BRIEF—Recursion names Sharath Hegde as its CSO

Recursion Pharmaceuticals, an industry leader in artificial intelligence for drug discovery and development, today announced the appointment of Sharath Hegde as its chief scientific officer.

Dr Hegde has more than 28 years of leadership experience at the intersection of drug discovery and clinical development and has seen multiple drugs from discovery through Food and Drug Administration approval.

He joins Recursion after more than 15 years at Theravance Biopharma. Dr Hegde first joined Theravance in 1999 where he rose from positions of increasing responsibility across pharmacology and biology into his most recent role as senior vice president of research.

Prior to Theravance, Dr Hegde spent nine years at Syntex Corporation, later acquired by Roche.

Since its founding in 2013, Recursion has built one of the world’s largest datasets mapping human cellular biology, using high-content imaging, and advanced two of its ML-discovered small molecules into clinical trials.

The company plans to advance additional programs into clinical development, on its own or with partners, over the next 18 months.