Rio Rancho biotech firm Nature's Toolbox is bringing on Edward Liddy, former CEO of insurance giant Allstate Corp., to join its board of directors and help lead the startup's journey to market.
Nature's Toolbox, which was founded in 2015, has solutions for cell-free biomanufacturing and a bioinformatics platform for drug development, according to its website.
Liddy brings high-level experience to Nature's Toolbox. He served on the boards of companies including Boeing, Goldman Sachs and 3M Company. He also led Allstate Corp. between 1999 and 2006 before the company's current CEO, Thomas J. Wilson, took over.
After retiring as chairman of Allstate in 2008, Liddy worked as interim chairman and CEO of American International Group Inc. (AIG) during The Great Recession at the request of the federal government. In that role, he oversaw a monstrous restructuring effort.
Business First was unable to reach Liddy for a phone interview. But in a news release, he said “I look forward to working closely with the NTx team and other distinguished members of the board to increase market traction and help fuel the global supply chain for rapidly deployable vaccines and therapeutics.”
Other board members at Nature's Toolbox include former Los Alamos National Laboratory director Charles McMillan, former Bristol-Myers Squibb VP Nancy Rurkowski and Andrew Weber, the former U.S. assistant secretary of defense for nuclear, chemical and biological defense, according to the company.
In 2020, the startup disclosed a $13 million funding round. In December of that year, the state government unveiled an expansion for Nature's Toolbox backed by the Local Economic Development Act, meant to support expanding or relocating businesses. The New Mexico Economic Development Department said it pledged $1.75 million for the company's buildout of a 25,000-square-foot office and manufacturing facility at the Enchanted Hills Commerce Center in Rio Rancho. An additional $3.25 million would be awarded for facility expansion and job growth in the future.
As part of the planned expansion, Nature's Toolbox is to hire 116 employees with an annual salary of $74,000 on average, according to the state.
