AION Labs Appoints New Scientific and Technology Leadership as It Expands Its Pharma R&D Innovation Platform

Dr. Ilana Mandel joins as Chief Scientific Officer and Dr. Shira Warszawski as Chief Technology Officer

New leadership to support company in scaling across AI, biology, quantum and other emerging technologies transforming pharma R&D

REHOVOT, Israel, Nov. 10, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- AION Labs, the venture studio founded by global pharmaceutical, technology, and investment leaders to create and scale companies transforming pharmaceutical R&D, today announced the appointment of Dr. Ilana Mandel as Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) and Dr. Shira Warszawski as Chief Technology Officer (CTO). The new appointments will support the company in expanding its model to identify, build, and accelerate a broader range of breakthrough technologies addressing critical challenges across pharmaceutical R&D.

AION Labs brings together global pharma, technology, scientific talent, and venture capital to translate emerging technologies into companies and products. Founded by AstraZeneca, Merck, Pfizer, and Teva, along with Amazon Web Services (AWS), Amiti Ventures, and the Israel Biotech Fund, with the support of the Israel Innovation Authority, AION builds new AI technologies and companies around real drug discovery R&D challenges. The biotech venture studio 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 Silicon Valley-based insitro.

Established in 2021 with an understanding that AI will revolutionize drug discovery, AION is now broadening its focus to pursue additional technologies that have potential to reshape drug discovery and development with quantum technologies representing a significant new area of interest, alongside robotics and laboratory automation. The proven AION model—start with meaningful challenges facing pharmaceutical R&D, identify technologies capable of solving them, and build companies and platforms around those opportunities together with its partners—will be applied to new areas of science and technology, bolstered by the new executives.

Dr. Ilana Mandel brings more than 15 years of experience in drug discovery and development, advancing therapeutic programs from early scientific concepts toward the clinic. Mandel most recently served as CSO of Biond Biologics, where she led the development of first-in-human candidates and played a central role in the company's licensing agreement with Sanofi. Earlier, she led research at cCAM Biotherapeutics through its acquisition by MSD.

At AION Labs, Mandel will lead scientific strategy and help identify the biological and therapeutic opportunities around which the next generation of companies and platforms can be built.

Dr. Shira Warszawski brings more than 15 years of experience spanning 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.

As CTO, Warszawski will lead AION Labs' technology strategy, identifying and evaluating emerging capabilities and helping translate them into platforms and companies addressing high-value challenges across pharma R&D.

The leadership transition also marks a new chapter for Dr. Yair Benita, Co-Founder and CTO of AION Labs, who has played a foundational role in building AION Labs since its inception.

Benita helped establish AION Labs' technological foundations and its ecosystem connecting Israel's scientific and technology talent with leading global pharmaceutical companies. He will now step out of his role at AION Labs to lead Phindex, a company conceived and developed within AION Labs. Phindex is building an AI-powered platform to help biotech companies navigate drug development from an initial molecule toward IND submission.

Mati Gill, CEO of AION Labs, said: "After five successful years of AION Labs, we are looking beyond AI to explore new technologies for pharma R&D, such as quantum, robotics and automation. The appointment of Dr. Warszawski and Dr. Mandel—both leaders in their respective fields—will enable us to bring the combination of scientific depth, technology leadership and drug development experience we need for this next chapter. At this time, we are proud to see Yair Benita's transition from building AION Labs to leading a venture created within it. Yair has been fundamental to AION from day one, and his transition to this next chapter exemplifies the essence of our venture studio model, which brings together exceptional leaders and gives them the foundation to build the next generation of companies."

AION Labs has also appointed veteran biotech executive Ram Waisbourd as Venture Partner, where he will support the growth and strategic development of its portfolio companies and contribute to its venture creation activities. Waisbourd brings more than 25 years of biotech leadership experience, including a decade at Teva Pharmaceuticals and co-founding 89bio, where he served as COO and CBO and later as a business development advisor through its $3.5 billion acquisition by Roche in 2025.

With its expanded mandate and strengthened leadership team, AION Labs will continue working alongside its pharma, technology and investment partners to identify critical R&D challenges and build companies and platforms capable of transforming how medicines are discovered and developed.

About AION Labs

AION Labs is a venture studio and innovation platform focused on transforming drug discovery and development through the creation and acceleration of breakthrough technology companies addressing real pharma R&D challenges.

Founded by AstraZeneca, Merck, Pfizer, Teva, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Israel Biotech Fund and Amiti, with the support of the Israel Innovation Authority, AION Labs combines the scientific and R&D expertise of global pharmaceutical companies with leading technology capabilities, entrepreneurial talent and venture capital.

AION Labs has built a portfolio of 12 companies addressing challenges across drug discovery and development and is expanding its model across AI, biology, quantum and other emerging technologies with the potential to transform pharmaceutical R&D.

Contact:

Aviva Sapir
Number 10 Strategies
[email protected] 

SOURCE AION Labs