Finance & Capital Markets
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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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A Rescue Model For Shelved Drug Candidates With Annette Bakker, Ph.D. And Andrew Lo, Ph.D.
7/30/2026
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.
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Episode 4: Building Your Pitch With Leslie Williams
8/13/2020
Leslie Williams is a multi-time biotech founder and board member who's honed her pitch-building skills to a fine point. On this episode of The Business Of Biotech, Williams shares best practices for building your pitch deck, how to draw out the nuance that makes your story unique, what to expect in your initial pitch session and follow-on meetings, and why the human element trumps everything else in an otherwise formulaic pitch process.
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BoB@JPM: Ron Cooper, enGene
1/21/2026
On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech -- on location at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference -- we're speaking with Ron Cooper, CEO and Board Member at enGene, to unpack how he scaled Albireo from a small research shop to a global commercial company, and why he’s now betting on nonviral gene therapy at enGene to help patients with non-muscle invasive bladder cancer keep their bladders.
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Cannabinoid And Psychedelic Combinations With Incannex Healthcare's Joel Latham
9/19/2025
On this week's Business Of Biotech episode, Joel Latham, President and CEO at Incannex Healthcare, talks about developing cannabinoid and psychedelic combination therapies for conditions as diverse as sleep apnea, rheumatoid arthritis, and generalized anxiety disorder.
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The Innovator's Dilemma with Lumen Bioscience's Brian Finrow, J.D.
3/4/2024
In biotech, when "one of these things doesn't look like the other one," it can be a blessing or a curse. On one hand, scientific novelty is praised and rewarded. On the other, unfamiliarity breeds skepticism from the investment community. Brian Finrow, J.D. embraces that reality and the challenges that come with it.
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BoB@JPM: Tom Chalberg, Ph.D., Genascence
2/23/2025
This episode of the Business of Biotech finds Matt Pillar and Ben Comer exploring the evolution of gene therapy with Dr. Tom Chalberg, Founder, Chairman, & CEO at Genascence. Listen in as they discuss ATMPS' transition from treating rare diseases to addressing common conditions like osteoarthritis, share insights on the delivery mechanism and regulatory challenges in the space, and get into the nuts and bolts of the Genascence partnership strategy.
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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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Anatomy Of A VC Deal With 4BIO's Dima Kuzmin & Ray Therapeutics' Paul Bresge
10/25/2022
In a particularly candid conversation, 4BIO Managing Partner Dmitry ‘Dima’ Kuzmin and Ray Therapeutics Co-Founder & CEO Paul Bresge share the recipe for a successful relationship between biotech VC firm and startup. Bresge offers insight into VC engagement strategy and pitch, Kuzmin dishes on what investors look for in terms of "fundability" and what throws red flags, such as— perhaps ironically— a CEO like Bresge who has a deep and incredibly personal connection to the indication he's pursuing. The pair also discuss, in real and tangible terms, what constitutes a material, cultural match.
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Funding Alzheimer's Tx Dev with ADDF's Karen Harris
3/31/2024
We've really been looking forward to dropping this episode with Karen Harris, Chief Financial Officer and Head of Mission-Related Investing at the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation. While the markets have warmed a bit since we recorded this episode, Karen's thoughtful perspective on the sometimes tumultuous Alzheimer's therapeutics space is valuable to any drug developer working in the cognitive medicines arena.