Avenio AI adds Dr. Cyrus Ghobadi as board advisor as Artiko Pharma adopts its protocol platform

By AI, Created 6:45 PM UTC, May 21, 2026, /AGP/ – Avenio AI named AbbVie, Lilly and AstraZeneca veteran Dr. Cyrus Ghobadi to its Board of Advisors and said his new consultancy, Artiko Pharma Consulting, will use Avenio AI Intelligent Protocol Hub for early-phase clinical development work. The move gives Avenio another high-profile clinical development advocate as it pushes to speed IND-to-first-patient-in timelines and reduce protocol bottlenecks.

Why it matters: - Avenio AI is targeting one of clinical development’s most expensive bottlenecks: protocol authoring and amendments. - Industry research cited by Avenio estimates protocol changes cost sponsors an average of $300,000 per protocol. - Faster, cleaner protocol development can reduce missed deadlines, protocol deviations and program delays. - Artiko Pharma Consulting’s adoption gives Avenio a real-world user case inside a clinical development consultancy.

What happened: - Avenio AI appointed Dr. Cyrus Ghobadi, MD PhD, as a Board Advisor. - Dr. Ghobadi is the founder and principal consultant of Artiko Pharma Consulting. - Artiko Pharma Consulting selected Avenio AI Intelligent Protocol Hub as its clinical AI application for client work. - The announcement covers support across IND-enabling work, First-Patient-In and Phase 2/3 readouts.

The details: - Dr. Ghobadi most recently served as Executive Medical Director and Head of the Clinical Pharmacology Research Unit at AbbVie. - Over two decades, Dr. Ghobadi led early-phase clinical development at AbbVie, Eli Lilly and AstraZeneca. - His work has covered clinical strategy, protocol design and translational approaches in immunology, oncology, respiratory and endocrinology. - On the sponsor side, Dr. Ghobadi has led programs from IND submission through Phase 3 readouts. - On the site side, Dr. Ghobadi has served as a Principal Investigator and Head of a Phase 1 unit with responsibility for feasibility, recruitment and execution. - Dr. Ghobadi is also a Senior Appraiser with the UK’s General Medical Council and has supported the development of more than 1,800 GMC-registered physicians worldwide. - Artiko Pharma Consulting was founded in February 2026 to serve small and mid-sized biotechs as a fractional CMO and clinical lead. - Artiko plans to use Avenio AI for protocol authoring, IND and Investigator’s Brochure preparation, safety signal detection, medical monitoring and PBPK-informed dose selection. - Avenio AI Intelligent Protocol Hub is also positioned to help with risk flagging, inconsistencies, stakeholder collaboration, reviews and approvals. - Avenio said the platform is already used by several BioPharma enterprises, CROs and academic research institutions. - The platform’s selection for the NVIDIA Inception Program is part of Avenio’s current scale-up. - Avenio AI says the product is built on Google Cloud and aligned with regulated clinical development environments, including 21 CFR Part 11 considerations. - The company also says the platform supports audit-ready documentation across the clinical lifecycle. - Avenio AI’s website is More information. - Artiko Pharma Consulting’s website is More information.

Between the lines: - Dr. Ghobadi’s appointment is as much a product signal as a governance move. - A senior drug development operator using the platform in his own consulting practice can help Avenio market to biotech CMOs and clinical operations leaders. - The message is that Avenio wants to win on workflow depth, not just generic AI features. - The company is framing the product as a tool for the work that happens between IND submission and first patient in, where trial quality and speed can diverge.

What’s next: - Avenio is actively onboarding BioPharma enterprises, CROs and biotech sponsors. - Priority placement is being offered for programs approaching IND or entering Phase 1/2. - Drug development leaders, investors and clinical operations executives can request access through Avenio’s website or by email. - The company is likely to lean on the Ghobadi-Artiko relationship as it expands into more early-stage development programs.

The bottom line: - Avenio AI just added a high-credibility clinical development advisor and a live customer using the product in client work, strengthening its push to become a core protocol authoring tool for biotech teams.