Discovery/R&D

  1. Establishing Research With Horizon Therapeutics' Robert Stoffel, Ph.D. 7/26/2023

    Horizon Therapeutics has made plenty of waves in the biotech news cycle of late. Its formal establishment of a research team – comparatively pragmatic as that may be – could have impactful, long-term consequences.

  2. Precision Radiopharmaceuticals with Ratio's Jack Hoppin, Ph.D. 2/21/2024

    Multimodal approaches to the delivery of radiologically active compounds have created a fertile environment for players in the space to put on a precision medicine clinic, so to speak. What’s more, Radiopharmaceuticals create a unique business opportunity given the closely related and necessary companion diagnostic arena.

  3. mRNA Vaccine Platforms With Combined Therapeutics' Dr. Romain Micol 11/29/2023

    Combined Therapeutics President & CEO Dr. Romain Micol is operating his company in a very noisy space, where hundreds of new biotechs have popped up on the coattails of a COVID-driven renewal of interest in mRNA vaccines. Micol recognizes that noise and the competition it brings for capital and mindshare. 

  4. 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.

  5. Drug Development: From Bench To Bedside With Allan Shaw 5/10/2021

    CFO to the biopharma stars and frequent Business of Biotech guest Allan Shaw joins us for a candid discussion on the keys to efficiency as you move your candidate from the bench to the bedside. Shaw shares the common perils of insular thinking in biopharma and offers practical advice for avoiding those pitfalls. We discuss the value of being early in the context of the current biopharma market — early to study, early to differentiate, early to kill if necessary, and early to fund your project on its journey to the clinic.

  6. Digital Transformation In Cell Therapy with Organicell Drs. Mari Mitrani & Michael Bellio 5/3/2021

    Drs. Mari Mitrani, CSO and Michael Bellio, Laboratory Director are young pioneers in the study of the therapeutic potential of exosomes. Their research leans heavily into the digital realm, leveraging computational biology, bioinformatics, large-scale sequencing, proteomics, and mass spectrometry to analyze perinatal tissue-secreted exosomes and their impact on a host of indications the company is exploring. On this episode of The Business Of Biotech, Drs. Mitrani and Bellio offer insight into the digital discovery and manufacturing automation technologies in use at Organicell.

  7. Inhalable mAbs & Vaccines With TFF's Glenn Mattes 12/6/2021

    Glenn Mattes' TFF Pharmaceuticals is looking to break the parenteral barrier by manufacturing biologics — mAbs and vaccines, more specifically — that can be inhaled, rather than injected. It's a timely endeavor, and TFF's business model is a collaborative one that seeks to explore dry powder biologic options through partnership, in addition to its own pipeline. On this episode of the Business of Biotech, the veteran biopharma CEO shares the company's vision and the technology that's bringing it into focus.

  8. TCRs In Personalized Oncology With BlueSphere Bio's Keir LoIacono 3/12/2023

    Among a growing cluster of Pittsburgh biotechs, you'll find BlueSphere Bio, an early-stage company discovering T-cell receptors to leverage against tumor-specific antigens in individual cancer patients. Its leader, CEO Keir LoIacono, Esq., works with a sense of urgency inspired by his own cancer journey. Business of Biotech host Matt Pillar and guest co-host Jon O'Connell, executive editor at Bioprocess Online, toured Bluesphere's state-of-the-art facility perched on the bank of the Monongahela River. Then, we sat down with Loiacono to learn his story and discuss the company's vision for the future of personalized, adoptive cell therapy.

  9. Circular RNA with Orna Therapeutics' Tom Barnes, Ph.D. and Advancing RNA's Anna Rose Welch 4/28/2024

    As if Orna Therapeutics' CEO, Thomas Barnes, isn't enough to draw you in to the Business of Biotech, we teamed up with Advancing RNA Editorial & Community Director Anna Rose Welch to co-host this week's episode. Together, Anna Rose and I press Dr. Barnes on his transition from academia to biotech, the therapeutic proposition of circular, or "O", RNA and why it holds great potential to best linear RNA constructs, the novel, platform- and partnership-based approaches Orna is taking to address B-cell lymphomas and Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, viral vector and lipid nanoparticle complexity, and a whole lot more.

  10. Leading A tRNA Startup With Alltrna's Michelle Werner 5/14/2025

    On this week's Business of Biotech, Michelle Werner, CEO at Alltrna, talks transfer RNA (tRNA) therapy with host Ben Comer and guest co-host Anna Rose Welch, editorial and community director at Advancing RNA. Werner explains why a single engineered tRNA therapy has the potential to treat "hundreds, if not thousands," of rare genetic diseases, and how her own child's rare disease diagnosis shaped her career and approach to drug development. Werner also discusses Alltrna's use of AI and machine learning for drug optimization, the company's planned use of basket trials, and more.