AION Labs names scientific and technology chiefs as it expands beyond AI
AION Labs has appointed Dr. Ilana Mandel as Chief Scientific Officer and Dr. Shira Warszawski as Chief Technology Officer as the venture studio expands its pharmaceutical R&D focus beyond AI. The company is adding quantum technologies, robotics and laboratory automation to the areas it is exploring.
- Ilana Mandel becomes AION Labs’ Chief Scientific Officer.
- Shira Warszawski becomes Chief Technology Officer.
- AION Labs is expanding beyond AI into quantum, robotics and laboratory automation.
- The venture studio says it has built 12 startups and completed more than 22 Proof of Concept projects.
- Yair Benita will lead Phindex, an AI-powered company created within AION Labs.
New leaders will guide AION Labs’ expanded model
Mandel will lead AION Labs’ scientific strategy, including the identification of biological and therapeutic opportunities for future companies and platforms. She brings more than 15 years of experience in drug discovery and development, and most recently served as Chief Scientific Officer of Biond Biologics. There, she led the development of first-in-human candidates and played a central role in the company’s licensing agreement with Sanofi.
Warszawski will lead the company’s technology strategy. Her experience spans computational protein design, biotherapeutic R&D, global pharma and biotechnology startups. She has led therapeutic protein design at Merck KGaA, CRISPR nuclease engineering teams at Emendo Bio and protein design software development at Scala Biodesign.
According to AION Labs, the appointments are intended to strengthen the combination of scientific expertise, technology leadership and drug development experience needed to identify and build companies addressing pharmaceutical R&D challenges.
Venture studio broadens its technology priorities
AION Labs was established in 2021 with a focus on applying AI to drug discovery. The company now says it is broadening its mandate to pursue technologies that could reshape drug discovery and development, with quantum technologies representing a significant new area of interest. Robotics and laboratory automation are also included in the expanded focus.
The venture studio’s approach begins with a meaningful challenge in pharmaceutical R&D. It then identifies technologies that could address that challenge and works with partners to build companies and platforms around the opportunity. AION Labs said the model will now be applied across AI, biology, quantum and other emerging technologies.
Founded by AstraZeneca, Merck, Pfizer and Teva, along with Amazon Web Services, Amiti Ventures and the Israel Biotech Fund, AION Labs operates with support from the Israel Innovation Authority. The company says it has built 12 startups, completed more than 22 Proof of Concept projects and achieved its first exit earlier this year, when CombinAble.AI was acquired by insitro.
Yair Benita moves to AION-created company Phindex
The leadership changes also mark the departure of Dr. Yair Benita from his role as Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer at AION Labs. Benita helped establish the venture studio’s technology foundations and its ecosystem connecting Israeli scientific and technology talent with global pharmaceutical companies.
Benita will lead Phindex, a company conceived and developed within AION Labs. Phindex is building an AI-powered platform intended to help biotech companies navigate drug development from an initial molecule toward IND submission.
AION Labs has also appointed Ram Waisbourd as Venture Partner. He will support the growth and strategic development of portfolio companies and contribute to venture creation activities. Waisbourd brings more than 25 years of biotech leadership experience, including a decade at Teva Pharmaceuticals and work as a co-founder and executive at 89bio.
For users of the platform and its partners, the announcement signals that AION Labs plans to apply its company-building model to a wider set of technologies and scientific problems in pharmaceutical R&D. The company said it will continue working with pharma, technology and investment partners to identify challenges and build companies and platforms focused on how medicines are discovered and developed.
