Business Of Biotech
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, regulatory, and commercial challenges you’ll face as you navigate your company from an idea to success in the clinic and beyond. Each episode features guest commentary and best practices from accomplished founders and biopharma industry luminaries. The Business of Biotech is produced by Life Science Connect.
Managing Risk And Development In A Growing Neuroscience Portfolio With AbbVie's Sean Kelley
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On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech, Sean Kelley, Vice President for neuroscience and toxins, Portfolio Strategy and Program Leadership at AbbVie, talks through the development factors that determine whether a promising discovery becomes a medicine that reaches patients. Sean shares details about his neuroscience portfolio strategy at AbbVie, and how biomarkers in clinical development, plus dosing and formulation, can matter as much as the molecule itself. He also discusses partnering in China, and the potential for psychedelics in treating psychiatric disorders, including bretisilocin...
Translating A New Discovery Into A Novel Cancer Therapy With Grid Therapeutics' Ned Patz, M.D.
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On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech, Edward (Ned) Patz, M.D., Cofounder and CEO at Grid Therapeutics, explains how a Duke University lab discovery turned into Grid Therapeutics and two clinical-stage cancer immunotherapy programs. Ned talks about discovering the human-derived antibody treatment GT103 and novel Compliment Factor H (CFH) target, the messy realities of funding a new therapeutic approach in cancer, and the leadership lessons that come with running a scrappy virtual biotech.
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Bioprinting 3D Human Tissue To Discover And Test New Treatments With Viscient Bio's Keith Murphy
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On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech, Keith Murphy, CEO at Viscient Biosciences, unpacks how 3D human tissue models and scaffold-free bioprinting can change the way developers predict drug safety and model disease. Keith traces his professional journey from MIT and Amgen, to founding Organovo and building Viscient and VivoSim (formerly Organovo) into companies that push New Approach Methodologies (NAM) adoption and smarter, more efficient drug development. Keith also shares policy ideas the FDA could use to further incentivize the use of NAMs.
<...Investing In Tomorrow's CNS Breakthroughs With Breyer Capital's Bret Bostwick, M.D.
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On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech, Bret Bostwick, M.D., Venture Partner at Breyer Capital, a family office, talks about his path from medical geneticist to CNS drug development and biotech investing. Bret reflects on lessons he learned at Alnylam about the power of genetically validated drug targets and the importance of team culture, why CNS drug development fails so often, and the problem with animal models. He also talks about where AI is truly helping early-stage biotechs, and where it can create...
AI, China, And Biotech Investing With SR One's Simeon George, M.D.
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On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech, Simeon George, M.D., Cofounder and CEO at SR One Capital Management, returns to the show to talk about how SR One evaluates biotech investment targets, and the good and bad signs that emerge during diligence. Simeon also discusses a new report published by SR One on how AI and China are changing the strategy and playbook for new drug creation.
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Reprogramming Cancer And Competing With China With Earli's Cyriac Roeding
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On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech, Cyriac Roeding talks about cofounding and leading Earli, a "bioAI" company using synthetic DNA switches and cancer-binding lipid nanoparticles to transform cancer cells into immune therapy-producing factories in vivo. Cyriac also discusses China’s newest five-year plan for biotech (2026 to 2030), why U.S. funding cycles are pushing innovation offshore, and how a U.S. sovereign wealth fund could support preclinical and early-stage drug development leadership at home.
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Growing And Scaling A Radiopharmaceuticals Company With AdvanCell's Philina Lee, Ph.D.
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On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech, Philina Lee, Ph.D., CEO at AdvanCell, explains how lead-based targeted alpha therapies can unlock deeper, more durable cancer responses, and why radiopharmaceutical companies live or die by manufacturing. Philina talks about AdvanCell's recent oversubscribed $315 million Series D raise, the company's vertically integrated manufacturing capability, and future plans for a regional U.S. manufacturing network. She also reflects on the current targeted alpha therapy landscape and how it could evolve over the next few years.
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Finding New Opportunities In Obesity With Moonwalk Bioscience's Alex Aravanis, M.D., Ph.D.
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On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech, Alex Aravanis, M.D., Ph.D., CEO of Moonwalk Biosciences, talks about the opportunity in obesity beyond GLP-1s. He describes Moonwalk’s adipose-targeted siRNA strategy, the genetics-driven logic behind its targets, and what it takes to fund and build a clinical-stage company. Alex also discusses Moonwalk's recent $70 million Series B raise, using AI to prioritize targets and improve siRNA design, and how weight loss without appetite suppression could preserve lean muscle mass and improve tolerability.
A...
Biotech Finance And Investor Update With Independent Board Director Allan Shaw
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On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech, Independent Board Director and five-time public company CFO Alan Shaw returns to the show for an update on current biotech financing and the strategies needed to secure capital now. Allan explains how biotech investors price risk as the market opens back up, the importance of valuation discipline, and the financing choices that separate “available capital” from “accessible capital.” Allan also discusses the trade-offs inherent to different funding types.
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Funding A Virtual Biotech Without Institutional Capital With Sarcomatrix's David Craig
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On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech, David Craig, Cofounder, President, and CEO at Sarcomatrix, explains why the old biotech playbook breaks down in today’s funding environment and what it takes to build a lean virtual drug development company without institutional financing. Craig describes practical financing paths, hard truths about costs, and the tradeoffs that make a rare disease program investable through alternative fundraising strategies. He also shares what can and cannot be outsourced, and how regulatory sequencing shapes financial planning and timelines.
<...Picking Biotech Winners Beyond The Hype Cycle With Andera Partners' Olivier Litzka
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On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech, Olivier Litzka, Partner at Andera Partners, talks about what it really takes for biotech companies to attract capital, stay focused, and survive the moments when biology and execution punch back. Olivia also discusses a collaborative effort in Europe to create a stronger public market and investor base, and what the emergence of AI and Chinese biotech means for building tomorrow's biotech companies.
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Biotech Investing At The Earliest Stages With Santé Ventures' Omar Khalil
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On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech, Omar Khalil, Managing Director at Santé Ventures, describes forming and funding startups and early-stage biotech companies with a focus on clinical data and differentiation as the key value drivers. Omar talks about his interest in 'undruggable targets,' what's happening with the IPO market, an investor shift from biology risk to commercial risk, and building companies through a venture creation process.
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Getting To A First Product Approval With Celcuity's Brian Sullivan
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On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech, Brian Sullivan, CEO at Celcuity, talks about winning the company's first FDA approval for Revtorpyk, a kinase inhibitor for breast cancer patients, and why targeting an “untreated disease mechanism” can beat chasing a single mutation. Brian also discusses the process for licensing a shelved Pfizer asset for development, designing Phase 3 trials that challenge assumptions, the benefits of FDA's Real-Time Oncology Review, and managing downside risk while advancing new indications, all while building a launch-ready company without losing pipe...
Cell Therapy Advances And Biotech Leadership With Nkarta's Paul Hastings
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On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech, Paul Hastings, Founding CEO and Board Member at Nkarta, an allogeneic cell therapy developer, talks about building off-the-shelf CAR NK cell therapies for autoimmune disease. Paul is candid about problems with clinical trial infrastructure in the U.S., what it will take to fix trial access (biotechs should actively facilitate patient access to trials and work with community health centers to establish new trial sites), and why biotech leaders have a responsibility to speak up about federal...
A Rescue Model For Shelved Drug Candidates With Annette Bakker, Ph.D. And Andrew Lo, Ph.D.
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On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech, Annette Bakker, Ph.D., CEO at the Children's Tumor Foundation, and Andrew Lo, Ph.D., Finance Professor at MIT's Sloan School of Management and Director of the Laboratory for Financial Engineering, talk about the methods and economics for turning abandoned drug candidates into new therapies for patients. Annette and Andrew share the story of Gomekli, a formerly shelved Pfizer drug candidate spun out into SpringWorks Therapeutics, and approved in 2025 for NF Type 1 tumors (Merck KGaA subsequently acquired...
Using Genetics To Discover New Treatments With Regeneron Genetics Center's Aris Baras, M.D.
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On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech, Aris Baras, M.D., SVP, Head of Regeneron Genetics Center (RGC) and Co-Head of Regeneron Genetic Medicines, talks about using large-scale human genetics to find better drug targets based on "superhuman" variants. Aris explains how multi-omics, linked health records, and AI are helping developers move faster in the clinic and reduce the odds of failure, while also pushing biotech toward earlier disease prediction and more preventive care.
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Late-Stage Development And Commercial Planning With CervoMed's Matt Winton, Ph.D.
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On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech, Matt Winton, Ph.D., Chief Commercial and Business Officer at CervoMed, talks about preparing for the late-stage development of neflamapimod in dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) and commercial planning for an anticipated launch. Winton talks about CMC and manufacturing scale-up, partnership, communicating with regulators and the benefits of global regulatory alignment on protocols for the Phase 3 trial. He also talks about building value through HEOR and payer engagement in parallel with clinical development, and pricing in the...
BoB@BIO: Biotech In The Balance With Ovid Therapeutics' Dr. Jeremy Levin
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On the Business of Biotech this week, industry veteran Dr. Jeremy Levin, Founder, Chairman, and former CEO at Ovid Therapeutics, sits down alongside the 2026 BIO Convention to talk about why public distrust and politicized institutions are putting the scientific enterprise at risk. We dig into what biotech leaders owe patients and the public, how innovation and capital can migrate out of the U.S., and what it takes to build biotech companies that last. Dr. Levin talks about his recently published book, Biotech in the Balance: S...
BoB@BIO: Biotech Investing And Deals With Sofinnova's Maha Radhakrishnan, M.D.
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This week's episode of the Business of Biotech was recorded at the BIO Convention in San Diego, where guest Maha Radhakrishnan, M.D., Executive Partner, Private Equity, at Sofinnova, spoke about her move from big pharma and biotech to private equity investing, and what makes a late-stage asset deal work. Maha also talks about how China-originated programs are changing development timelines, and where the next wave of CNS and metabolic innovation could come from.
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Targeting Tau in Alzheimer's Disease With Voyager Therapeutics' Al Sandrock, M.D., Ph.D.
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On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech, Al Sandrock, M.D., Ph.D., President and CEO at Voyager Therapeutics, talks about why tau is becoming a central target in Alzheimer’s drug development and how gene therapy delivery across the blood-brain barrier could change what treatment looks like at scale. Sandrock shares his current thinking on the amyloid vs. beta debate (it's likely both) in Alzheimer's disease treatment, the role of emerging tools like fluid biomarkers in diagnosis and prevention, and why small biotechs ta...
Keeping An Early-Stage Cell Therapy Biotech In The Black With IN8bio's William Ho
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On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech, William Ho, CEO of IN8bio, explains why gamma delta T cells may have an edge against cancer, including solid tumors like glioblastoma. He also offers up a candid and step-by-step look at what it takes to finance an early clinical-stage cell therapy company through a punishing IPO market and a long cash crunch.
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Drug Launch Success In A Changing Commercial Landscape With ACMA's William Soliman, Ph.D.
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On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech, William Soliman, Founder and CEO of the Accreditation Council for Medical Affairs (ACMA), and Founder and CIO of White Manna Capital Partners, talks about why biotech drug launches so often miss expectations, and how to build an integrated commercialization plan that holds up with physicians, patients, and payers. William also describes the evolution in medical affairs, why standards and certification matter, and how AI and new media channels are reshaping how drug information reaches patients and prescribers.
The Editors' Roundtable: A Midyear Look At The 2026 Life Sciences Industry
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On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech, Tyler Menichiello, chief editor at Bioprocess Online, host of the Better Biopharma podcast, and my Life Science Connect (LSC) colleague, convenes the broader LSC editorial team once again for a midyear discussion on what's happening now in the life sciences industry, and what's to come in the second half of the year. Topics include AI manufacturing regulations and navigating supply chain pressures, outsourcing trends and onshoring, biotech market signals and IPOs, clinical development's slow shift to digitization...
Derisking CNS Drug Development With Tortugas Neuroscience's Jeff Jonas, M.D.
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On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech, Jeff Jonas, M.D., CEO of Tortugas Neuroscience, talks about the company's April 2026 launch and how in-licensed development assets were chosen. Jeff explains his strategy of chasing fast proof of safety and efficacy in humans, not animals, and talks about what product differentiation looks like in brain disorders, from adjusting indication targets to conducting head-to-head trials. He also reflects on the opportunity with psychedelics, RFK Jr.'s quest to curb SSRI prescriptions, the payer landscape in CNS...
Rare Disease Drug Commercialization With Zevra Therapeutics' Neil McFarlane
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On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech, Neil McFarlane, CEO at Zevra Therapeutics, talks about transitioning to a focused rare disease company through acquisitions, and building out a commercial organization. Neil explains the importance of working with rare disease patient advocacy groups, using AI to analyze electronic health records and claims data to identify and diagnose patients with Niemann-Pick disease type C, and adapting to regulatory inconsistencies around rare disease drug approval frameworks in the U.S. and Europe.
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Scaling Manufacturing For Personalized Cell Therapies With Cellino's Marinna Madrid, Ph.D.
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On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech, Marinna Madrid, Ph.D., Cofounder, Board Member, Chief Product and Regulatory Officer at Cellino, talks about scaling up an automated manufacturing process she co-invented for personalized autologous induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) therapies using laser-activated substrates and AI. Marinna describes her work with industry groups to improve regulatory guidelines, Cellino's partnership strategy, the implications of receiving FDA's Advanced Manufacturing Technologies designation, and the future of iPSC therapies.
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Building A New Antibody Discovery Platform With Infinimmune's Wyatt McDonnell, Ph.D.
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On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech, Wyatt McDonnell, Ph.D., cofounder and CEO at Infinimmune, talks about how single-cell biology and computational rigor led to the formation of Infinimmune, and a new way to discover human-derived antibody drugs. Wyatt explains Infinimmune's 'discovered in humans' antibody discovery platform, how the company was launched and initially funded, and how Infinimmune landed a Merck collaboration worth up to $838 million.
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From Partnered ASO Therapies To A Wholly-Owned Pipeline With Ionis's Brett Monia, Ph.D.
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On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech, Brett Monia, Ph.D., CEO at Ionis Pharmaceuticals, talks about how antisense oligonucleotides (ASO) graduated from a late-1980s lab concept to real RNA-targeting medicines, and why Ionis stuck with a difficult modality despite multiple setbacks. Brett describes the company's shift from a partner-first model to building a wholly-owned pipeline, commercial function, and an expanded manufacturing operation, and how he as a founding scientist-turned-CEO bridged a skills gap in finance and investor relations.
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Implementing A New CEO Strategy With NervGen's Adam Rogers, M.D. And Rich Macary
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On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech, we talk with NervGen leaders Adam Rogers, M.D., and Rich Macary about NVG-291, a daily neuroreparative peptide designed to restore function in patients with spinal cord injuries. Adam talks about his strategy for the company after becoming CEO last July, including moving company trading from Canada's TSX Venture Exchange to the NASDAQ for better visibility, and making key hires for growth. Rich talks about his early work in RNA therapeutics as an advisor at Sarepta, cofounding...
The Impact Of FDA Risk On Biotech Rewards With CFO And Board Director Allan Shaw
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On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech, five-time public company CFO and seven-time public company board member Allan Shaw talks about why FDA decision-making feels less predictable, and how that uncertainty is reshaping clinical trial strategy, investor behavior, and the innovation ecosystem. We talk about FDA politicization concerns, modernization efforts like AI initiatives, and what biotech leaders can do to manage risk instead of being managed by it.
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Biosimilars And Complex Medicines For All With RNA Therapeutics' Sarfaraz Niazi, Ph.D.
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On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech, we speak with Dr. Sarfaraz Niazi, Ph.D., about how biosimilar regulations have taken shape, from early FDA uncertainty to citizen petitions, lawsuits, and guideline changes. Dr. Niazi offers a behind the scene look at the way FDA policy gets made, and unmade, and his own role in key regulatory changes, and legislation such as the Biologics Price Competition and Innovations Act (BPCIA), and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). We also discuss Dr. Niazi's current company, RNA...
Radiotherapeutics For Neuroendocrine Tumors With Perspective Therapeutics' Thijs Spoor
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On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech, Thijs Spoor, CEO at Perspective Therapeutics, a company developing Pb 212 (lead)-based therapeutics, talks about why radiopharmaceuticals are surging again and why biodistribution is the make-or-break variable when your payload is a radioactive isotope. Thijs discusses the reasons behind Perspective's investment in a proprietary generator for therapeutic production, manufacturing and delivery strategy, workforce constraints, and building a clinical strategy around receptor positivity across tumor types.
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Investing In Early-Stage Oncology With Yosemite's Dan McHugh
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On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech, Dan McHugh, head of the investment team at Yosemite, explains the San Francisco VC group's approach to investing in early-stage cancer therapeutics and funding academic research through unrestricted grants. Founded by Reed Jobs, son of Steve Jobs and Laurene Powell Jobs, Yosemite invests across drug modalities and supporting technologies in the oncology space. Dan talks about his path from bioengineering to biotech venture capital, meeting Reed Jobs on Stanford's fencing team, his CEO turn at Tune Therapeutics...
Commercializing CAR T Cell Therapy With Legend Biotech's Alan Bash
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On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech we're speaking with Alan Bash, President, Carvykti, at Legend Biotech, about how Carvykti became a blockbuster, category-leading CAR T therapy for multiple myeloma. Alan talks about manufacturing and delivering an autologous cell therapy at commercial scale, Legend Biotech's partnership with Johnson & Johnson, lessons he learned at Bristol Myers Squibb, Checkmate Pharmaceuticals, and ZielBio, and his strategy for growing Carvykti's patient footprint and facing new competitors in the market.
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Radiotherapeutics For CNS Cancers With Plus Therapeutics' Marc Hedrick, M.D.
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On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech we speak with Dr. Marc Hedrick, M.D., President and CEO at Plus Therapeutics, about the company's pivot from cell therapy to radiotherapeutics for brain cancers, and what's behind the choice of Rhenium-186 as the radioisotope for its lead development candidate, Reyobiq. We'll talk about Plus Therapeutics' diagnostic subsidiary, CNSide, and hear from Marc about recent FDA meetings and the agency's attitude toward novel radiotherapeutics.
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Developing Novel Cancer Drugs On A Budget With Iterion Therapeutics' Rahul Aras, Ph.D.
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On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech we speak with Rahul Aras, Ph.D., President and CEO at Iterion Therapeutics, about capital efficient drug development in oncology and progressing a novel therapeutic with relatively small funding amounts. Iterion is a clinical stage company developing cancer therapeutics targeting the Wnt/β-catenin pathway, a known signaling target in oncology, but one that has confounded drug development efforts for decades. Rahul talks about his path from academia to company building and early work in gene therapy, Iterion's p...
Making Biologics Orally Available With Vivtex's Thomas von Erlach, Ph.D.
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On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech, we're speaking with Thomas von Erlach, Ph.D., Cofounder and CEO at Vivtex, a company spun out of the Langer Lab at MIT that's focused on developing orally available biologics. The company announced a deal in late February '26 with Novo Nordisk for up to $2.1 billion to develop next-gen oral drugs for obesity and diabetes, bringing the total number of Vivtex's partnerships to 10. Thomas shares his experiences working in the lab with Dr. Robert Langer, Ph.D...
An Anthropological Lens On Leadership In Life Sciences With Bunka's Monika Sumra, Ph.D.
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On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech we speak with Monika Sumra, Ph.D., about how leadership, culture, and performance emerge from the environment and conditions inside an organization. Dr. Sumra, Founder and Managing Partner at Bunka, Inc., a management consulting firm and advisor to manufacturing-based organizations globally, explains how anthropology, CPIs, and rapid ethnography make culture measurable and operations faster, safer, and more reliable. Deploying a unique lens built on biosocial anthropology, she offers guidance on creating environments for sustainable performance in the...
Company Turnarounds And AI For Infectious Diseases With Seek Labs' Jared Bauer
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On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech, Jared Bauer, Cofounder and CEO at Seek Labs, talks about his adventures in company turnarounds, and setting up Seek Labs to improve patient diagnoses and to discover and develop new treatments for infectious diseases. Jared explains the technology convergence that was needed to build Seek Labs' AI diagnostic and CRISPR-based therapeutics platform, an African Swine Fever proof-of-concept study that reduced viremia in pigs, mapping pathogens for rapid target design, and engaging with the FDA and global regulatory...
Bringing Curative Cell Therapies To Market with Kite Pharma's Cindy Perettie
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On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech, we're speaking with Cindy Perettie, Executive Vice President and Global Head at Kite Pharma, a Gilead-owned company focused on curing cancer with cell therapies. Perettie talks about scaling cell therapies in the community setting, global manufacturing strategy, preparing for the launch of late-stage development programs in lymphoma and multiple myeloma, and working with partners like Arcellx. She also discusses cell therapy funding cycles and big pharma, the autologous versus allogeneic divide, why in vivo CAR-T therapies could...
