ARTICLES BY MATTHEW PILLAR

• AAV Gene Therapy Takes On Kidney Disease

  7/6/2022

  Built on the back of Prof. Moin Saleem’s two decades of cellular-level kidney research, Purespring Therapeutics is reimagining the treatment of kidney diseases that affect nearly a billion people worldwide. The company is preparing a first-of-its-kind AAV gene therapy candidate for the clinic. 

• CBER’s Peter Marks On Complex Biologics Manufacturing Advances

  6/30/2022

  At ISPE’s 2022 Biotechnology Conference In Boston, CBER Director Dr. Peter Marks kicked off three days of programming with reflections on the COVID-19 pandemic as a catalyst to advanced manufacturing in biologics, sharing his vision for industry and the role of the FDA.

• The Coming Wave Of Radio(bio)pharmaceuticals

  6/13/2022

  Convergent Therapeutics is bullish on the combination of radioisotopes and antibodies to direct radiation directly to cancer cells. As enabling technologies improve on previous failures, CEO, CMO, and co-founder Dr. Philip Kantoff is projecting a new wave of activity in the space among biopharmas big and small.

• Virtual Event: Overcome Platform Inefficiencies In mAb Manufacturing

  6/7/2022

  Join multifaceted mAb manufacturing experts Gene Lee, CTO at AltruBio and Avril Vermunt, Sr. Director of Manufacturing Sciences & Technology at
  EQRx for a discussion on making mAbs more efficiently in the face of rising costs, growing complexity, and constricting cash runways. 

• IPSCs For Democratized Cell Therapy

  6/7/2022

  Dr. Daniel Teper and his team at Cytovia Therapeutics have developed a unique combination of candidates designed to improve access to safe and affordable "off-the-shelf" cell therapies. Founded just four years ago, the company is preparing multiple clinical trials of IPSC-derived therapies, which Dr. Teper says lend to a consistent, scalable manufacturing process. 

• Differentiation Via Developmental Difficulty

  5/27/2022

  By way of its business strategy, Context Therapeutics willfully embraces difficult breast, ovarian, and endometrial oncology development projects. That’s what creates differentiation and value in a therapeutic area that’s desperately lacking both, says VC-turned-CEO Martin Lehr.

• Will Anellovirus Vectors Solve Immunogenicity Challenges?

  5/20/2022

  Ring Therapeutics is building a first-of-its-kind viral vector platform based on a commensal virus that flies under the immune system’s radar. If its odds-beating CEO is any indication of its success, the company just might beat the immunogenicity challenge.

• Engineering Antibodies To Suppress Severe Allergic Reactions

  5/12/2022

  Dr. Jessica Grossman’s life’s work has been dedicated to women’s health, maternal health, family health, and inspiring the advance of female leadership in life sciences. She’s paving that path in her current role as CEO at IgGenix, which is pioneering genomically-engineered antibodies for the treatment of severe allergies.

• How To Build A Genomic Medicine Biotech

  5/11/2022

  SparingVision CEO Stephane Boissel took the reins of a fledgling, single-asset gene therapy company born of academic research and quickly built a well-funded startup with a deepening pipeline of ocular disease candidates. He told the Business of Biotech how it happened.

• The CAR T Speed Show

  5/9/2022

  Some mainstream, high-profile research out of the University of Pennsylvania has re-energized emerging cell therapy developers’ focus on manufacturing and administration speed. Speedy cell therapy pioneer EXUMA Biotech provides an update on its approach.

• Gene Cargos: Building A Bigger Ship

  5/6/2022

  Dissatisfied with the limitations of AAV gene editing, Drs. Ray Tabibiazar and Joe Higgins launched SalioGen, a company with an ambitious goal: the safe delivery of large strands of DNA cargo that mimics the way it happens in nature. 

• Who Said mAbs Were Easy?

  4/27/2022

  Under the leadership of CEO Mondher Mahjoubi, M.D., oncology-focused biotech Innate Pharma is developing therapeutic antibodies that harness the immune system to fight cancer. The company is making strides with some next-gen, complex tri- and tetra-specific antibodies—and Dr. Mahjoubi isn't afraid to face the CMC challenges that come with the job. 

• Ocular + Auditory Cell Therapies: Lineage Cell Therapeutics 2.0

  4/25/2022

  On the heels of a lucrative deal with Roche/Genentech for its Phase I/IIa dry age-related macular degeneration candidate, Lineage Cell Therapeutics is fording new waters with a promising auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder candidate. CEO Brian Culley shares the strategy.

• CAR T-cell Therapy, Vaccines To Address Breast, Ovarian Cancers

  4/20/2022

  In partnership with the Cleveland Clinic and Moffitt Cancer Centers, Anixa Biosciences moves into Phase 1 trials of its innovative approaches to treating and preventing all-too-prevalent cancers in women.

• Building A Pipeline On Computational Biology

  4/11/2022

  Fountain Therapeutics is building a pipeline of candidates aimed at reversing cellular aging. To inform the effort, it built an AI-driven computational platform capable of screening tens of thousands of compounds per month.

• Coordinating Your International Regulatory Strategy

  4/6/2022

  Aurion Biotech Chief Regulatory Officer Daniela Drago, Ph.D. is exercising an encyclopedic knowledge of regulatory harmonization as she navigates simultaneous clinical activity in the U.S., the E.U., and Japan. She shared insight into global regulatory frameworks and how to streamline them with BioProcess Online.

• Venture Philanthropy Catalyzes T1D Therapeutic Development

  3/25/2022

  Since the 1920s, the 1.6 million Americans living with type 1 diabetes have had one standard of care in insulin. But biologic therapy advances in the space are happening rapidly, thanks in large part to a unique venture philanthropy capital model.

• Inside The Allogeneic NK Cell Therapy Effort

  3/21/2022

  With its genetically engineered induced pluripotent stem cell-derived allogeneic natural killer cell technology, Shoreline Biosciences aims to overcome what Chairman and CEO Kleanthis Xanthopoulos calls the tallest barrier in the space: patient accessibility.

• Biotech Leader, Kyiv Native Rallies Support For Ukraine

  3/15/2022

  Ukraine-born Ivan Liachko, Ph.D. is Co-founder & CEO of Seattle-based Phase Genomics. He’s rallying his biotech peers to follow the simple, yet powerful example he and his employees have set to aid humanitarian efforts in Ukraine.

• What’s A “Hybrid Externalized” Manufacturing Model?

  3/10/2022

  Anthos Therapeutics’ phase 2 antibody candidate abelacimab could dramatically improve the way clinicians treat very common, high-risk arterial and venous thromboembolic events. The company is exercising manufacturing creativity to maintain clinical supply. Anthos CEO John Glasspool shares on the Anthos approach to outsourcing. 

• Leading Your Biotech Through A Beating

  3/9/2022

  In a suddenly bearish market for biotechs, there’s little solace in the fact that you’re not facing the hurdles alone. Real peace is reserved for those prepared to clear them. Portage Biotech leader Ian Walters shares insight into his company's formula for weathering stormy markets.

• Public Health Preparedness: Why Public Dollars Must Prime Private Investment

  3/7/2022

  The private equity model isn’t equipped to fund biotechs interested in preventing—or addressing— the next pandemic. Three experts weigh in on how public/private partnerships should work to unlock emerging biotech innovation in a public health emergency.

• Biotech Capital Markets: Why Discernment Is The Word Of The Day

  2/28/2022

  Life sciences finance expert Allan Shaw waxes on the sobering of biopharma capital markets, offering his view of what’s to come and suggestions for the leaders of emerging biotech companies.

• Why Locus Biosciences Built A Bacteriophage Factory

  2/25/2022

  To address a glaring problem in modern medicine, Locus Biosciences co-founder and CEO Paul Garofolo says he had no choice but to build a GMP manufacturing facility that was up to the task—and the risk.

• Regenerating The Vasculature With Bioengineered Human Tissue

  2/23/2022

  With two phase 3 trials resuting in its bioengineered blood vessels being implanted in some 460 human patients, regenerative medicine pioneer Humacyte is finding its footing in the $150 billion vascular repair, reconstruction, and replacement market. Now it's preparing to reinvent treatment for Type 1 Diabetes.