Syn­thet­ic bi­ol­o­gy pi­o­neer Syn­thorx re­cruits Cleave's Lau­ra Shawver for top po­si­tion

Promi­nent biotech ex­ec­u­tive Lau­ra Shawver is tak­ing the helm at Syn­thorx, a lit­tle-known start­up blaz­ing the trail for syn­thet­ic bi­ol­o­gy — a field that promis­es to shake up drug de­vel­op­ment.

In Shawver, Syn­thorx is get­ting an ex­pe­ri­enced leader who may be able to take the tiny biotech out of rel­a­tive ob­scu­ri­ty. Her ap­point­ment, which be­gins im­me­di­ate­ly, gives her the ti­tles of pres­i­dent, CEO and di­rec­tor. Shawver’s prob­a­bly best known for her role in snag­ging Cleave Bio­sciences a size­able in­fu­sion of cash with its re­cent $37 mil­lion Se­ries B. The com­pa­ny, found­ed in 2010, is de­vel­op­ing can­cer treat­ments via pro­tein degra­da­tion in­hibitors.

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