Discovery/R&D

81. Physician + Biotech Builder with Tome Biosciences' Rahul Kakkar, M.D. 4/21/2024

    Novel technologies aren’t interesting to Rahul Kakkar, M.D. unless they help patients. Sounds rational, but it’s actually a unique perspective in a platform-crazed biotech industry. Dr. Kakkar’s worldview is shaped by his work as a physician—work he continues at Brigham and Women’s Hospital even as he builds Tome Biosciences, where he serves as President & CEO.

82. Gynecological Cancer Therapies With Context Therapeutics' Martin Lehr 4/18/2022

    Context Therapeutics Co-Founder & CEO Martin Lehr shares stories from his self-described "recovery from venture capital," the work his company is doing in gynecological cancers, and how his small company manages a modality-agnostic approach and investigator-sponsored trials across multiple clinical candidates, four of which are in phase 2 clinical trials. We also discuss his "extracurricular" work with BioBreak, Life Science Leader, and Life Science Cares, and why those organizations are important to him personally and professionally.

83. Gene Tx For Renal Disease With Purespring CEO Richard Francis 5/2/2022

    Purespring Therapeutics launched in 2020 on the back of IP developed by renowned kidney researcher Prof. Moin Saleem, who spent decades working on podocytes when podocytes weren’t cool. Just two years later, the company boasts three gene therapy assets and a platform developed expressly to identify new therapeutic targets to address kidney disease. 

84. 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.

85. Intranasal Prophylactics For Flu & Coronavirus With Leyden Labs' Koenraad Wiedhaup 8/2/2021

    As Leyden Labs Founder & CEO Koenraad Wiedhaup puts it, we breathe in galaxies of viruses on a daily basis. As those viruses multiply and mutate, our approach to mitigating their risks is largely reactive. That's why his new company is busy developing a prophylactic approach to protecting populations from a host of influenza and coronaviruses via a self-administered intranasal spray. Learn how the company came to be, how its development efforts were buoyed by a recent $40 million series A investment, and why Wiedhaup believes intranasal prophylactics are ready to play a role in prevention of the next pandemic on this episode of the Business of Biotech podcast.

86. Leaving The Incubator With Kavitha Iyer Rodrigues 6/28/2020

    A strategic departure from the biotech incubator requires the coordination of moving parts aplenty. Development timelines, seed funding, facilities development, and team dynamics are just a sampling of the critical aspects. It's a move multi-time founder and Zumutor Biologics CEO Kavitha Iyer Rodrigues is well-versed in. Iyer Rodrigues joins us with lessons learned from her time in those trenches.

87. RNA Delivery Business with Liberate's Shawn Davis, Ph.D. & Walter Strapps, Ph.D. 11/8/2023

    Earlier this year, Shawn Davis, Ph.D. left a pretty comfortable position at AstraZeneca (and Amgen before that, and Milliken – and others – before that) to lead Liberate Bio. He brought along another industry notable in Merck/Intellia alumnus Walter Strapps, Ph.D., who serves as CSO at Liberate. Why'd they do it? Because RNA delivery is such a crucial step toward revolutionary genetic medicine, but it's tough science. They think they can change that.

88. First AI Antibody In Humans with Aulos' Aron Knickerbocker 7/14/2024

    Data drives decision-making at Aulos Bioscience. It's also driven the career trajectory of its CEO. On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech podcast, we get an introspective walk through Aron Knickerbocker's strategically-orchestrated career path, from his early days in the labs at Bristol-Myers Squibb and Genentech to his leadership of Aulos Bioscience, a company that boasts the first AI-generated antibody in human clinical trials.

89. Bio & The Business Of Aging with Life Biosciences' Jerry McLaughlin 9/7/2023

    Core to the clinical-stage biopharma Life Biosciences belief set is that "contrary to popular belief, aging is not caused by random wear and tear, but instead is caused by a discrete set of biological mechanisms that can be targeted therapeutically.”

90. COO Liftoff With Rocket Pharmaceuticals' Kinnari Patel, PharmD 7/12/2023

    Chief Operating Officer is arguably the toughest job in the emerging biopharma C-suite. HR, CMC, regulatory affairs, legal, PR, you name it, the COO touches it, and practically everything rolls up to her. This week's episode of the Business of Biotech brings us to a president and COO who's also a mom, a volunteer, and an advocate for diversity and equality in biopharma. That advocacy isn't just lip service, by the way. Here, Rocket Pharmaceuticals' Kinnari Patel, PharmD, shares on the real, practical, replicable steps Rocket takes to build a diverse and equitable work environment, how the fruits of that effort have proven important to the company's success, and where Rocket is taking its high-flying gene therapy act next.

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