06.07.23 -- Computational Biology's Role in Gene Therapy, Building Flagship Pioneering, and more episodes to check out!

Check out the latest episodes from Cell & Gene: The Podcast and Business of Biotech. As a member of the Life Science Connect community, you have access to content beyond our weekly newsletters, including our podcast series.

There’s nothing pretentious here. Just real, honest, transparent interactions with the leaders of emerging biotechs. Conversations about who they are, what they do, and why they do it. About what they’re building, what they’re tackling, and where they’re going from here. It only comes around once a month, but its contents are evergreen.

Hear from the CEO of a therapeutics company about how they are engineering immune cells to target oncogenic driver mutations, such as KRAS, to minimize potential tumor escape mechanisms.

Parviz Shamlou, vice president and executive director at Thomas Jefferson University, discusses the Jefferson Institute for Bioprocessing (JIB), a full-service development and training organization specializing in biopharmaceuticals and biologics. Shamlou explains how JIB will move forward cell and gene therapies as well as JIB’s partnership with NIBRT (National Institute for Bioprocessing Research & Training) and much more.

Shankar Ramaswamy, MD, CEO & cofounder, Kriya Therapeutics, joins us for a discussion on the evolving role computational biology plays in gene therapy development. He also discusses the company's lessons learned from building its own North Carolina-based in-house manufacturing facility as well as provides insight on the future of gene therapy.

Since 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, which we discussed at length on this episode.

Howard Berman, Ph.D., knows well the tragedy of cognitive decline. Now CEO of Coya Therapeutics, Berman joined us to share his strategy during a stingy stretch in capital markets.

What are biopharma's greatest skilled manufacturing labor needs, and what's the industry doing to fill them? NIIMBL's John Balchunas says advanced degrees and pedigrees aren't the answer. Listen in as Balchunas brings us up to speed on a training and development agenda designed to meet biopharma manufacturing's real-world skilled labor needs. 

Flagship Pioneering is fertile ground for a bevy of blossoming biotechs, and one of its most prolific sowers is General Partner Avak Kahvejian, Ph.D. On this episode, Kahvejian takes us under the hood of one of the most burgeoning businesses in biotech, sharing details on the people, processes, and technologies fueling its rapid growth.