Recursion CEO Chris Gibson out after 12 years

After 12 years leading Utah-based techbio company Recursion, CEO Chris Gibson is stepping down. Recursion’s R&D head and Chief Commercial Officer Najat Khan will become CEO effective Jan. 1.

Gibson co-founded Recursion on this day in 2013 and has served as its chief executive ever since, through the lows and recent highs for companies hoping to use AI in drug discovery and development. Recursion started with a bold promise: It would use technology and data to change the drug discovery paradigm. In 2014, Gibson promised that the company would develop 100 drugs in 10 years. That hasn’t materialized. The company has not brought any drugs to market and earlier this year culled nearly half of its pipeline.

Gibson told STAT that he’s been thinking about who would succeed him since he helped start the company, and has been considering whether his skills are what the company needs since it went public in 2021.