EXECUTIVE INTERVIEWS

• Building A $1 Billion Gene Therapy Company — In 6 Years

  Matt Patterson, chairman and CEO of Audentes Therapeutics, shares the experiences that prepared him for building the gene therapy company he cofounded into a publicly traded business valued at nearly $2 billion, in just seven years.

• Program Winners Look Back On Year Of Change

  Laura Indolfi and Elizabeth O’Day discuss how being chosen for the Massachusetts Next Generation Initiative (MassNextGen) changed their respective biopharma companies.

• Impact Investing — The Next BIG Thing In Life Sciences?

  Catherine Clark, a professor and Duke University and impact investment expert, provides a comprehensive overview of impact investing, a growing trend sure to catch on in life sciences. 

• What’s Necessary To Realize The Promise Of Digital Health Solutions?

  Representatives from the National Kidney Foundation, Bayer, and digital health startup up, Bitome, share their views on what’s necessary to realize the promise of innovative digital health solutions toward treating the whole patient during an educational panel session at the 2019 BIO International Convention And Conference.

• Jeremy Levin Weighs In On Biosimilar Patent Thicket

  At the 2019 BIO Conference Chief Editor Rob Wright sat down with newly elected board-director chair, Jeremy Levin, DPhil, MB, BChir, CEO of Ovid Therapeutics to talk patent thickets and his role with BIO.

• The Story Of Pfizer’s R&D Turnaround

  Mikael Dolsten, M.D., Ph.D., CSO and president, worldwide research, development and medical (WRDM), reveals the decade long turnaround of the Pfizer’s R&D innovation engine leading to what could be the company’s best ever pipeline.

• Athira’s Whole-Patient Drug Development

  One company is atypical in the industry for its use of patient and caregiver input to guide its drug-development journey. That shows in the program for its lead drug entering later-stage trials in treating Alzheimer’s disease.

• CDMO-To-Hospital: A Direct Ending For Generic Shortages?

  Part 2 of our look at the unique business model and ambitious plans of Civica Rx.

• Strategies For Success: Developing Drugs For Orphan Diseases

  Drug development, in general, is a challenging feat. When it comes to orphan drugs, however, those challenges are compounded. As more orphan drugs are developed, pharma companies can tap into some of the successful strategies that have worked previously.

• How Serial Entrepreneur Robert Hariri Is Revolutionizing Cell Therapy

  Robert Hariri, M.D., Ph.D., is an engineer, a jet aviator, a movie producer, a professor and a surgeon. However, it’s his experience as a biomedical scientist that led to him to be a successful serial entrepreneur, including his most recent biopharma venture — Celularity Therapeutics.

• A Second Career As A Biotech CEO

  “This was a real turnaround type of challenge, and I knew it was going to be a steep learning curve for me,” says Steven Yatomi-Clarke of Prescient Therapeutics. “In fact, at the time, I probably underestimated the amount of work it was going to take to get the company up to scratch.”

• Increasing Diversity Among Leadership And Boards

  Biopharmaceutical executives Ron Cohen, Acorda Therapeutics; John Maraganore, Alnylam; and Helen Torley, Halozyme Therapeutics, discuss BIO’s approach toward increasing diversity among the industry’s leadership.

• Ending Generic Drug Shortages At Hospitals: A Capitalist Goes Nonprofit

  The nonprofit CivicaRX continues to gain momentum, and the company’s president and CEO, Martin Van Trieste, believes it’s a business model that is “pro-competition,” and one that others throughout the biopharma industry can adapt as well.

• Bassil Dahiyat’s Two-Decade Biotech Startup Odyssey

  Xencor’s story seems riddled with more than your average share of challenges, hurdles, and outright roadblocks. But it’s the outcome of that story — a growing company now valued at roughly $1.8 billion with nine drugs in the clinic and 150 employees — that truly make’s Xencor’s journey so compelling.