Altesa
BioSciences
Developing Drugs to Treat Respiratory Viruses and Global Viral Threats
Altesa Biosciences, Inc., is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing drugs to treat RNA viruses, which are responsible for 80% of viral diseases worldwide. Among these viruses are Rhinovirus (primary cause of the common cold), Influenza, Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), Dengue virus, Yellow Fever virus, Ebola virus, and SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19).
Dr George Painter and Dr Dennis Liotta, Altesa BioScience’s scientific co-founders, lead the Drug Innovation Ventures at Emory University (DRIVE) and are responsible for some of the most impactful virus treatments in the world, including emtricitabine for HIV/AIDS, and molnupiravir for COVID-19.
Altesa’s mission is to accelerate the clinical development and commercialization of the DRIVE’s next six molecules that could follow in the footsteps of their previous blockbusters.
Altesa is led by its CEO, Brett P. Giroir, MD – former Assistant Secretary for Health and Acting FDA Commissioner – and a highly successful and experienced management team advised by world leaders in science and clinical medicine.

Altesa Leadership Team
Brett P. Giroir, MD
Chief Executive Officer and Acting Chief Medical Officer
- Former US Assistant Secretary for Health and Admiral, USPHS
- Former Acting FDA Commissioner
- Former CEO, ViraCyte (now AlloVir)
George R. Painter, PhD
Founder and Co-Chair, Scientific Advisory Board
- Former Director of Virology, Burroughs Wellcome Co.
- Former International Deputy Therapeutic Head for Antiviral Research, GlaxoWellcome
- Co-founder & EVP R&D, Triangle Pharmaceuticals (sold to Gilead Sciences, 2002)
- Co-founder & CEO, Chimerix, Inc. (NASDAQ: CMRX)
- Co-Founder & CEO, Drug Innovation Ventures at Emory (DRIVE)
- Co-Inventor brincidofovir and molnupiravir
Dennis C. Liotta, PhD
Founder and Member, Scientific Advisory Board
- Co-founder, Pharmasset
- Co-founder, DRIVE and Emory Institute for Drug Development
- Co-inventor emtricitabine and lamivudine
Seth Rudnick, MD
Founder and Chair, Board of Directors
- Chairman, DRIVE Advisory Board
- Former Canaan Partners, General Partner
- Former CytoTherapeutics, CEO & Chairman
- Forbes Midas List: top deal makers in biotechnology (named twice)
John M. Clerici, JD
Founder and Chief Operating Officer
- Founder, Tiber Creek Partners LLC, Raised over $6B in Non- Dilutive Capital
- Former Partner & Life Sciences Chair, McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP
- Former Board Member, Aeolus Pharmaceuticals Inc.
“My number one priority is to make a difference in patients’ lives. I am confident that we can develop safe and highly effective treatments against a broad variety of pathogenic viruses, just as we have already done for HIV/AIDS and COVID-19.”
George Painter, PhD
Co-Founder, Altesa BioSciences