Atomwise Appoints Steve Worland, Ph.D. as Chief Executive Officer

Proven Pharmaceutical Executive Brings Over 30 Years of R&D Experience to Supercharge the Company’s Next Phase of Growth

Seasoned Biotechnology Leader Mike Varney, Ph. D., Appointed as Lead Independent Director of the Board

Atomwise Appoints Steve Worland, Ph.D. as Chief Executive Officer

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Atomwise, a leader in leveraging machine learning and artificial intelligence (ML/AI) to advance small molecule drug discovery, today announced the appointment of Steve Worland, Ph.D. as Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors.

Dr. Worland, who brings more than three decades of leadership and R&D experience across multiple biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, will work closely with Atomwise’s existing management team and Board of Directors to advance the company’s proprietary pipeline and its ML/AI drug discovery platform, AtomNet. Dr. Worland’s appointment builds on Atomwise’s recent momentum, including the company’s breakthrough findings that illustrate the value of AtomNet in identifying novel chemical starting points to address a variety of biological targets, including difficult-to-drug and previously unaddressed targets.

“I am thrilled to join Atomwise at such an important time for the company, as demand for tech-enabled solutions that help optimize and streamline the drug discovery process continues to rise,” said Dr. Worland. “Throughout my career, I’ve always been deeply passionate about identifying solutions to complex, life threatening diseases, and I am thrilled to join an organization that shares my dedication to delivering better medicines to patients. I look forward to working alongside Atomwise’s exceptional team of world-class scientists to continue revolutionizing the drug discovery landscape.”

During his career, Dr. Worland has led capital raising, strategic planning, research, clinical development and corporate development activities to drive value creation, and his fundamental scientific research has contributed to the discovery and development of Paxlovid® (nirmatrelvir), Inlyta® (axitinib), zotatifin, tomivosertib, setrobuvir, rupintrivir and other clinical-stage product candidates. Most recently, Dr. Worland founded and led eFFECTOR Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company pioneering the development of Selective Translation Regulator Inhibitors (STRIs) for cancer treatment. Under his leadership, eFFECTOR progressed two products candidates from target concept into Phase 2, raised more than $250M in private and public equity markets, and entered into a major research collaboration with Pfizer. Previously, Dr. Worland held senior positions at Anadys Pharmaceuticals, Pfizer and Agouron Pharmaceuticals.

“Atomwise is tackling some of the most pressing challenges in drug discovery and molecular design, and Steve is the ideal leader to scale the company’s AI-enabled drug discovery platform and advance its mission to revolutionize the biopharmaceutical industry,” said Dr. Robert Mittendorff, General Partner and Global Head of Healthcare at B Capital. “With a proven track record in drug discovery and clinical development, as well as experience guiding biotechnology companies through transformative growth, Steve brings exceptional expertise and leadership. His appointment reflects the strength of what Atomwise has built, and we’re confident he will accelerate progress in enhancing human health alongside the Atomwise team.”

The company also announced the appointment of Mike Varney, Ph.D., a pioneer drug discoverer and biotech leader, as Lead Independent Director of the Board. Dr. Varney spent over 15 years in executive leadership positions at Genentech, most recently as the Executive Vice President of Research and Early Development. He previously held leadership and senior R&D roles at Pfizer and Agouron Pharmaceuticals and currently serves as a board member and advisor to multiple biotechnology companies.

“I have dedicated my career to novel research and drug development, and I deeply admire Atomwise’s mission to deliver tech-enabled solutions that further advance small molecule drug discovery,” said Dr. Mike Varney, Ph.D. “Steve is an incredible leader whom I’ve known for many years, and I look forward to working alongside the exceptional team at Atomwise as we continue to build upon the recent success of AtomNet and expand our proprietary pipeline.”

About Steve Worland, Ph.D.

Prior to joining Atomwise, Dr. Worland most recently served as President, CEO and Board Member of eFFECTOR Therapeutics, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical business which he co-founded and subsequently took public via a SPAC transaction in 2021. Prior to eFFECTOR, Dr. Worland spent a decade at Anadys Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company which discovered and developed treatments for hepatitis C and cancer, where he served in a number of senior roles prior to being named President and CEO. While at Anadys, he was responsible for the company’s R&D, strategic planning and corporate development efforts, and as CEO, he led the business through its $230M acquisition by Roche in 2011. Dr. Worland began his career at Agouron Pharmaceuticals and held multiple senior positions, including as the Head of Antiviral Research and Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, over the course of 13 years. During this time, the company completed its successful commercialization of an HIV protease inhibitor and two successive acquisitions by Warner-Lambert and Pfizer.

Dr. Worland was a National Institutes of Health postdoctoral fellow in Molecular Biology at Harvard University, received a Ph.D. in Chemistry at University of California, Berkeley and a B.S. with Highest Honors in Biological Chemistry from the University of Michigan. Dr. Worland also serves on the Board of Directors at Blacksmith Medicines and previously served as a board member at Tracon Pharmaceuticals, Forge Therapeutics and GenMark Diagnostics.

About Atomwise

Atomwise is a TechBio company leveraging ML/AI to revolutionize small molecule drug discovery. The Atomwise team invented the use of deep learning for structure-based drug design, a core technology of AtomNet, Atomwise’s best-in-class AI discovery and optimization engine, which is differentiated by its ability to find and optimize novel chemical matter. Atomwise has extensively verified its discovery engine, having demonstrated the ability to find compounds with therapeutic potential hundreds of times across a wide variety of protein types and multiple “hard to drug” targets. Atomwise is advancing a proprietary pipeline of small-molecule drug candidates.

Our vision is to invent a better way to discover and develop new medicines to help patients. Learn more at atomwise.com or follow @AtomwiseInc.