BOULDER, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Enveda Biosciences, a leading biotechnology company harnessing nature’s chemistry to develop next-generation small molecule therapies, today announced the addition of three leaders to further scale and accelerate its translational drug development efforts. Drs. John Wetterau, Kendra Hightower and Don Hertzog will play a vital role in validating and advancing the growing number of pathways, targets and leads identified by Enveda’s natural chemistry drug discovery engine.
“Our priority during the past few years has been to build our one-of-a-kind platform to catalog and annotate nature's chemistry at scale,” said Viswa Colluru, Ph.D., Enveda’s founder and CEO. “Now we must effectively manage and maximize the many high-potential therapeutic compounds that we are discovering with it. John, Kendra and Don are scientists and leaders who understand the challenges of global drug development and the nuanced requirements for any compound to ultimately find success. We are delighted to welcome them to Enveda. They will be invaluable to our efforts.”
John Wetterau, Ph.D., vice president, translational sciences
Dr. Wetterau brings more than three decades of biochemistry and pharmacology experience at Eli Lilly and Co., Pfizer Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and Cerenis Therapeutics to Enveda. He has led teams that advanced compounds from discovery and validation through preclinical testing and into human trials. While at Bristol-Myers Squibb, Dr. Wetterau oversaw discovery programs that advanced to clinical development, including several that are still being marketed. He also has experience managing research alliances. He earned a B.A. in chemistry from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Kendra Hightower, Ph.D., vice president, lead generation biology
A former vice president of lead discovery at Ribometrix Inc., Dr. Hightower is an accomplished scientist with more than two decades of experience in pharmaceutical, academic and government research and development, pharmaceutical manufacturing, and metabolomics profiling. Dr. Hightower began her career at GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK), where she co-led key drug discovery programs and contributed to two marketed drugs and multiple leads and candidates. She built strong areas of core expertise including biochemistry, enzymology and drug discovery, with a broad foundation in the biological and chemical sciences. Dr. Hightower earned a B.S. in biochemistry from the University of Maryland, College Park, and a Ph.D., in biology from Johns Hopkins University.
Don Hertzog, Ph.D., senior research fellow, pipeline
An expert in organic and medicinal chemistry, Dr. Hertzog has more than two decades of drug discovery and development experience. He and his teams discovered several clinical assets and, as a result, Dr. Hertzog has expertise from hit identification through early clinical development. His work includes 17 years at GSK, where he held a variety of leadership positions overseeing compound discovery, optimization and validation. He most recently served as vice president of drug discovery at Ribometrix, where he led its efforts to discover and advance new small molecules into the clinic. Dr. Hertzog earned a B.A. in chemistry from Hendrix College and a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Emory University.
“Enveda has made remarkable progress during the past two years and we look forward to working with our new colleagues to expand and accelerate the advancement of our pipeline,” Dr. Colluru said. “Our discovery and development platform is truly unique - not just for Enveda - but for the many patients we hope will benefit from the medicines we’ll develop with it. We are grateful to John, Kendra and Don for bringing their extraordinary experience and expertise to Enveda to help us advance that goal.”
Enveda plans to continue the expansion of its team across biology, chemistry, data science, engineering and data, and business development to further support its discovery and development efforts. The company is expected to fill multiple new positions remotely, in its Boulder office, and overseas in regions such as Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, India. More information on open positions can be found at https://www.envedabio.com/careers/
About Enveda Biosciences
Enveda Biosciences is a biotechnology company building the first high-resolution chemical map of the natural world to tackle the toughest drug discovery problems. Enveda’s platform is the world’s most advanced drug discovery search engine for the almost limitless expanse of nature’s chemistry, building on years of cutting-edge advancements at the intersection of metabolomics and machine learning. Complementing its breakthrough technology, Enveda’s team includes seasoned drug hunters with decades of experience in the pharmaceutical industry working alongside world-leading data scientists. For more information on Enveda, visit envedabio.com.
