Business of Biotech Shorts

31. Ep. 262, Chapter 4: The Founding And Operation Of Courage Therapeutics With Roger Cone, Ph.D. 9/2/2025

    Courage Therapeutics was born out of a collaboration between Dr. Roger Cone and entrepreneur Dan Hausman to develop next-generation melanocortin compounds. Hausman handles business aspects while Dr. Cone serves as the scientific founder. The company's strategy involved the University of Michigan granting Courage Therapeutics an option agreement for specific IP from Dr. Cone's lab.

32. Foundational Obesity Research Enables Therapeutic Breakthroughs 9/2/2025

    Fundamental research into the body's hunger mechanisms, including GLP-1 and the central melanocortin system, laid the groundwork for today's two major obesity treatment breakthroughs.

33. Ep. 262, Chapter 1: Introducing Roger Cone, Ph.D., and Bases of Courage Therapeutics' Research 9/2/2025

    Life Science Leader Chief Editor Ben Comer introduces Roger Cone, Ph.D., Founder Of Courage Therapeutics, a preclinical company focused on obesity and eating disorders. The company's intellectual property is based on Dr. Cone's decades of research into the melanocortin system, a pathway crucial to regulating eating behaviors and energy homeostasis.

34. Ep. 261, Chapter 7: Epic Bio's Strategic Priorities and Capabilities With Amber Salzman, Ph.D. 9/2/2025

    Salzman confirms Epic Bio’s epigenetic editing therapy can safely perform multiplexing, meaning a single construct can be designed to make more than one genetic change, such as upregulating one gene while downregulating another. This approach is considered safer than traditional gene-cutting methods, although delivering the therapy to different cell types within the body presents a logistical challenge.

35. Ep. 261, Chapter 6: Regulatory Engagement For Biotechs With Amber Salzman, Ph.D. 9/2/2025

    Salzman suggests that biotechs hoping to effectively engage with regulators, especially for novel drug modalities, "follow the science and the data" and trust their scientific instincts. She recounts an example where a consultant recommended a questionable animal model for a safety study, but her team chose to present their scientifically sound proposal directly to the FDA. She emphasizes that regulators care about patients and are willing to listen to well-defended, logical arguments.

36. Ep. 261, Chapter 5: Nurturing A CDMO Relationship And Scaling Up With Amber Salzman, Ph.D. 9/2/2025

    Salzman highlights the crucial role a strong CDMO partnership had in Epic Bio’s manufacturing process, particularly for its lead candidate. The company's small team necessitated close collaboration with the CDMO, which Salzman credits to Epic Bio’s CMC lead, who fostered a strong partnership by treating the CDMO as an integral part of the team and showing mutual respect.

37. Ep. 261, Chapter 4: Overcoming Regulatory and Manufacturing Challenges With Amber Salzman, Ph.D. 9/2/2025

    Epic Bio’s novel epigenetic approach to treat FSHD functions by methylating a specific DNA region, which is expected to reduce the expression of the toxic Dux4 protein. The company seeks to use methylation data as a potential biomarker and regulators have agreed that higher methylation correlates with less disease severity. However, they require human study data to prove that Epic Bio's treatment can successfully increase methylation and change the course of the disease.

38. Ep. 261, Chapter 3: Epic Bio's Clinical Approach And Springbok Analytics Partnership With Amber Salzman, Ph.D. 9/2/2025

    Salzman describes Facio-scapulo-humeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD), a debilitating genetic disease that causes progressive muscle weakness. It typically starts in the face, leading to difficulties with blinking and smiling, and then spreads to the upper body, eventually causing loss of mobility in many patients.

39. Ep. 261, Chapter 2: Epic Bio's Fundraising Philosophy With Amber Salzman, Ph.D. 9/2/2025

    Salzman explains how the company was able to secure $68 million in a Series B funding round despite a challenging market for early-stage companies. First, Epic Bio focused on patient needs. Beyond simply offering a promising platform, the company worked hard toward developing preclinical data for specific applications to address pressing patient needs.

40. Ep. 261, Chapter 1: Introducing Amber Salzman, Ph.D., and Understanding Epigenetic Editing Technology 9/2/2025

    Life Science Leader Chief Editor Ben Comer introduces Amber Salzman, CEO and President of Epicrispr Biotechnologies (Epic Bio), a company that leverages epigenetic modulators to control gene expression. Salzman discusses how her family history of neurodegenerative disease guided her career from work on common diseases to a focus on rare diseases, culminating in her joining Epic Bio.