SANDTON, SOUTH AFRICA — June 20, 2026
— Martins Otun, Founder and Principal Scientist of Glasgow-based Algonix AI, has been awarded the prestigious title of Innovator of the Year in Health Technology & AI at the Iconic Africa Under 40 CEOs Awards & Summit 2026.
The landmark summit took place on Saturday, June 20, 2026, at The Capital On The Park Hotel in Sandton, Johannesburg, celebrating standout leaders driving transformation, business growth, and technological excellence across Africa.
Otun was recognized for his pioneer work on Biologix, an AI research platform built to solve one of global healthcare's longest-standing bottlenecks: the requirement for continuous refrigeration to keep essential biologic medicines—such as insulin, antibody therapies, and vaccines—stable and safe.
Tackling Global Health Inequality Through AIBiologics are among the fastest-growing classes of modern medicine, yet almost every biologic requires an unbroken cold chain from production facility to patient. A single break in temperature control can destroy an entire shipment.
This challenge disproportionately impacts developing regions: three in four of the world’s 589 million adults living with diabetes reside in low- and middle-income countries, and nearly one billion people rely on healthcare centers where electricity is unreliable or completely absent.
By designing stabilizing ingredients that allow biologics to survive at room temperature, Otun’s technology enables life-saving medicines to be shipped like standard cargo—reducing delivery costs, eliminating waste, and reaching communities where cold storage infrastructure cannot reach. From Clinical Practice to AI EngineeringOtun’s mission originated in Ile-Ife, Nigeria, where he earned a Bachelor of Pharmacy from Obafemi Awolowo University.
Working in community and clinical settings, he saw effective treatments fail patients due to storage and logistics failures.
After moving to the UK to train in computational science and AI engineering, Otun combined clinical domain knowledge with AI architecture to tackle drug stability at the molecular level. "Receiving this recognition at the Iconic Africa Under 40 CEOs Summit is a powerful validation of our vision at Algonix AI," said Martins Otun. "Our ambition is simple yet urgent: a world where insulin, vaccines, and biologic therapies survive long journeys without a fridge, ensuring that life-saving innovation reaches every patient who needs it, regardless of location."
Accelerating Drug Formulation DiscoveryBiologix moves the slow, trial-and-error phase of drug formulation onto the computer. Powered by physics-based simulations, its AI agents propose novel stabilizing compositions, test candidates against target medicines, and evaluate them against global safety and regulatory standards—with human scientists validating each critical stage. Initial campaigns targeting insulin and the blockbuster antibody therapy adalimumab have already produced promising stabilizer candidates.
Currently live and accessed via the web or integrated into research workflows, Biologix is drawing worldwide interest, including active research collaborations in the United States, as Algonix AI finalizes laboratory partnerships and pursues patent protection for its new stabilizer compositions. Investing in the Next GenerationIn addition to leading Algonix AI, Otun is dedicated to empowering African youth in STEM.
An international advocate for transparent, auditable artificial intelligence, Otun funds scholarships and hosts free educational workshops in Nigeria, training young scientists in applying AI to computational drug discovery.
Algonix AI is a Glasgow-based health technology startup dedicated to advancing drug formulation and delivery. Through its flagship platform, Biologix, Algonix AI combines physics-grounded simulations and computational tools to design stabilizing ingredients that allow biologic medicines to survive room temperatures without cold-chain infrastructure. Learn more at algonix.co.uk.
Media Contact:Martins OtunFounder & Principal Scientist, Algonix AIEmail: martins@algonix.co.ukWebsite: https://algonix.co.uk
