Ritu Shah

Ritu is the Managing Director at Portal Innovations, a Chicago-based venture development engine focused on early-stage life sciences enterprises, where she will position and accelerate seeded companies to the next round of funding. Ritu is a seasoned biotech executive with over two decades of experience. She has a proven track record of success in leading four successful mergers & acquisitions along with new company formation and operations. Ritu has led several drug development campaigns with emphasis on strategic and therapeutic portfolio management across private and public pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.

​Ritu has spent the last five years in biotech and is currently the CEO of ClostraBio. Previously, she was Chief Operating Officer of Pyxis Oncology and assisted in taking the company public in 2021 (Nasdaq: PYXS). Ritu also led the integration of AveXis, a gene therapy company, following the $8.7B acquisition by Novartis. She spent the previous eight years at Shire (Baxter, Baxalta) managing the Immunology portfolio which included R&D, manufacturing, and commercial. Ritu started her career in consulting focusing on pharma R&D and supply chain. Ritu is a strong supporter of the local community and is a Board Member for the Northbrook Bank & Trust Company, A Wintrust Community Bank as well as an Advisory Board Member for the Glenbrook North High School Incubator Program. Ritu received her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Notre Dame.