Discovery/R&D

11. Tick-Derived Therapeutic Molecules With Akari Therapeutics' Rachelle Jacques 11/14/2022

    Ticks are a scourge. They're vectors of multiple serious and debilitating diseases, and evolution has made them perfectly adept at attaching to their hosts—and potentially spreading those diseases virtually undetected— that ability owing to anti-inflammatory and anesthetic proteins in their saliva. But the emerging biotech Akari Therapeutics thinks there's a broad range of medicinal value in those proteins. They've painstakingly developed a recombinant version of one such tick saliva-derived protein, called nomacopan, and put it to work in phase 3 trials to treat rare but deadly severe hematopoietic stem cell transplant-related thrombotic microangiopathy (HSCT-TMA). On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech, Akari President & CEO Rachelle Jacques tells us about the redeeming qualities of tick saliva and how her company is putting it to work.

12. Pyxis Oncology's Lara Sullivan, M.D. On Site-Specific ADCs And Change Management 6/20/2022

    To fully appreciate the work Pyxis Oncology is doing in its development of site-specific ADCs for a number of oncological indications under the leadership of Lara Sullivan, M.D., you need to understand the work that shaped her leadership style. On this episode of the Business of Biotech, Dr. Sullivan shares the science and technology driving progress at Pyxis, but she also serves up a master class on change management, honed during her tenure managing high-stakes product portfolios at Pfizer. If you want to be a better leader, don't miss this one.

13. Pragmatic Computational Biology with Andrew Satz 9/20/2023

    This week's guest on the Business of Biotech, EVQLV's Andrew Satz, says AI and ML in biopharma are like sex in high school. "Many of the people who say they're doing it really aren't, and the one who really are aren't talking about it," he says. So, when it comes to the computational biology buzz, what’s real? What’s hype? What’s yielding benefit and what’s merely vaporware?

14. Population-Level Health Impact With Vaxxinity's John Krayacich 6/14/2023

    Vaxxinity’s John Krayacich likes taking big swings and big indications. He’s played key roles on the teams that launched Lipitor, Lyrica, and Neurontin, which have had measurable impacts on global populations of people suffering from cardiovascular disease, CNS disorders, and pain. He found those opportunities at companies like LEO, Novartis, Parke Davis, and Pfizer. Now, Krayacich is taking big swings at a new set of incredibly challenging candidates—immunotherapeutic vaccines for neurodegenerative and chronic diseases like Alzheimer’s, Dementia with Lewy Bodies, Multiple System Atrophy, Parkinson’s, Migraine, and Hypercholesterolemia. On this episode of the Business of Biotech, the Chief Business Officer shares his inspiration and strategy for seeing therapeutics for big, global patient populations through the commercial finish line.

15. Changing The Diabetes Care Paradigm With Arecor's Dr. Sarah Howell 7/21/2022

    While renal disease treatment technologies have seen moderate incremental improvements, there hasn't been a step-change advance in diabetes care since the discovery of insulin more than 100 years ago. Working with manufacturers of existing diabetes therapeutics in addition to advancing its own pipeline, Arecor is developing enhanced reformulations of tried-and-true therapeutics like insulin to improve a long-static standard of care. Arecor CEO Sarah Howell, Ph.D. joins the Business of Biotech for a discussion on the company's approach to improving the quality of life for some 200 million insulin-dependent patients worldwide.

16. BoB@JPM: Support Of A Blossoming Pipeline With Sangamo's Sandy Macrae, Ph.D. 2/5/2023

    The Business of Biotech podcast took to the streets of San Francisco during the 41st Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference. This week's episode features a conversation with Sangamo Therapeutics CEO Sandy Macrae, Ph.D., who rationalizes the company's aggressive pipeline development and its decision to invest in multinational AAV and cell therapy manufacturing facilities in France and California. Dr. Macrae zeroes in on the relationship between people and processes that's enabled the company to grow to more than 500 associates working on nearly 20 cell therapy, gene therapy, and genome engineering programs. 

17. RNA-Based Therapeutics With Nutcracker Therapeutics' Dr. Geoff Nosrati 11/21/2022

    Nutcracker Therapeutics is a preclinical biopharma company developing multimodal RNA-based therapeutics for HPV-driven tumors, T-cell lymphoma, and Genitourinary tumors. On this episode of the Business of Biotech, Chief Business Officer Geoff Nosrati, Ph.D. offers a comprehensive view of the RNA-based therapeutics landscape and sheds light on what he perceives as an advantageous position at Nutcracker — the capacity to manufacture RNA in-house. If you're curious about the expanding science behind RNA-based therapeutics and their application in biotech, this conversation with a scientist-turned-chief business officer (Nosrati earned his Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology) is a can't-miss episode.

18. Dye Drug Conjugates For Cancer With Lahjavida's Lyle Small 9/11/2025

    On this week's Business Of Biotech episode, Lyle Small, Founder and CEO at Lahjavida, a dye drug conjugate start-up, talks about creating the famous color-changing technology that turned the mountains blue on cold Coors Light beer cans, to launching a dye-drug conjugate startup developing targeted cancer therapies.

19. IDO Target Perseverence With IO Biotech's Mai-Britt Zocca, Ph.D. 9/13/2022

    Under the leadership of Mai-Britt Zocca, Ph.D., IO Biotech is advancing novel, immune-modulating cancer therapies targeting IDO (indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase). Though promising, the target fell out of favor after some high-profile misses – most notably Merck's Phase 3 failure with pembrolizumab in 2018. But Immunome's dual mechanism of action is renewing interest in the target, and Dr. Zocca is gaining confidence as the company's data grows. On this episode of the Business of Biotech, she shares the approach, how it differs from previous attempts, and how her company is working to advance its programs in the wake of IDO's fall from grace.

20. An AI Awakening With Profluent Bio's Hilary Eaton, Ph.D. 9/22/2024

    Hilary Eaton, Ph.D. was a self-described AI skeptic, particularly regarding using the tool in drug discovery. Then, a series of professional and deeply personal life events and medical discoveries put her in a position to confront that skepticism head-on. On Business of Biotech, the Chief Business Officer at ProFluent Bio shares her story and makes a pragmatic case for the transformative value of AI to biotech builders.