Why Choose Consulting?
The journey from a promising scientific concept to a viable medicine is long, complex, and filled with challenges. The statistics speak for themselves: many projects fail to advance, and a high percentage of companies do not make it through the journey from startup to delivering a valuable product.
This is where expert consulting becomes invaluable. Whether you are a biotech startup, investor, academic, research institution, CRO, or established pharma company, JTL MedChem Consulting offers a partnership built on over 30 years of proven expertise and with an extensive professional network. We provide the strategic guidance and hands-on support needed to anticipate problems, optimize your research, and ensure you're making the most impactful decisions. By leveraging our deep industry knowledge, you can mitigate risk, improve efficiency, and accelerate your project's path from concept to commercial success.
Our vision is to help get those promising ideas to patients.
About Me
Barrie Martin has over 30 years of experience in drug discovery, spanning from academic spin-outs to large pharmaceutical companies. His expertise covers all phases of development, from target identification and evaluation through to candidate selection and IND-enabled projects.
At AstraZeneca, he contributed to multiple successful lead optimization projects that resulted in clinical candidates for MCT1, P2X7, inhaled p38, and P2Y12. This work includes the marketed drug Ticagrelor, which is used to prevent serious cardiac events. He also helped establish a team that focused on evaluating very early-stage projects, including hit-finding from high-throughput screening and other chemistry-led opportunities.
At C4X Discovery, he was instrumental in building the company from the original founders and board into a successful biotech with three successful partnering deals of potential value of up to $1 billion. This included the selective orexin 1 project, which he led from the original project pitch to the successful licensing of a Phase 1-ready compound, including drug substance GMP synthesis and full IMPD documentation. He also led the IL17 project from inception to a successful partnership with Sanofi and subsequent milestones toward candidate selection.
Where we can help
We offer a wide range of consultancy services in drug discovery and medicinal chemistry. Whether it's hit finding, optimization, candidate identification, or preparing for an IND submission, making the right decisions on what to do and where to do it is crucial for success. The breadth of experience and professional network from more than 30 years working for companies ranging from 4 to 40,000 employees and at all stages of drug discovery mean that the added value that we bring is in the confidence that the right decisions are being made and your science is progressing towards delivering.
Whether it is advice or fully embedded project management, we offer flexible solutions to meet your project needs.
Selected Resume
Bionow Project of the Year for the “Development of Orexin-1 Receptor Antagonists for the Treatment of Addiction”. 2018
The Malcolm Campbell Memorial Prize for the “Development of BrilintaTM/BriliqueTM”. 2013
- IL17 project - €414million licensing agreement with Sanofi with €18million from upfront and milestone payments to date
- Benzoxazoles as modulators of IL-17A. WO2025104230
- Preparation of amino acid amides as IL-17A modulators. WO2021239745
- Preparation of amino acid amides as IL-17A modulators. WO2021239743
- NRF2 activators - $402million global licensing deal with AstraZeneca with $13million from upfront and milestones to date
- Preparation of tetrahydroisoquinoline compounds as NRF2 activators. WO 2021214472
- Preparation of substituted isoquinolines as Nrf2 activators. WO 2020084300
- Selective Orexin 1 inhibitors - $284million licensing agreement with Indivior and raised $30million from upfronts and divestment. C4X_3256/INDV-2000 is currently in phase 2 for the treatment of opioid addiction
- Preparation of pyridine carboxamide derivatives as orexin-1 receptor inhibitors useful in the treatment of diseases. WO 2017129829
- Preparation of amide derivatives as orexin-1 receptor inhibitors useful in treatment of diseases WO 2016034882
- Inhaled p38α MAP kinase inhibitors - led to the discovery of AZD7624 which reached phase 2 for the treatment of COPD
- The design and SAR of a novel series of DFG out p38α MAP kinase inhibitors. 241st ACS national meeting, Anaheim, USA, 2011.
- Preparation of isoquinolinone derivatives and their use for the treatment of COPD and asthma. WO2008122765
- Preparation of isoquinoline derivatives as inhibitors of cytokine mediated diseases. WO2007149031
- P2X7 receptor antagonists - Identification of several phase 1 enabled compounds as back-ups to AZD9056
- Adamantyl derivatives as P2X7 receptor antagonists, their preparation, pharmaceutical compositions, and use in therapy. WO2006025783
- Preparation of quinolyl amides as new P2X7 receptor antagonists. WO2004106305
- MCT1 blockers - led to the identification of AZD3965 a first-in-class compound which showed promising efficacy in a phase 2 oncology study
- Optimization of Monocarboxylate Transporter 1 Blockers through Analysis and Modulation of Atropisomer Interconversion Properties. J. Med. Chem. 2007, 50(2), 254-263.
- Potent blockers of the monocarboxylate transporter MCT1: Novel immunomodulatory compounds. Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters 2006, 16(8), 2260-2265.
- Optimisation of Monocarboxylate Transporter 1 Blockers through modulation of Atropisomer Interconversion Properties. 4th Anglo Swedish Medicinal Chemistry Symposium, Åre, Sweden, 2009.
- A simple and efficient synthesis of optically pure 4-alkylisoxazolidin-4-ols. Tetrahedron Letters 2006, 47(43), 7635-7639.
- Thienopyrimidinediones: The synthesis of novel orally active immunosuppressive agents. Royal Society of Chemistry synthetic chemistry symposium, University of Leicester, 2004.
- P2Y12 receptor antagonists - led to to identification of two marketed drugs, Cangrelor used during percutaneous coronary intervention & Ticagrelor/Brilinta for the prevention of serious coronary events.
- From ATP to AZD6140: The discovery of an orally active reversible P2Y12 receptor antagonist for the prevention of thrombosis. Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters 2007, 17(21), 6013-6018.
- P2Y12(P2T) Receptor Antagonists: The asymmetric synthesis of substituted phenylcyclopropylamines. Royal Society of Chemistry synthetic chemistry symposium, University of Sheffield, 2003.
- SAR Towards AZD6140: A Novel Orally Active P2Y12(P2T) Receptor Antagonist. 14th Symposium on Medicinal Chemistry, Hatfield, 2003.
- Preparation and use of 1,2,3-triazolo[4,5-d]pyrimidines as P2T receptor ligands. WO2002038571
- Miscellaneous
- Therapeutic compounds (MALT 1 inhibitors). WO2025104411
- The conformational musings of a medicinal chemist (acknowledgement). Drug Discov. Today 2014, 19(3), 320-325
- The application of ligand conformational preferences in drug discovery. ELRIG (European Laboratory Research & Innovation Group) Drug Discovery, Manchester, UK, 2012
- The application of ligand conformational preferences in drug discovery. ZING Medicinal Chemistry Conference, Lanzarote, Spain, 2012
- Molybdenum-mediated synthesis of quinazolin-4(3H)-ones via cyclocarbonylation using microwave irradiation. Tetrahedron Letters 52 (2011) 3793–3796
- Discovery of Isoindoline and Tetrahydroisoquinoline Derivatives as Potent, Selective PPARδ agonists. Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters 2011, 21 (1), 492-496.
- Oxidative Pd(II)-Catalyzed C−H Bond Amination to Carbazole at Ambient Temperature (acknowledgement). J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2008, 130 (48), 16184–16186.
Contact Us
JTL MedChem Consulting
Wilmslow, Cheshire
Barrie.Martin@JTLmedchemconsulting.com
