AION Labs Appoints New Scientific and Technology Chiefs as Venture Studio Expands

AION Labs announced new scientific and technology leadership on Tuesday at its venture studio in Rehovot. Dr. Ilana Mandel was appointed chief scientific officer and Dr. Shira Warszawski chief technology officer, while co-founder and outgoing technology chief Dr. Yair Benita is moving to lead portfolio company Phindex. Mandel will direct scientific strategy and identify biological and therapeutic opportunities for new companies and platforms. Warszawski will oversee technology strategy and assess capabilities that could address pharmaceutical research and development challenges. CEO Mati Gill said: “...we are looking beyond AI to explore new technologies for pharma R&D, such as quantum, robotics and automation.” Both incoming executives have more than 15 years of relevant experience, according to the company. Mandel most recently served as chief scientific officer at Biond Biologics, where she helped advance first-in-human drug candidates and its licensing agreement with Sanofi. Warszawski’s previous work includes therapeutic protein design at Merck KGaA, CRISPR nuclease engineering at Emendo Bio and protein-design software at Scala Biodesign. AION also named Ram Waisbourd a venture partner to support company creation and portfolio development. Established in 2021 with pharmaceutical, technology and investment partners and support from the Israel Innovation Authority, AION says it has built 12 startups and completed more than 22 proof-of-concept projects. Phindex is developing an AI platform intended to help biotechnology companies move from an initial molecule toward an investigational-new-drug submission. AION plans to continue identifying research challenges with its partners and building companies and platforms around them.