Lawrence Hamann

Larry Hamann is currently co-founder, president and CEO of Interdict Bio, pioneering small-molecule context-dependent translation inhibitors for addressing historically undruggable targets in oncology and neurodegeneration. Previously, he was Global Head of Discovery at Takeda. Prior to Takeda, he was Corporate VP and Global Head of Small Molecule Drug Discovery at Celgene, and prior to Celgene, stints at Novartis, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Ligand. In >30 years in drug discovery, his teams have advanced >22 molecules into the clinic, including ONGLYZA™ for type II diabetes, DAKLINZA™ for HCV, and mRNA splicing modulator branaplam for SMA. At Celgene his teams built a state-of-the-art platform for molecular glue and heterobifunctional protein degradation therapeutic discovery and development with several molecules from these efforts, including mezigdomide, golcadomide, and gridegalutamide – targeted protein degraders – all currently in Phase III for hematologic and solid tumor oncology indications. He is co-inventor on >70 patents, co-author on >90 scientific publications, served as a standing member of the NIH SBCB study section, and advises many biotechs and VCs. He is a recipient of the ACS Heroes of Chemistry Award, the ACS Division of Medicinal Chemistry Award, and was inducted into the Medicinal Chemistry Hall of Fame. Larry holds a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of Michigan.