinical development at Eleven Biotherapeutics (currently known as Sesen Bio, Inc), Peptimmune Inc., and Antigenics (currently known as Agenus, Inc.).

Joe graduated with a PhD in Cellular/Molecular Biology (Major in Immunology) from Kent State University in Ohio and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Connecticut Health Center in Farmington, Connecticut. His dissertation and post-doctoral work focused on the factors that impact the immunogenicity of heat shock protein, gp96 and their relevance to cancer immunotherapy.