Optibrium appoints Dr Rae Lawrence as Director of Software Development

CAMBRIDGE, UK, 23 February 2021: Optibrium™, a developer of software for drug discovery, today announced the appointment of Dr Rae Lawrence as Director of Software Development. With the continued success of the Company’s portfolio of cheminformatics and AI-based drug discovery software, and the recent backing by Kester Capital, Optibrium has made the new appointment to drive its product development agenda. Rae will focus on accelerating the development of Optibrium’s range of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and in silico drug discovery platform, maintaining operational excellence across a rapidly expanding team.

Rae joins Optibrium from Cancer Research UK where she was Head of Informatics and Modelling at its Manchester Institute. She has considerable experience in software solutions development and computer-aided drug discovery gained in technical and commercial management roles at Chemical Computing Group (CCG), Advanced Chemistry Development (ACD/Labs) and Cresset. Rae has a background in theoretical chemistry, gaining her PhD in this discipline from the University of Missouri. In her role, Rae will apply a unique combination of software project management and drug discovery expertise to ensure Optibrium’s continued focus on intuitive, elegant software products tailored to the industry’s critical needs, across an expanding product portfolio.

Currently, more than 150 organisations worldwide deploy the Company’s technology in their research programs, including five of the top ten global pharmaceutical companies. Optibrium’s lead products are StarDrop™ and Cerella™, part of its Augmented Chemistry® AI technology platform. StarDrop is a comprehensive suite of integrated software for small molecule design, optimisation, and data analysis that enhances the drug discovery process’s speed and productivity. The Cerella™ platform delivers sophisticated and proven AI technology that learns from complex drug discovery data to target high-potential chemical compounds.

Edmund Champness, CSO at Optibrium, said: “We are excited to welcome Rae to our senior management team and to gain such a seasoned executive to guide our fast-growing team of developers. Having doubled our development resources in recent years, Rae’s leadership will be invaluable as we continue delivering a rapidly growing portfolio of industry-leading solutions for the benefit of our global customer base.”

Dr Rae Lawrence, Director of Software Development at Optibrium, said: “I am a long-time admirer of Optibrium and thrilled by the potential of their ground-breaking artificial intelligence technologies. I would have loved to have had access to AI technology like Cerella™ in my previous roles, and I am excited by the wealth of next-generation technologies Optibrium has in its pipeline. I look forward to making them available to former colleagues, collaborators and customers.”

For further information on Optibrium, StarDrop or Cerella, please visit www.optibrium.com, contact info@optibrium.com or call +44 1223 815900.

ENDS