Stefano Portolano | CEO
Azafaros

Stefano Portolano joined Azafaros in 2021, bringing with him 20+ years in orphan disease and speciality drugs and a remarkable track record in building and developing high-performing teams. He successfully led numerous commercial, market access and medical affairs efforts in Europe and the US. Prior to joining Azafaros, he served at Ultragenyx Pharmaceuticals as Head of Europe since 2016, where 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.
Before Ultragenyx, Dr. Portolano spent a decade at Celgene, most recently as Vice President, Strategy & Commercial Operations. In this role, Dr. Portolano was responsible for strategic initiatives and driving commercial execution. Earlier in his career, Dr. Portolano held various senior commercial, business development and general management positions at Genzyme and Sigma-Tau.
Dr. Portolano started his career as an adjunct assistant professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), where he authored several scientific publications on the molecular biology of autoimmunity. He received his Doctor of Medicine from Università degli Studi di Napoli ‘Federico II’ in Italy.