Adial Pharmaceuticals Announces Name Change to Azora Therapeutics and New Executive Team, Focused on Advancing AT177, an Oral, Colon-Targeted AhR Agonist for Ulcerative Colitis

Matt Davidson, Ph.D., co-founder, President and Chief Executive Officer of Azora Therapeutics

“This milestone marks a new phase of growth and value creation for Azora as we rapidly advance our oral, colon-targeted AhR agonist candidate into the clinic for ulcerative colitis. Founded on discoveries from direct patient experience, Azora is pioneering an innovative approach to restoring intestinal health for people living with ulcerative colitis. Through precise activation of the AhR pathway, AT177 targets a mechanism recognized as an important regulator of immune function and intestinal barrier integrity in inflammatory bowel disease. With the capital, team and infrastructure in place, we believe to be well positioned to advance AT177 into the clinic in 2027 with the goal of unlocking the therapeutic potential of AhR agonism.”

Julie Saiki, Ph.D., co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of Azora Therapeutics

“Azora exists because people living with ulcerative colitis deserve to have better therapeutic options than those available today. Current treatments have an efficacy ceiling, fail to achieve remission in many patients, and have safety tradeoffs that can lead to inadequate care and long-term complications. AT177 was engineered to precisely activate the AhR, a key regulator of gut homeostasis, while maintaining limited systemic exposure. We believe our approach offers the potential to combine deep biological insights with a targeted drug design strategy to close the gaps that current therapies cannot address.”