Warp Drive Bio Appoints Industry Veteran Laurence Reid, Ph.D., To Chief Executive Officer

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Warp Drive Bio, a life sciences company using proprietary genomic technology to transform the discovery and development of therapeutics derived from natural products, today announced the appointment of Laurence Reid, Ph.D., to chief executive officer. Dr. Reid succeeds CEO and co-founder Gregory Verdine, Ph.D., who will continue to serve the company as president and chief scientific officer, as well as chairman of the company’s scientific advisory board. Dr. Verdine will also remain on Warp Drive Bio’s board of directors and will retain his appointment as a venture partner with Third Rock Ventures.
Dr. Reid brings to Warp Drive more than 25 years of experience in the global biopharmaceutical industry, with a focus on building innovative companies. He is an entrepreneur-in-residence at Third Rock Ventures, and most recently served as the chief business officer of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALNY), where he led various business functions, including business development, and established several transformative alliances for Alnylam.

“Over the past three years, we have built a fundamentally new and powerful drug discovery engine. Our mission going forward is to use that engine to advance multiple, first-in-class medicines into the clinic,” said Dr. Verdine. “The appointment of such a talented and accomplished scientist and leader as Laurence sets Warp Drive Bio on a strong path for its next stage of growth. I look forward to collaborating with Laurence to bring transformative medicines to patients in need.”

“Warp Drive Bio’s pioneering natural products platform is transforming the discovery of ‘nature’s’ drugs, which have the potential to solve problems that have confounded the industry over many years,” said Dr. Reid. “Under Greg’s leadership, Warp Drive has established an extraordinary discovery team building a distinctive and powerful drug discovery engine. I look forward to working with him and the rest of the Warp Drive Bio team to help the company realize its bold vision.”

Prior to Alnylam, Dr. Reid served as chief business officer at Ensemble Therapeutics, where he led the development and implementation of key business strategies for the company's therapeutic and diagnostic portfolios, as well as executed several major discovery alliances. Dr. Reid’s previous entrepreneurial experiences include the founding of startup companies in the fields of stem cell therapeutics and inflammation. He spent 10 years at Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., where he worked in a range of general management and business development positions, including general manager of Millennium UK and vice president of business development for the company's predictive medicine efforts. Before joining Millennium, he was an assistant editor of the premier journal Cell. Dr. Reid holds a Ph.D. from London University and a B.A. from Cambridge University. He is a member of the board of directors of The Possible Project.

About Warp Drive Bio

Warp Drive Bio is driving the reemergence of natural products in the era of genomics to create breakthrough treatments that make an important difference in the lives of patients. Built upon the belief that nature is the world’s most powerful medicinal chemist, Warp Drive Bio is deploying a battery of state-of-the-art technologies to access powerful drugs that are now hidden within microbes. Key to the Warp Drive Bio approach is the company’s proprietary “genomic search engine” and customized search queries that enable hidden natural products to be revealed on the basis of their distinctive genomic signature. The company was launched in 2012 through a groundbreaking strategic partnership with Sanofi and with financing from Third Rock Ventures and Greylock Partners. For more information, please visit www.warpdrivebio.com.

Contacts

Pure Communications

Katie Engleman, 910-509-3977

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