Finance & Capital Markets
-
Biotech Cash Management With Allan Shaw
8/2/2023
It’s been said that clinical trials are where emerging biotechs go to die. If the science doesn't kill quickly, poor cash management will slowly. On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech, our favored biotech finance management maven, Allan Shaw, offers pointed advice on stretching cash runways for the long run.
-
Fighting Blindness & Funding The Fight With Opus Genetics' Ben Yerxa, CEO
4/26/2022
Opus Genetics is an early-stage gene therapy company launched just last year and in unique fashion on the back of the patient advocacy group the Retinal Degeneration Fund. Already, its pipeline has developed into three candidates, the lead among them addressing Leber congenital amaurosis. Opus CEO Ben Yerxa, Ph.D. serves in triplicate as CEO at the RD Fund, Foundation Fighting Blindness, and Opus Genetics. His plate is full, but he's a man on a mission. On this episode of the Business of Biotech, Dr. Yerxa shares his story, that of Opus Genetics' unique approach to addressing inherited retinal diseases, and how the company is addressing current funding, development, and capacity challenges in the cell & gene manufacturing space.
-
A CFO's Prescription For Biopharma Success
3/22/2021
Friend of the show and life sciences CFO extraordinaire Allan Shaw joins us for a discussion on the steps to biopharma success from an insider's perspective. We discuss the incremental steps that are necessary and common to success in the biologic therapy space, and the mistakes Shaw has seen in his many engagements with new and emerging biotech firms. From capital resource allocation to personnel decision making to preparing for the bubble to burst, listen in as Shaw shares his unfiltered advice.
-
Strategic Deals With CinRx's Gavin Samuels, M.D.
3/17/2024
Gavin Samuels, M.D., found his work as an intensive care physician boring. It wasn't until he left the hospital and entered biopharma that he found his footing. Now, he's Chief Business Officer and General Partner at CinRx Pharma, where a deep pipeline of early- to late-stage candidates keeps him on his dealmaking toes. Dr. Samuels' introspective reflections on biotech dealmaking and negotiations plants this episode firmly on the Business of Biotech podcast highlight reel.
-
Funding A Neurodegeneration Startup With Coya Therapeutics' Howard Berman
5/10/2023
Like many of us, Howard Berman, Ph.D. has personal experience with the tragedy of cognitive decline. Neurodegenerative disorders are on the rise, and when one afflicted his father — a triple board-certified physician — he saw firsthand that they don't discriminate. Berman has dedicated his career to addressing neuro, autoimmune, and metabolic diseases, having founded Nicoya Health in 2020 and overseeing its merger with Coya Therapeutics the following year. The company came out of the gates this year fueled by an 11th-hour 2022 IPO, one of just a dozen on the year. Berman joined the Business of Biotech to share his strategy during a stingy stretch in biotech capital markets.
-
BoB@JPM: Peter Anastasiou, Capsida Biotherapeutics
2/9/2025
From the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco, Peter Anastasiou, CEO of Capsida Biotherapeutics, discusses his journey from big pharma to biotech and the challenges he faces on the leading edge of first-generation gene therapies.
-
The Allogeneic Future with Poseida's Kristin Yarema, Ph.D.
8/4/2024
Kristin Yarema, Ph.D. thinks the progress of CAR T therapeutics is allogeneic. In fact, she says CAR T-cell therapies have to become a one-to-many proposition, if their early autologous success can possibly live up to the promise of offering widespread accessibility to life-saving treatments. On this episode of the Business of Biotech, we'll learn about how the newly-appointed CEO of Poseida Therapeutics earned the company's reins, how Poseida is positioning itself to crack the allogeneic CAR T code, and how strategic collaborations with the likes of Astellas and Roche are fueling the effort.
-
Anatomy Of A VC Deal With 4BIO's Dima Kuzmin & Ray Therapeutics' Paul Bresge
10/25/2022
In a particularly candid conversation, 4BIO Managing Partner Dmitry ‘Dima’ Kuzmin and Ray Therapeutics Co-Founder & CEO Paul Bresge share the recipe for a successful relationship between biotech VC firm and startup. Bresge offers insight into VC engagement strategy and pitch, Kuzmin dishes on what investors look for in terms of "fundability" and what throws red flags, such as— perhaps ironically— a CEO like Bresge who has a deep and incredibly personal connection to the indication he's pursuing. The pair also discuss, in real and tangible terms, what constitutes a material, cultural match.
-
BoB@JPM: Post-IPO With Bolt Biotherapeutics' Drs. Randall Schatzman and Edith Perez
2/19/2023
Bolt Biotherapeutics CEO Randall Schatzman, Ph.D. and CMO Edith Perez, M.D. are no strangers to the Business of Biotech, having previously joined us on episodes 14 and 18, respectively. The last time we spoke with Dr. Schatzman, he was preparing the company for its initial public offering. We caught up with him and Dr. Perez at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco last month for a conversation on the IPO process, the impacts it's had on the go-forward plan at Bolt Bio, the company's clinical progress, and its collaboration strategy moving forward.
-
Foundations Of Biopharma Finance With Smital Shah, MBA
11/9/2020
Smital Shah brings a trifecta of chemical engineering, consulting, and finance experience earned at heavyweight companies like JP Morgan, Leerink, and Gilead to her role at clinical-stage RNA therapy biotech ProQR Therapeutics. We sat down for a deep conversation on the recipe for successful business and finance operations in an emerging biopharma organization.