Welton Pharma, headquartered in Tampa, FL, was founded in 2022 to develop injectable drug products. Welton has in-licensed Lubrizol’s Apisolex™ excipient drug-solubilizing technology to reformulate and improve upon currently approved drug products. The company’s mission is to optimize the safety, efficacy, and stability of certain drug products to improve patient outcomes and clinical experience. The company’s first product, WP-038, aims to improve the response rate in cancer patients by up to 300% compared to current chemotherapy regimens.
Some of the formative discussions for the creation of Welton Pharma were held in Birmingham, AL which was the inspiration of the company name.
William Welton was an MIT-educated, and École des Beaux-Arts-trained architect who moved to Birmingham in 1907. He designed a number of buildings in the city center including the John Hand Building, 21-story classical revival skyscraper constructed in 1912 for the American Trust and Savings Bank.
Today the John Hand Building is a mix-used building including offices for several startups. The top of the building houses a business club; the bar in the club is known as “The Welton”. As the founders finalized the business plan for the new company a celebratory drink was held and the name Welton was suggested for the new company. We think it is a fitting tribute to an architect as we look to build the next generation of cancer therapeutics.