Leadership
AION Labs Appoints Dr. Ilana Mandel as CSO and Dr. Shira Warszawski as CTO
By News Desk ·
Key takeaways
- Dr. Ilana Mandel joins AION Labs as Chief Scientific Officer after serving as CSO of Biond Biologics.
- Dr. Shira Warszawski becomes Chief Technology Officer, moving from protein design work at Scala Biodesign.
- Co-founder and CTO Dr. Yair Benita steps out of his role to lead Phindex, a company developed within AION Labs.
- Ram Waisbourd, who co-founded 89bio, joins as Venture Partner.
AION Labs appointed Dr. Ilana Mandel as Chief Scientific Officer and Dr. Shira Warszawski as Chief Technology Officer, the venture studio said in a PR Newswire announcement on November 10, 2026. Co-founder and CTO Dr. Yair Benita steps out of his role to lead Phindex, a company conceived and developed within AION Labs.
Mandel and Warszawski Take Scientific and Technology Roles
Mandel brings more than 15 years of experience in drug discovery and development, advancing therapeutic programs from early scientific concepts toward the clinic. She 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.
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.
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." Gill said the appointments give the studio the combination of scientific depth, technology leadership and drug development experience it needs for this next chapter.
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.
AION Labs' Exit and Portfolio Record
According to akta.pro company records, AION Labs' portfolio company CombinAble.AI was acquired by Insitro in January 2026, marking the studio's first M&A exit and establishing Insitro's first R&D center in Israel. The same records show AION Labs launched nine companies in over three years of operation, with startups gaining early validation opportunities through pharma partners including AstraZeneca, Merck, Pfizer and Teva. The studio was founded in 2021 and is headquartered in Rehovot, Israel.
Phindex Leadership Transition
Benita helped establish AION Labs' technological foundations and its ecosystem connecting Israel's scientific and technology talent with leading global pharmaceutical companies. Phindex is building an AI-powered platform to help biotech companies navigate drug development from an initial molecule toward IND submission. Gill said Benita's transition to this next chapter exemplifies the essence of the venture studio model, which brings together exceptional leaders and gives them the foundation to build the next generation of companies.