Discovery/R&D

41. Physician + Biotech Builder with Tome Biosciences' Rahul Kakkar, M.D. 4/21/2024

    Novel 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.

42. The Antibody Engine With Abpro's Chan Brothers 12/5/2022

    In an industry that takes new business naming conventions to etymological extremes, Abpro is a refreshingly clear exception. Brothers Ian Chan (CEO & Co-Founder) and Eugene Chan, M.D., (Chairman & Co-Founder) are antibody pros. The company's pipeline spans no fewer than 8 antibody candidates aimed at COVID-19, cancers including breast, gastric, and liver, and ophthalmologic indications DME and wet AMD. With a scientific advisory board led by Bob Langer, Ph.D. of Moderna fame and a new partnership with global powerhouse Celltrion worth a potential $1.75 billion, the company's on the move. On this episode of the Business of Biotech, the Chan brothers take us behind the scenes of Abpro's progress.

43. Digital Transformation In Cell Therapy with Organicell Drs. Mari Mitrani & Michael Bellio 5/3/2021

    Drs. Mari Mitrani, CSO and Michael Bellio, Laboratory Director are young pioneers in the study of the therapeutic potential of exosomes. Their research leans heavily into the digital realm, leveraging computational biology, bioinformatics, large-scale sequencing, proteomics, and mass spectrometry to analyze perinatal tissue-secreted exosomes and their impact on a host of indications the company is exploring. On this episode of The Business Of Biotech, Drs. Mitrani and Bellio offer insight into the digital discovery and manufacturing automation technologies in use at Organicell.

44. Leaving The Incubator With Kavitha Iyer Rodrigues 6/28/2020

    A strategic departure from the biotech incubator requires the coordination of moving parts aplenty. Development timelines, seed funding, facilities development, and team dynamics are just a sampling of the critical aspects. It's a move multi-time founder and Zumutor Biologics CEO Kavitha Iyer Rodrigues is well-versed in. Iyer Rodrigues joins us with lessons learned from her time in those trenches.

45. Oligonucleotide Opportunities in DMD with PepGen's James McArthur, Ph.D. 7/25/2022

    Among the more prevalent genetic conditions, Duchenne muscular dystrophy affects an estimated one in 3,500 male births worldwide. It's caused by mutations of the DMD gene, which regulates the production of a protein called dystrophin. Approved DMD treatments haven't demonstrated strong clinical outcomes, but James McArthur, Ph.D. and his team at PepGen are seeking to change that with a pipeline of disease-modifying peptide-conjugated oligonucleotide candidates derived from the company's Enhanced Delivery Oligonucleotide platform. The Business of Biotech caught up with Dr. McArthur at PepGen's Cambridge headquarters to learn more.

46. Reprogramming Human Cells With bit.bio's Mark Kotter, M.D. 2/12/2024

    The 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.

47. Multimodal R&D Management With Incyte's Jim Lee, M.D., Ph.D. 1/18/2024

    Success 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.

48. Genomically-Guided Medicine with Elevation Oncology's Shawn Leland, PharmD, RPh 12/13/2021

    Elevation Oncology is taking a new approach to leveraging the genome to guide development of its precision therapeutic development efforts. Its first step is improving both the accuracy of and accessibility to genomic testing for cancer patients. In tandem, the company is in the clinic with its lead candidate seribantumab for cancer patients with a solid tumor of any origin that expresses a genomic change called an NRG1 fusion. On this episode of the Business of Biotech, Founder & CEO Shawn Leland, PharmD, RPh takes us inside the company's unique approach. 

49. Tick-Derived Therapeutic Molecules With Akari Therapeutics' Rachelle Jacques 11/14/2022

    Ticks are a scourge. They're vectors of multiple serious and debilitating diseases, and evolution has made them perfectly adept at attaching to their hosts—and potentially spreading those diseases virtually undetected— that ability owing to anti-inflammatory and anesthetic proteins in their saliva. But the emerging biotech Akari Therapeutics thinks there's a broad range of medicinal value in those proteins. They've painstakingly developed a recombinant version of one such tick saliva-derived protein, called nomacopan, and put it to work in phase 3 trials to treat rare but deadly severe hematopoietic stem cell transplant-related thrombotic microangiopathy (HSCT-TMA). On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech, Akari President & CEO Rachelle Jacques tells us about the redeeming qualities of tick saliva and how her company is putting it to work.

50. Gene Tx For Renal Disease With Purespring CEO Richard Francis 5/2/2022

    Purespring Therapeutics launched in 2020 on the back of IP developed by renowned kidney researcher Prof. Moin Saleem, who spent decades working on podocytes when podocytes weren’t cool. Just two years later, the company boasts three gene therapy assets and a platform developed expressly to identify new therapeutic targets to address kidney disease.