# Greg Verdine

> Gregory L. Verdine is a Harvard-trained chemical biologist who coined the phrase 'drugging the undruggable' and built an empire around it. The Erving Professor Emeritus at Harvard University, he co-invented stapled peptides, pioneered the field of chemical biology, and founded or co-founded more than a dozen biotech companies - several of which reached the Nasdaq and three of which produced FDA-approved drugs. In July 2023 he joined Andreessen Horowitz as a Venture Partner on the Bio + Health team, bringing his rare combination of deep scientific discovery, serial entrepreneurship, and capital deployment to one of Silicon Valley's most influential venture firms.

- **Role:** Venture Partner at Andreessen Horowitz (Bio + Health)
- **Organizations:** Andreessen Horowitz, Harvard University, LifeMine Therapeutics, Parabilis Medicines (formerly FogPharma), Wave Life Sciences, Gloucester Marine Genomics Institute
- **From:** Somers Point, New Jersey, United States
- **Nationality:** American
- **Education:** Bachelor of Science in Chemistry, Saint Joseph's University, PhD in Chemistry, Columbia University, NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship in Molecular Biology, MIT and Harvard Medical School
- **Known for:** Coined the term 'drugging the undruggable' - now industry-standard language for tackling intractable biological targets, Co-invented stapled peptides with Christian Schafmeister - a novel therapeutic class combining antibody-like binding with small-molecule cell penetration, Pioneered the field of chemical biology at Harvard University

## Career timeline

- **1959** — Born June 10, Somers Point, New Jersey
- **1986** — Earned PhD in Chemistry from Columbia University under Koji Nakanishi and Maria Tomasz; thesis on mitomycin C binding to DNA
- **1986-1988** — NIH postdoctoral fellowship in molecular biology at MIT and Harvard Medical School
- **1988** — Joined Harvard University faculty, beginning 30+ year tenure as professor
- **1990** — Awarded Searle Scholar Award
- **1998** — Co-founded Variagenics (genomics-based personalized medicine)
- **2002** — Co-founded Enanta Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ENTA)
- **2002** — Co-founded Gloucester Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Celgene for ~$640M in 2009)
- **2005** — Co-founded Aileron Therapeutics; Royal Society of Chemistry Nucleic Acid Award
- **2007** — Nobel Laureate Signature Award for Graduate Education in Chemistry
- **2008** — Co-founded Tokai Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: TKAI)
- **2009** — Co-founded Wave Life Sciences (Nasdaq: WVE)
- **2009** — Gloucester Pharmaceuticals acquired by Celgene; romidepsin (Istodax) receives FDA approval
- **2011** — AACR Award for Excellence in Chemistry in Cancer Research; co-invented stapled peptide technology
- **2012** — Co-founded Warp Drive Bio with George Church and James Wells; later acquired by Revolution Medicines
- **2013** — Stepped down from tenured Harvard role to serve as CEO of Warp Drive Bio; founded Gloucester Marine Genomics Institute (nonprofit); co-founded Eleven Biotherapeutics (Nasdaq: EBIO)
- **2014** — Paritaprevir (co-developed via Enanta/AbbVie) receives FDA approval for Hepatitis C
- **2016** — Co-founded FogPharma with Sir David Lane and WeiQing Zhou
- **2016** — Co-founded LifeMine Therapeutics with WeiQing Zhou
- **2019** — Honorary Doctor of Science from Clarkson University; Herman S. Bloch Award from University of Chicago
- **2023** — Joined Andreessen Horowitz as Venture Partner, Bio + Health team (July 2023)
- **2024** — FogPharma rebranded as Parabilis Medicines; XtalPi announces collaboration with DoveTree LLC
- **2025** — Continuing as CEO of LifeMine Therapeutics and Venture Partner at a16z

## Achievements

- Coined the term 'drugging the undruggable' - now industry-standard language for tackling intractable biological targets
- Co-invented stapled peptides with Christian Schafmeister - a novel therapeutic class combining antibody-like binding with small-molecule cell penetration
- Pioneered the field of chemical biology at Harvard University
- Founded or co-founded 13+ biotech companies, including multiple Nasdaq-listed companies
- Portfolio companies produced 3 FDA-approved marketed drugs (romidepsin, paritaprevir, and a third)
- Created the first drug discovery engine to design 'molecular glues' at Warp Drive Bio
- Published over 190 academic articles on DNA repair mechanisms and cell penetrability
- Board member: Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, National Cancer Institute, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Spinal Muscular Atrophy Foundation
- Gloucester Pharmaceuticals acquired by Celgene for ~$640M in 2009
- Warp Drive Bio acquired by Revolution Medicines
- Received Nobel Laureate Signature Award for Graduate Education in Chemistry (2007)
- AACR Award for Excellence in Chemistry in Cancer Research (2011)
- Honorary Doctor of Science, Clarkson University (2019)

## Latest updates

- **2024-01** — FogPharma, which Verdine co-founded, rebranded as Parabilis Medicines
- **2024-06** — XtalPi announced a strategic collaboration with Verdine's DoveTree LLC to advance novel therapeutics using AI+Robotics drug discovery platform
- **2023-07** — Joined Andreessen Horowitz as Venture Partner on the Bio + Health team
- **2025-01** — Continuing as CEO of LifeMine Therapeutics and Venture Partner at a16z Bio+Health

## Links

- Website: https://a16z.com/greg-verdine-bio-health-venture-partner/
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/greg-verdine-b181991

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/greg-verdine
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-09