Discovery/R&D

81. AI & The Human Genome 2/22/2021

    From his Fellowship at the NIH Human Genome Research Institute to his leadership as CEO at NeuBase Therapeutics, Dr. Dietrich Stephan is recognized as a pioneer in the field of genomic precision medicine. On this episode of The Business of Biotech, Dr. Stephan shares how artificial intelligence is shaping the acceleration of genomic medicine discovery at NeuBase and beyond, with plenty of practical insight on how to adopt and leverage the technology.

82. CAR T-cells For Ovarian Cancers with Anixa Biosciences' Amit Kumar, Ph.D. 3/8/2022

    While success has been seen in animal models, solid tumors have proved a vexing challenge for CAR T-cell therapies. On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech, we're joined by Anixa Biosciences Chairman, President, & CEO Amit Kumar, Ph.D. Dr. Kumar shares on the company's progress with a CAR T-cell therapy that aims to attack both tumor cells and the tumor vasculature, in hopes that it might be the first to destroy solid breast and ovarian cancers.

83. Engineering Proteins For Food Allergies With Ukko's Dr. Anat Binur 10/25/2022

    Anat Binur, Ph.D. is CEO and Co-Founder at Ukko, where she's leading an effort to create new allergy therapeutics by engineering the proteins that induce immune response in people who suffer from food allergies. The effort at Ukko is deeply rooted in computational biology. The company leverages artificial intelligence to analyze how the allergen proteins interact with patients' blood in an effort to determine the specific attributes of the proteins that trigger immune response. Then, it applies a unique combination of compute power and biology to identify and understand the changes it wants to engineer and predict the best possible designs. Learn how Ukko is fostering a culture of IT and biology collaboration and what lured this dynamic entrepreneur into biopharma on this episode of the Business of Biotech.

84. Business of Biotech 2.0 with Ben Comer 3/27/2025

    After nearly five years as host of the Business of Biotech podcast, Matt Pillar is handing the mic over to the voice of the Business of Biotech 2.0, veteran life sciences journalist Ben Comer.

85. Gene Therapies For Ocular Disease With SparingVision's Stéphane Boissel 3/28/2022

    Since assuming the President and CEO role at SparingVision in August 2020, Stéphane Boissel has been making big moves in the arenas of talent acquisition and IP expansion. Those efforts are securing the company's development of a number of genomic medicines to address inherited retinal disease. On this episode of the Business of Biotech, Boissel shares the company'S foundation story and the role venture philanthropy played in it, his strategy for attracting and retaining big-league talent, and the why behind his vigorous allegiance to internal development.

86. Next-Gen Nanobodies With MoonLake's Jorge Santos Da Silva, Ph.D. 3/27/2023

    The more we learn about inflammation and the complex cause/contributor/symptom roles it plays in various disease states, the more business activity we see in the inflammation therapeutics space. But to date, commercial pharmaceutical and biologic efforts have fallen short for patients, says Moonlake Immunotherapeutics CEO Jorge Santos Da Silva, Ph.D. What's the problem, and why does he think his camelid-derived nanobody candidates are poised to outperform big-pharma standards from the likes of UCB and Novartis? Find out on this week's episode of the Business of Biotech.

87. 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.

88. Dr. Gaurav Shah: Rocket's Chief Gene Therapist & Virtuoso 8/30/2020

    Rocket Pharmaceuticals CEO Dr. Gaurav Shah shares the parallels between his leadership in the gene therapy space and his successes as a Grammy®-nominated recording artist with the Business of Biotech podcast. This episode is full of actionable insight on the inspiration behind how Dr. Shah manages the science and process side of the business, his employees, financing, and stakeholder expectations by drawing from his passion for—and understanding of—music.

89. Intranasal Prophylactics For Flu & Coronavirus With Leyden Labs' Koenraad Wiedhaup 8/2/2021

    As Leyden Labs Founder & CEO Koenraad Wiedhaup puts it, we breathe in galaxies of viruses on a daily basis. As those viruses multiply and mutate, our approach to mitigating their risks is largely reactive. That's why his new company is busy developing a prophylactic approach to protecting populations from a host of influenza and coronaviruses via a self-administered intranasal spray. Learn how the company came to be, how its development efforts were buoyed by a recent $40 million series A investment, and why Wiedhaup believes intranasal prophylactics are ready to play a role in prevention of the next pandemic on this episode of the Business of Biotech podcast.

90. TCRs In Personalized Oncology With BlueSphere Bio's Keir LoIacono 3/12/2023

    Among a growing cluster of Pittsburgh biotechs, you'll find BlueSphere Bio, an early-stage company discovering T-cell receptors to leverage against tumor-specific antigens in individual cancer patients. Its leader, CEO Keir LoIacono, Esq., works with a sense of urgency inspired by his own cancer journey. Business of Biotech host Matt Pillar and guest co-host Jon O'Connell, executive editor at Bioprocess Online, toured Bluesphere's state-of-the-art facility perched on the bank of the Monongahela River. Then, we sat down with Loiacono to learn his story and discuss the company's vision for the future of personalized, adoptive cell therapy.