Business Of Biotech
206 episodes - English - Latest episode: 3 days ago -The Business of Biotech is the pod dedicated to leaders of emerging biopharma firms. SUBSCRIBE to our new newsletter at www.bioprocessonline.com/bob. We bring you insight into organizational, finance and funding, HR, clinical, manufacturing, and regulatory challenges you’ll face as you navigate your company from an idea to success in the clinic. Each episode features guest commentary and best practices from accomplished founders and biopharma industry luminaries. The Business of Biotech is produced by Bioprocess Online and Life Science Connect and brought to you by Cytiva.
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Episodes
Physician + Biotech Builder with Tome Biosciences' Rahul Kakkar, M.D.
April 22, 2024 10:00 - 1 hour - 42.3 MBNovel technologies aren’t interesting to Rahul Kakkar, M.D. unless they help patients. Sounds rational, but it’s actually a unique perspective in a platform-crazed biotech industry. Dr. Kakkar’s worldview is shaped by his work as a physician—work he continues at Brigham and Women’s Hospital even as he builds Tome Biosciences, where he serves as President & CEO. Tome, which is developing programmable genomic integration technology, is the latest of Dr. Kakkar’s entrepreneurial efforts—he prev...
Commercial Readiness with ImmunityBio's Bobby Reddy, M.D.
April 15, 2024 10:00 - 56 minutes - 39.1 MBThis episode of the Business of Biotech begins with a personal story about my dad and the standard of care in bladder cancer, before shifting to the work that Dr. Bobby Reddy and his team at ImmunityBio are doing to change that standard of care. They're painfully close. Dr. Reddy, Chief Medical Officer at ImmunityBio, gives us a long look behind the curtain at the commercial preparations the company is making as its lead Phase 3 candidate, Anktiva, nears the goal line in non-muscle invasive ...
Precision Drug Delivery with Ampersand Biomedicines' Jason Gardner, D.Phil.
April 08, 2024 10:00 - 49 minutes - 34.2 MBAmpersand Biomedicines CEO Jason Gardner, D.Phil. first took the leap from a global pharmaceutical giant to a startup at the forefront of transplant medicine innovation. Since that time, he's seen most of the ups and the downs that come with biotech leadership, and in his latest venture with the Flagship Pioneering-backed Ampersand, he's putting all those hard-fought lessons to good use. On this episode of the Business of Biotech -- the final (finally!) of several recorded at the JPM Healthc...
Funding Alzheimer's Tx Dev with ADDF's Karen Harris
April 01, 2024 10:00 - 40 minutes - 27.7 MBWe've really been looking forward to dropping this episode with Karen Harris, Chief Financial Officer and Head of Mission-Related Investing at the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation. While the markets have warmed a bit since we recorded this episode, Karen's thoughtful perspective on the sometimes tumultuous Alzheimer's therapeutics space is valuable to any drug developer working in the cognitive medicines arena. In this episode of the Business of Biotech podcast, we follow Karen's journe...
The AI Impact with Generate:Biomedicines' Mike Nally
March 25, 2024 10:00 - 1 hour - 50.8 MBFew drug discovery and development concepts are as hyped, and as such, draw as much polarity from drug developers, as machine learning and artifical intelligence. One company on the bullish end of the spectrum is Flagship Pioneering's Generate Biomedicines, which bills itself at the "intersection of machine learning, biological engineering, and medicine." To get a grip on the "generative biology" work it's doing and the AI/ML impact it anticipates in the discovery and development of therapeu...
Strategic Deals with CinRx's Gavin Samuels, M.D.
March 18, 2024 10:00 - 47 minutes - 32.9 MBGavin Samuels, M.D. found his work as an intensive care physician boring. After earning his M.D., he did that for a few years before moving into intensive care management roles. It wasn't until he left the hospital and entered biopharma that he found his footing, cutting his teeth in business development at places like Merck, Pfizer, Quark Pharma, and Teva. He even headed growth strategy at Lonza for a while. Now, he's Chief Business Officer and General Partner at CinRx Pharma, where a deep ...
Serial Success With Triumvira's Rob Williamson
March 11, 2024 12:00 - 31 minutes - 21.7 MBRob Williamson's mind and hands have shaped more than 20 biotech startups, leading some to IPO and landing others firmly in Big Bio through acquisition by companies like Merck. Hanging around as many successful exits as Williamson has seen, one might become expert via osmosis. But Williamson isn't passive about honing his vision for progressive therapeutic dealmaking. He's an active leader, and for this episode of the Business of Biotech, he took a breather from a hectic agenda at the J.P. M...
The Innovator's Dilemma with Lumen Bioscience's Brian Finrow, J.D.
March 04, 2024 11:00 - 50 minutes - 34.9 MBIn biotech, when "one of these things doesn't look like the other one," it can be a blessing or a curse. On one hand, scientific novelty is praised and rewarded. On the other, unfamiliarity breeds skepticism from the investment community. Brian Finrow, J.D. embraces that reality and the challenges that come with it. Despite an approach to developing antibodies and other biologics that looks decidedly different--they're developed from spirulina cell lines and, in some cases, designed for oral...
Precision Radiopharmaceuticals with Ratio's Jack Hoppin, Ph.D.
February 26, 2024 11:00 - 40 minutes - 27.9 MBMultimodal approaches to the delivery of radiologically active compounds have created a fertile environment to for players in the space to put on a precision medicine clinic, so to speak. What’s more, Radiopharmaceuticals create a unique business opportunity given the closely-related and necessary companion diagnostic arena. On today’s episode of the Business of Biotech, recorded in San Francisco, we sit down with Dr. Mark Hoppin, CEO of Ratio Therapeutics, a company that’s well-positioned i...
Managing Mergers With Sail Biomedicines' Guillaume Pfefer, Ph.D.
February 19, 2024 11:00 - 51 minutes - 35.1 MBWhile you might be aware that Sail Biomedicines was just formed up in Q4 of last year, the product of Flagship Pioneering’s decision to merge Senda Biosciences and Laronde, two of its programmable medicine platform companies. What you likely haven’t heard is the inside story on how the merger was executed, how the two companies are integrating their talent, IP, and resources, and what Sail Biomedicines CEO Dr. Guillaume Pfefer and team are currently doing to take the fruits of the company’...
Reprogramming Human Cells With bit.bio's Mark Kotter, M.D.
February 12, 2024 11:00 - 45 minutes - 31.5 MBThe concept of programmable biology is fueling a new breed of biotech, one that requires the marriage of computational and traditional science (and both computational and traditional scientists) on the entire journey from discovery to commercial. Bit.bio is exemplary of this new breed. Its CEO, Dr. Mark Kotter doesn’t pull any punches when addressing the complexity involved in building out the company’s capabilities. At the discovery stage alone, bit.bio has hired – and integrated – stem ce...
Inhalable mRNA with Ethris' Carsten Rudolph, Ph.D.
February 05, 2024 11:00 - 46 minutes - 32.3 MBWithout doubt, the grand and collaborative experiment that was the mRNA COVID vaccine contributed mightily to the pandemic response and continues to save lives untold. It also demonstrated the collective power of public/private partnership in biopharma. Having acknowledged that, no first iteration of a new technology is ever the best iteration of that technology. On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech, we welcome Carsten Rudolph, Ph.D., co-founder and CEO of a company that recogni...
Biotech Is Back with Allan Shaw
January 29, 2024 11:00 - 51 minutes - 35.1 MBThe Business of Biotech took a trip to San Francisco for the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference, that most target-richest of environments for those of us who like talking shop with biotech builders. The results of that trip will feed the next several weeks of Business of Biotech podcast programming, and we're kicking things off with everyone's favorite life sciences CFO, Allan Shaw. On this episode, Allan shares what's driving the cautious optimism for biotech's return, pointing to factors like...
Multimodal R&D Management with Incyte's Jim Lee, M.D., Ph.D.
January 22, 2024 11:00 - 50 minutes - 34.7 MBSuccess at multimodal, multi-indication, deep-pipelined Incyte—where commercial operations are as familiar as pre-discovery activity is—begins at the earliest opportunity to achieve research and discovery efficiencies. The company’s a bit larger than those we typically cover on the Business of Biotech, and that’s okay! Sometimes, the smartest approach to creating your own masterpiece is to study the masters On this episode of the podcast, we sit down with Incyte’s Group Vice President and he...
Building A Biotech Hub with Intellia Therapeutics' John Leonard, M.D.
January 15, 2024 11:00 - 55 minutes - 37.8 MBWe spend a lot of time talking with our guests about building biotech companies. That’s true of this episode too, but today we’re taking a step further with John Leonard, M.D., longtime CEO at Intellia Therapeutics. In addition to how he’s built late-clinical stage Intellia, Dr. Leonard shares the foundational elements of a biotech community, particularly around rapidly-advancing technologies such as CRISPR, and what biotech ecosystems offer emerging biotechs in terms of resources, intellec...
Art Of The Pivot with Elevation Oncology's Joe Ferra
January 08, 2024 11:00 - 49 minutes - 34.3 MBRelatively new CEO Joseph Ferra has orchestrated some pretty significant change at Elevation Oncology in the two(ish) years since the Business of Biotech last hosted the company. In that short time, Ferra advance from CFO to CEO, a move that aligned very closely with the company's difficult decision to shelve the late phase 2 anti-HER3 monoclonal antibody candidate it was founded on. Those big moves set the stage for Elevations' new lead candidate, a phase 1 Claudin18.2 target in the oh-so-...
CDMO Collab with Scorpius BioManufacturing's Steve Lavezoli + Fina Biosolutions' Dr. Andrew Lees
January 01, 2024 11:00 - 51 minutes - 35.5 MBA new year marks a fresh start for biotech partnerships, and to kick off 2024, we're highlighting a good one. Fina Biosolutions' Dr. Andrew Lees recently signed on with Scorpius BioManufacturing to support his company's growth plan. On today's episode of the Business of Biotech, Lees sits down with Scorpius VP of commercial operations Steve Lavezoli for a frank conversation on the ups, downs, and expectations of a biotech + CDMO relationship. In addition to contracts and master service agree...
Biotech Down Under with BiomeBank's Dr. Sam Costello
December 25, 2023 11:00 - 1 hour - 45.5 MBMerry Christmas, Business of Biotechers! On this Christmas Day release, we’re taking a trip to the land down under to visit with Dr. Sam Costello, a former gastroenterologist-turned managing director and co-founder at Adelaide, Australia-based BiomeBank. We covered some ground on this one, most notably the unique path BiomeBank took to chalking up the first donor-derived microbiome therapeutic approval of its kind, anywhere in the world. In a segment of biotech that’s been particularly batt...
IL-2 Program Profits with Bonum's Drs. John Mulligan and Neela Patel
December 18, 2023 11:00 - 1 hour - 47.2 MBOn this week's episode of the Business of Biotech, we welcome two extraordinary guests - Dr. Neela Patel, a molecular biologist-turned-Chief Business Officer, and Dr. John Mulligan, an academic-turned-founder of newly-formed Bonum Therapeutics. Together, Neela and John will pull back the curtain on Bonum's transition from its predecessor, Good Therapeutics, which was fueled by a high-profile asset sale to Roche. The asset, a PD-1-regulated IL-2 program, was a product of a platform that the n...
Public Sector Forged, Private Sector Tested with Renovaro BioSciences' Mark Dybul, M.D.
December 11, 2023 11:00 - 1 hour - 43.7 MBDuring his leadership of the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief during the George W. Bush administraion, Dr. Mark Dybul, M.D. shepherded programs credited with saving more than 25 million lives. For many years after that public service drew to a close, he continued the mission as executive director of The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria--working in lockstep with not only the world's leading scientists, but the likes of Bono and Sir Elton John along the way. But,...
mRNA Vaccine Platforms with Combined Therapeutics' Dr. Romain Micol
December 04, 2023 11:00 - 28 minutes - 19.4 MBCombined Therapeutics President & CEO Dr. Romain Micol is operating his company in a very noisy space, where hundreds of new biotechs have popped up on the coattails of a COVID-driven renewal of interest in mRNA vaccines. Micol recognizes that noise and the competition it brings for capital and mindshare. He's not only aware of it — he welcomes it. On this quick episode of the Business of Biotech podcast, Micol shares the unique approach Combined Tx is taking to distinguishing itself in th...
Biotech Dealmaking with Regeneron's Nouhad Husseini
November 27, 2023 11:00 - 1 hour - 43.1 MBWhen it comes to landing and executing strategic partnerships, Regeneron puts on a clinic. Partnerships, acquisitions, licensing agreements, and other deals large and small with Intellia, Decibel Therapeutics, BARDA, Alnylam, and Sonoma Therapeutics are just a sampling of those making news this year alone. The man behind much of that dealmaking is none other than Nouhad Husseini, SVP and Head of Business Development and Corporate Strategy at Regeneron. He’s a guy who’s deftly married the art...
Backpacks And Biotech with Luke Timmerman
November 20, 2023 11:00 - 54 minutes - 37.2 MBFrom his vantage point as an independent biotech journalist, Luke Timmerman has been watching the expansions and retractions of the industry for a couple of decades now. His unique perspective is hard to equal, and that perspective is, despite tough markets and tepid public sentiment, decidedly bullish. Luke's optimism is fed by sound logic gained from a career spent in observation mode, watching the development of purpose-built tools matched to address the fragility of human biology. Luke'...
RNA Delivery Business with Liberate's Shawn Davis, Ph.D. & Walter Strapps, Ph.D.
November 13, 2023 11:00 - 54 minutes - 37.6 MBEarlier this year, Shawn Davis, Ph.D. left a pretty comfortable position at AstraZeneca (and Amgen before that, and Milliken, and others, before that) to lead Liberate Bio. He brought along another industry notable in Merck/Intellia alumnus Walter Strapps, Ph.D., who serves as CSO at Liberate. Why'd they do it? Because RNA delivery is such a crucial step toward revolutionary genetic medicine, but it's tough science. They think they can change that. On this episode of the Business of Biote...
The Legendary Steve Gorlin's Golden Rules
November 06, 2023 11:00 - 57 minutes - 39.7 MBShortly after Thalidomide became a household word—albeit a very, very bad one—a biotech investor bought it for a couple hundred grand. Who on earth would want a drug pulled from the market for causing birth defects? Steve Gorlin did. Today, Thalidomide is the foundation of cancer drugs worth billions of dollars. Gorlin doesnt own it anymore, but the story of how he got it is just one of the experiences that contributed to the codification of his "golden rules." Following those rules has p...
UPCOMING SPECIAL: Unraveling Biotech's Legal Enigmas With Keir LoIacono
November 01, 2023 10:00 - 2 minutes - 1.56 MBRegister for Business of Biotech Live! Legal & IP Protection For New Biotechs here. Get ready to unravel the legal enigmas of the biotech world with me and Keir LoIacono, Esq. The CEO of Blue Sphere Bio, Keir is no stranger to high-stakes decision-making and legal conundrums in the biotech industry. Having served as the general counsel and VP of Corporate Development for Oncosec, lead in-house counsel and senior director for Advaxis, and intellectual property attorney at the leading biotech ...
CDMO + Emerging Bio Partnership with Forge's John Maslowski and Ray's Jenny Holt
October 30, 2023 10:00 - 1 hour - 43.7 MBWhat constitutes a healthy, productive, and successful relationship between an emerging biopharma company and its contract develpment and manufacturing outsourcer (CDMO)? Jenny Holt, Chief Development Officer at the biopharma company Ray Therapeutics has some opinions. So does John Maslowski, Chief Commercial Officer at the CDMO Forge Biologics. Think they align? On this episode of the Business of Biotech, we dig into the trust, technical expertise, and project timeline considerations that ...
Clinical Leadership with Cue Biopharma's Anish Suri, Ph.D. & Dan Passeri, J.D.
October 23, 2023 10:00 - 1 hour - 41.7 MBOn a road trip to Boston, the Business of Biotech caught up with podcast alum Dan Passeri, J.D., CEO at Cue Biopharma, and enjoyed a two-for-one with CSO & President Anish Suri, Ph.D. at Cue's headquarters just feet below the Auerbach Center. Among other things, we discussed the duo's complementary leadership approach as the company takes multiple candidates into the clinic, why Passeri leans into his biotech legal background almost every day he's at work, the successful navigation of outsou...
Bio Career Moves with Codagenix's Johanna Kaufmann, Ph.D.
October 16, 2023 10:00 - 1 hour - 42.9 MBJohanna Kaufmann, Ph.D.'s path to EVP, Oncology at Codagenix is part serendipity and part circumstance, but it's a much larger part hard work. On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech, Dr. Kaufmann gives us an intimate retrospective on her career to date, sharing stories about her rapid ascension from Scientist 1 to executive leadership. We dig into her wild ride through M&A, her time at GSK, and the personal professional and personal development regimens she subscribes to. We also ...
Veteran Advice From The C-Suite with Citius' Leonard Mazur
October 09, 2023 10:00 - 1 hour - 42.6 MBOn this episode of the Business of Biotech, Leonard Mazur, co-founder, CEO, and chairman of Citius Pharmaceuticals, shares his rollercoaster ride to success in biotech, the founding story of Citius Pharmaceuticals, his engagement with the Department of Defense, and the effort to revive an antibiotic used on the frontlines. Leonard takes us into the complexity of investor relationships, and his personal investment that influences his leadership style. He reveals his strategies for constructi...
Don't Be A D**k with Ochre Bio's Quin Wills, M.D., Ph.D.
October 02, 2023 10:00 - 54 minutes - 37.2 MBDon't be offended by the title of today's Business of Biotech podcast. Dr. Quin Wills' application of what's become known as "Wheaton's Law" (look it up) is central to the ambitious goals his company, Ochre Bio, is pursuing: pioneering the value of computational biology in large mol discovery and development, putting an end to the global liver disease epidemic, and changing the costly, high-risk approach to clinical trials. On this week's episode, Dr. Wills and I explore how those goals are ...
Pragmatic Computational Biology with Andrew Satz
September 25, 2023 10:00 - 59 minutes - 40.7 MBThis week's guest on the Business of Biotech, EVQLV's Andrew Satz, says AI and ML in biopharma are like sex in high school. "Many of the people who say they're doing it really aren't, and the one who really are aren't talking about it," he says. So, when it comes to the computational biology buzz, what’s real? What’s hype? What’s yielding benefit and what’s merely vaporware? In our talks with the leaders of new and emerging biotechs over the past 12 to 18 months, we've seen a steep increase ...
Commercial Readiness with Orca Bio's Dan Kirby
September 18, 2023 10:00 - 52 minutes - 35.7 MBOrca Bio's Dan Kirby has played a hand in prepping more than a few approved biologic therapeutic candidates for commercialization. Equally important, he knows firsthand what makes or breaks post-approval commercial efforts, having played virtually every role there is to play in drug sales and marketing. He "carried the bag" for GSK in his early days, directed oncology marketing efforts at Amgen, and led marketing and U.S. commercial efforts at Juno, then Celgene after it acquired the former....
Bio & The Business Of Aging with Life Biosciences' Jerry McLaughlin
September 11, 2023 10:00 - 1 hour - 44.8 MBCore to the clinical-stage biopharma Life Bisociences belief set is that, "contrary to popular belief, aging is not caused by random wear and tear, but instead is caused by a discrete set of biological mechanisms that can be targeted therapeutically.” The fountain of youth might be a fantasy, but the biology of aging, and more specifically, the science behind the manipulation of that biology, is not only real, it’s become big business. Still, the challenge for serious and legitimate biopharm...
Fiscal Turnarounds with Protalix's Eyal Rubin
September 04, 2023 10:00 - 51 minutes - 35.7 MBWithin about five minutes of conversation with Protalix CFO Eyal Rubin, I learned that he doesn’t bite his tongue about the rigors of biotech business and finance management, which is precisely why I’m eager to talk with him on today’s episode of the podcast. From commercialization deals with big pharma to being about $50 million underwater to swatting away the day trading armchair quarterbacks on Stocktwits, Rubin’s seen a few things and he’s developed more than a few opinions. On this ep...
Building LEO Pharma's U.S. Presence with Brian Hilberdink
August 28, 2023 10:00 - 52 minutes - 36.3 MBIn many respects, bringing an established foreign biopharma company to the U.S. market is not unlike starting one up from scratch. In other respects, it's even harder; long-held cultural norms and management styles, region-specific market dynamics, payer system nuance, and political influence must all be re-navigated and re-negotiated without encumbrance. The job's not for the faint of heart, which might be why the Danish company LEO Pharma tapped veteran biopharma leader Brian Hilberdink to...
Managing Momentum With Rezolute Bio's Nevan Charles Elam, JD
August 21, 2023 10:00 - 53 minutes - 36.8 MBSince we last spoke in the Spring of 2021, Nevan Charles Elam, JD has managed to advance both of small-but-mighty Rezolute Bio's candidates onto the next phases of their journey. This year, on the back of a $130 million investment, Rezolute Bio is prepping its RZ358 candidate, a monoclonal antibody for congenital hyperinsulinism, for a pivotal phase 3 trial. On this week's epsiode of the Business of Biotech, we're settling in for an interrogation of Elam on the management principles of maint...
Facing NASH Therapeutic Skepticism with 89bio's Rohan Palekar
August 14, 2023 10:00 - 52 minutes - 36.2 MBThe non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) therapeutics market has proven to be an 11/10 on the difficulty scale. Despite billions of big biopharma dollars invested in therapeutic development, and a few close calls, no therapeutics has yet reached the finish line. On this episode of the Business of Biotech, 89bio CEO Rohan Palekar gives us the insider's perspective on the the challenges that heave beset the field, from a rigorous FDA approval process to poorly designed clinical trials and a wa...
Biotech Cash Management with Allan Shaw
August 07, 2023 10:00 - 47 minutes - 32.7 MBIt’s been said that clinical trials are where emerging biotechs go to die. If the science doesn't kill quickly, poor cash management will slowly. And, even when good data opens the cash floodgates, post-round cash management savvy isn't necessarily intuitive to academic and scientific founders. Cash runway preservation is, however, ingrained in the cerebral cortex of one of our favorite mavens of biotech finance markets and management, Mr. Allan Shaw. He joins us on this week’s episode of th...
Establishing Research With Horizon Therapeutics' Robert Stoffel, Ph.D.
July 31, 2023 10:00 - 47 minutes - 32.6 MBWhile Horizon Therapeutics has made plenty of waves in the biotech news cycle of late. While perhaps not as flashy as a perilous multibillion dollar acquisition deal or potential blockbuster readout, its formal establishment of a research team – comparatively pragmatic as that may be – could have long-term consequences that are just impactful. On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech, we dig into why the company chose to establish a research function, learn why it chose Dr. Robert S...
Surviving The Microbiome Market with MaaT Pharma's Hervé Affagard
July 24, 2023 10:00 - 48 minutes - 33.5 MBThe microbiome therapeutics market has been taking a beating, with several clinical-stage companies failing or flailing at the hands of tough financial markets and regulatory scrutiny. MaaT Pharma Founder & CEO Hervé Affagard knows these perils well. Affagard recently navigated his company through a protracted FDA clinical hold, emerging on the other side with a promising Phase 3 candidate in Graft versus Host Disease. On this episode of the Business of Biotech, Affagard offers a transparent...
COO Liftoff With Rocket Pharmaceuticals' Kinnari Patel, PharmD
July 17, 2023 10:00 - 46 minutes - 31.8 MBChief Operating Officer is arguably the toughest job in the emerging biopharma C-suite. HR, CMC, regulatory affairs, legal, PR, you name it, the COO touches it, and practically everything rolls up to her. This week's episode of the Business of Biotech brings us to a president and COO who's also a mom, a volunteer, and an advocate for diversity and equality in biopharma. That advocacy isn't just lip service, by the way. Here, Rocket Pharmaceuticals' Kinnari Patel, PharmD, shares on the real, ...
ML-Enabled Drug Discovery With LabGenius' James Field, Ph.D.
July 10, 2023 10:00 - 46 minutes - 32.3 MBWill machine learning revolutionize biopharma drug discovery? Has it already? This week on the Business of Biotech, we explore the intersection of tech and bio with Dr. James Field, founder and CEO of LabGenius. We'll get an insider's look at the formation of a company bridging the divide between computational and biological sciences, we'll learn why this ML-intensive leader applies a scientist's skepticism to the tech he's building, and we'll address fundamental data considerations along th...
Biopharma Comebacks With Vincerx's Ahmed Hamdy, MD
July 03, 2023 10:00 - 47 minutes - 32.6 MBAhmed Hamdy, MD didn’t ask to be the subject of Nathan Vardi's new book For Blood and Money: Billionaires, Biotech, and the Quest for a Blockbuster Drug. In fact, that particular chapter of Dr. Hamdy’s career is one he’d rather not relive. But, in display of the resilience required of biotech leadership, Hamdy made a raging comeback. On this week’s episode of the Business of Biotech, we dive into Hamdy’s resurrection; how he shepherded Acerta Pharma all the way to a multibillion dollar bloc...
Origins Of A Biopharma VC Deal With Bernat Olle, Ph.D. and Parag Shah
June 26, 2023 10:00 - 1 hour - 51.3 MBLast October, we dropped an episode dissecting the relationship between Ray Therapeutics and one of its lead funders, 4BIO, and it quickly rocketed to an all-time Business of Biotech fan favorite. This week, we’re doing it again with a candid, behind-the-scenes breakdown of how Vedanta Biosciences secured the support of K2 Health Ventures in its recent $100 million+ financing to fund a pivotal Phase 3 study. Join us as we dissect a story that started when Vedanta CEO Bernat Olle, Ph.D. met K...
Population-Level Health Impact With Vaxxinity's John Krayacich
June 19, 2023 10:00 - 48 minutes - 33.6 MBVaxxinity’s John Krayacich likes taking big swings at big indications. He’s played key roles on the teams that launched Lipitor, Lyrica, and Neurontin, which have had measurable impacts on global populations of people suffering from cardiovascular disease, CNS disorders, and pain. He found those opportunities at companies like LEO, Novartis, Parke Davis, and Pfizer. Now, Krayacich is taking big swings at a new set of incredibly challenging candidates—immunotherapeutic vaccines for neurodegen...
The Face Of African Biotech with Adrienne Leussa, Ph.D.
June 12, 2023 10:00 - 1 hour - 44.2 MBDr. Adrienne Leussa is one of my favorite follows. If the booming biotech scene on an incredibly diverse continent of 1.2 billion people interests you, she should be one of your faves, too. Dr. Leussa's intellect, energy, and glowing spirit contribute to her ambassadorship of the African biotech scene. She's an entrepreneur, a visionary, a communicator, and a tireless advocate for African biotech opportunity. On today's epsiode of the Business of Biotech, we share a lot of laughs as we learn...
The Innovation Reduction Act with Allan Shaw
June 05, 2023 10:00 - 37 minutes - 26 MBAllan Shaw isn't the only insider who's preemptively critical of the impact the IRA (Inflation Reduction Act) will have on the biopharma industry. Allan's back this week with analysis of what he and others are tongue-in-cheek calling the "innovation reduction act." He posits that the act's removal of certain protections will stifle momentum by disincentivizing the pursuit of novel discoveries in molecules small and large. He also suggests that the impact of the IRA will ultimately cost pat...
Propagating Peptides With Peptilogics' Jonathan Steckbeck, Ph.D.
May 29, 2023 10:00 - 51 minutes - 35.1 MBThe Business of Biotech took a road trip to Pittsburgh to visit with Peptilogics CEO and founder Dr. Jonathan Steckbeck, whose Ph.D. work was inspired by the loss of his father-in-law to a hospital-borne infection. That work subsequently led to the formation of a company committed to leveraging peptide therapeutics to address PJI (prosthetic joint infection), cystic fibrosis infection, as well as rare genetic disease and oncological indications. Dr. Steckbeck walks us through the transition ...
Resilient Biopharma Leadership With Ambrx's Dan O'Connor
May 22, 2023 10:00 - 42 minutes - 29.1 MBSince Dan O'Connor stepped in as CEO at Ambrx late last year, the company's stock has rallied on the revival of a previously-shelved anti-HER2 ADC. It also raised $78 million and completed its ATM (at-the-market) offering. O'Connor is no stranger to overcoming adversity. A former marine captain, he was among the first deployed to the Persian Gulf to fight in Operation Desert Shield. While his leadership at Ambrx is anything but militaristic, he ascribes much of his style, and certainly his a...