Finance & Capital Markets
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Origins Of A Biopharma VC Deal With Bernat Olle, Ph.D. And Parag Shah
6/21/2023
Here's a 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.
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Funding A Neurodegeneration Startup With Coya Therapeutics' Howard Berman
5/10/2023
Like many of us, Howard Berman, Ph.D. has personal experience with the tragedy of cognitive decline. Neurodegenerative disorders are on the rise, and when one afflicted his father — a triple board-certified physician — he saw firsthand that they don't discriminate. Berman has dedicated his career to addressing neuro, autoimmune, and metabolic diseases, having founded Nicoya Health in 2020 and overseeing its merger with Coya Therapeutics the following year. The company came out of the gates this year fueled by an 11th-hour 2022 IPO, one of just a dozen on the year. Berman joined the Business of Biotech to share his strategy during a stingy stretch in biotech capital markets.
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The Generalist Biotech CEO With Seekyo's Oury Chetboun
7/30/2025
On this week's Business Of Biotech episode, Oury Chetboun, co-founder and CEO of Seekyo, a French biotech, talks about the range of experiences that prepared him to lead a company focused on developing innovative solid tumor treatments that target functional proteins in the tumor micro-environment.
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IL-2 Program Profits With Bonum's Drs. John Mulligan And Neela Patel
12/13/2023
On 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.
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Big Pharma Insights For Building Biotech Startups With Uniquity Bio's Brian Lortie
4/24/2025
On this episode of the Business of Biotech, host Ben Comer speaks with Brian Lortie, President and CEO of Uniquity Bio, about his "no jerk" policy and how his experience building teams at GSK, Endo Pharmaceuticals, and Onspira Therapeutics informs his leadership at Uniquity, a clinical-stage immunology startup backed by Blackstone Life Sciences.
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Strategic Deals With CinRx's Gavin Samuels, M.D.
3/17/2024
Gavin Samuels, M.D., found his work as an intensive care physician boring. It wasn't until he left the hospital and entered biopharma that he found his footing. Now, he's Chief Business Officer and General Partner at CinRx Pharma, where a deep pipeline of early- to late-stage candidates keeps him on his dealmaking toes. Dr. Samuels' introspective reflections on biotech dealmaking and negotiations plants this episode firmly on the Business of Biotech podcast highlight reel.
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Fighting Blindness & Funding The Fight With Opus Genetics' Ben Yerxa, CEO
4/26/2022
Opus Genetics is an early-stage gene therapy company launched just last year and in unique fashion on the back of the patient advocacy group the Retinal Degeneration Fund. Already, its pipeline has developed into three candidates, the lead among them addressing Leber congenital amaurosis. Opus CEO Ben Yerxa, Ph.D. serves in triplicate as CEO at the RD Fund, Foundation Fighting Blindness, and Opus Genetics. His plate is full, but he's a man on a mission. On this episode of the Business of Biotech, Dr. Yerxa shares his story, that of Opus Genetics' unique approach to addressing inherited retinal diseases, and how the company is addressing current funding, development, and capacity challenges in the cell & gene manufacturing space.
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From Bayer To Startup Bio With AltruBio's Dr. Judy Chou
9/20/2021
Judy Chou, Ph.D. was a big-pharma MVP. She earned her academic stripes in the hallowed halls of Yale, the Max Planck Institute, and Harvard Medical School before taking on principal scientist roles at AbbVie, Pfizer, and Genentech. That experience parlayed into SVP positions at Tanvex, Medvation, back to Pfizer, and on to Bayer, where she was most recently SVP and Global Head of Biotech before taking the leap into the startup scene as President & CEO at AltruBio in 2020. On today's episode of the Business of Biotech, Dr. Chou shares personal and professional insight into how she's applied what she learned in Big Bio to transform a clinical-stage developer of mAbs designed to treat a broad range of immunological diseases.
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A CFO's Prescription For Biopharma Success
3/22/2021
Friend of the show and life sciences CFO extraordinaire Allan Shaw joins us for a discussion on the steps to biopharma success from an insider's perspective. We discuss the incremental steps that are necessary and common to success in the biologic therapy space, and the mistakes Shaw has seen in his many engagements with new and emerging biotech firms. From capital resource allocation to personnel decision making to preparing for the bubble to burst, listen in as Shaw shares his unfiltered advice.
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Building Flagship Pioneering With Avak Kahvejian, Ph.D.
4/26/2023
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. Dr. Kahvejian counts Seres Therapeutics, Rubius Therapeutics, Codiak BioSciences, Cygnal Therapeutics, Ring Therapeutics, Cellarity, Laronde, and Generate Biomedicines among the companies he's played a leading hand in launching. On this episode of the Business of Biotech, 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.