BioDuro Appointed Greg Makara as Senior Vice President
The pharmaceutical company hired the industry veteran to lead its lead discovery chemistry operations.
Updated on Oct. 2, 2026 in People
BioDuro has named Greg Makara as its new Senior Vice President of Lead Discovery Chemistry. Based at the company's Irvine headquarters, Makara will oversee the expansion of AI and computational chemistry capabilities.
Why it matters
The appointment aims to bolster BioDuro's early-phase drug discovery services and integrate advanced computational approaches. This move is expected to help the company's clients accelerate their hit identification and lead generation projects.
BioDuro maintains a workforce of more than 2,200 scientists and a 30-year track record in the industry. Greg Makara brings 20 years of specific experience in drug discovery to his new executive role.
The players
Greg Makara
He is the newly appointed Senior Vice President of Lead Discovery Chemistry who previously founded and led ChemPass.
BioDuro
This Irvine-based company is a global drug discovery services organization that employs thousands of scientists.
The details
Greg Makara will work across the discovery organization to integrate computational chemistry and artificial intelligence into the company's research workflows. He arrives at the firm after holding leadership roles at ChemPass, ComInnex, AMRI Hungary, Merck and Co, and Neogenesis Pharmaceuticals.
Timeline
Greg Makara was appointed to the position on October 1, 2026.
Market Landscape
This leadership hire reflects the broader industry shift toward embedding artificial intelligence into the earliest stages of pharmaceutical development. By prioritizing computational integration, the company seeks to maintain a competitive edge in its service offerings against global discovery rivals.
Clients of the firm may see faster turnaround times for lead generation and optimization projects as new computational tools are deployed. These service enhancements are designed to improve the efficiency of early-stage drug development pipelines.
The takeaway
Integrating AI into chemistry discovery is becoming a standard requirement for major contract research organizations. Clients should expect higher reliance on computational screening to replace traditional bench-heavy methods in the coming years.
Further reading
For more news on executive movements, visit our People section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Firstwordpharma.
