Xtalks Life Science Podcast

In this episode, Ayesha spoke with Jonathan Rigby, MBA, CEO of Sernova , a Canadian biotech company developing innovative cell therapy-based approaches for the management of type 1 diabetes. The company’s lead innovation is an implantable bio-hybrid organ pouch, which is currently in an ongoing Phase I/II clinical trial. An estimated 537 million people are currently living with diabetes globally a...

In this episode, Ayesha had a conversation with Lewis Bender, MBA, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Intensity Therapeutics , a biotech company developing first-in-class immune-based intratumorally injected cancer therapies. Intensity’s lead product candidate, INT230-6, is currently in human clinical studies for the treatment of refractory solid tumors, including metastatic soft tissue sarcoma and brea...

In this episode, Ayesha spoke with John Yu, MD, CEO of Kairos Pharma , a company advancing therapies to overcome challenges in cancer drug resistance and immune suppression. Kairos is developing therapeutics that reverse cancer drug resistance in cancers such as prostate and lung cancer. The company’s lead candidate, ENV105, is an antibody targeting CD105, which is implicated in cancer cell resist...

In this episode, Ayesha spoke with Thomas Heineman, MD, PhD, Chief Medical Officer at Oncolytics Biotech , a company developing an oncolytic virus cancer therapeutic that is currently in clinical trials for indications including metastatic breast cancer and pancreatic cancer. Oncolytics is developing a first-in-class, nonpathogenic oncolytic virus administered intravenously that activates, recruit...

In this episode, Ayesha spoke with AnnMarie Hipsley, DPT, PhD, CEO and founder of Ace Vision Group, an ophthalmic laser device company that is bringing touchless eye laser therapy to patients with age-related vision loss. Dr. Hipsley is a vision scientist, inventor, entrepreneur, author and speaker on ocular biomechanics and the biomechanical rejuvenation of the aging eye. She invented an innovati...

In this episode, Ayesha spoke with Shaheen Lakhan, MD, PhD, Chief Medical and Scientific Officer, Click Therapeutics, a company focused on developing software as prescription medical treatments for people with unmet medical needs. Click Therapeutics is specifically developing Digital Therapeutics, which involve the delivery of prescription treatments to patient’s smartphones. These are being devel...

In this episode, Ayesha spoke with Brent Lucas, CEO of Envoy Medical. Envoy Medical is a medical device company focused on providing cutting-edge technologies across the hearing loss spectrum. According to the National Institute of Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, 13 percent of people in the US 12 years of age and older have hearing loss in both ears, underscoring the importance of deve...

In this episode, Ayesha spoke with Robert Perkins, MD, Vice President, US Medical Affairs/Renal and Cardiovascular at Bayer who spoke about recent advancements in the heart failure (HF) treatment landscape. This includes new Phase III trial data for Kerendia (finerenone) in patients with heart failure that was presented recently at this year’s European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress 2024. At...

In this episode, Vera spoke with Morgan Hanger, Executive Director of the Clinical Trials Transformation Initiative (CTTI). CTTI is a public-private partnership dedicated to improving the quality and efficiency of clinical trials, aiming to transform the industry by 2030. Hanger shares her career journey, from her roles at PatientsLikeMe and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, to leading CTTI....

In this episode, Vera spoke with Dr. Sam Lee, Co-Chief Executive Officer and President of Cocrystal Pharma, a clinical-stage biotech company focusing on antiviral drug development with a unique structure-based drug discovery platform. With over 25 years of experience in anti-infective drug discovery, Dr. Lee brings a wealth of knowledge to the discussion on the urgent need for innovative antiviral...

In this episode, Vera spoke with Tim Culp, PhD, Vice President of Research and Development at Interius BioTherapeutics, a Philadelphia-based biotech company. Their lead program focuses on an intravenous CAR therapy for B cell lymphomas. Additionally, the company is advancing a second program aimed at treating autoimmune diseases. Dr. Culp joined Interius following a distinguished 14-year career wi...

In this episode, Ayesha spoke with James E. Brown, DVM, co-founder, President and CEO of DURECT. DURECT is pioneering a therapeutic strategy by leveraging the potential of epigenetic modulation to alter the trajectory of severe and life-threatening conditions like acute organ injury and cancer. The company is specifically focused on the development of an epigenetic modulator, larsucosterol (DUR-92...

In this episode, Vera spoke with Carsten Rudolph, PhD, CEO of Ethris. Ethris was founded by Dr. Rudolph and Professor Christian Plank with the goal of establishing messenger RNA (mRNA) as a novel drug modality for lung diseases such as asthma and rare pulmonary conditions like primary ciliary dyskinesia (PCD) and pulmonary alveolar proteinosis. Ethris leverages its proprietary SNIM® RNA platform a...

In this episode, Ayesha spoke with Kirk Brown, PhD, Vice President of Research at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals. Alnylam is focused on developing RNAi medicines to transform the way diseases like cardiovascular and neurological diseases are treated. Dr. Brown’s preclinical work combining stable siRNA designs with alternative conjugation strategies has enabled potent, long-lasting silencing across the CN...

In this episode, Ayesha spoke with Jennifer Gudeman, Pharm D, Senior Vice President, Medical and Clinical Affairs, Avadel Pharmaceuticals plc, a biopharmaceutical company working on innovative solutions to the development of medications that disrupt treatment paradigms and address unmet needs. The company is currently focused on developing treatments for narcolepsy, a complex chronic neurological...

In this episode, Ayesha spoke with Steffen-Sebastian Bolz, MD, PhD, a scientist, physician and entrepreneur. He is a Co-Founder of Aphaia Pharma AG and Founder and Chief Scientific and Medical Officer at Qanatpharma AG. Dr. Bolz holds a full professorship at the University of Toronto, is a Principal Investigator at the Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research and Director of the Toronto Centre for Mic...

In this episode, Ayesha spoke with Alessio Travaglia, PhD, neuroscientist and Director Neuroscience at the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) and Suzanne Schindler, MD, PhD, Associate Professor of Neurology at Washington University. Results from a head-to-head study led by the FNIH Biomarkers Consortium, with data analysis led by Dr. Schindler, have shown that some commercial...

In this episode, Ayesha spoke with Matthew Martinez, MD, a board-certified cardiologist and nationally recognized expert in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). He serves as director of Atlantic Health System Sports Cardiology and the director of the Chanin T. Mast Center for Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. Dr. Martinez is the Chair of ACC online “LEARNHCM” platform, which educates clinicians about HCM...

In this episode, Ayesha spoke with Lawreen Asuncion, a patient advocate who works to raise awareness for the rare disease Usher syndrome. Lawreen has worked professionally in the biotech and life science markets for over 25 years. She provides input and perspectives for rare genetic disease programs and clinical trials sponsored by biotech and pharma companies. Lawreen is a dedicated patient advoc...

In this episode, Ayesha spoke with Moreno Perugini, President of Active & Medical Nutrition, US & President of Global Pharmaceutical Therapies at Nestlé Health Science US. As President of Global Pharmaceutical Therapies, Moreno and his team actively shape the healthcare system through innovative approaches and a strong commitment to delivering pharmaceutical products with a human-centered...

In this episode, Ayesha spoke with Jerry McLaughlin, chief executive officer and board member of Life Biosciences , a company advancing innovative cellular rejuvenation platforms to reverse diseases of aging. Life Biosciences is developing a gene therapy for primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) and non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION), two types of optic neuropathies with signifi...

In this episode, Ayesha spoke with Karen S. Ho, PhD, Vice President, Translational Medicine at Clene Nanomedicine , a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing treatments for neurodegenerative diseases to restore and protect neuronal health and function. Clene Nanomedicine is developing nanotherapeutics that target cellular energy impairments common to neurodegenerative and many other diseas...

In this episode, Ayesha spoke with Marci English, Vice President and Head of BioPharma Development at Astellas Pharma about a groundbreaking new treatment that addresses the underlying mechanisms of menopause symptoms. In May 2023, Astellas received FDA approval for fezolinetant (commercial name Veozah) for the treatment of moderate to severe vasomotor symptoms due to menopause. The therapy is the...

In this episode, Ayesha spoke with Lawrence Blatt, PhD, MBA, Chairman and CEO of Aligos Therapeutics, a company developing targeted therapies for liver diseases like MASH (metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis) and viral diseases to address important unmet medical needs. Prior to co-founding Aligos Therapeutics, Dr. Blatt served as the Global Head of Infectious Diseases and Vaccines at...

In this episode, Ayesha spoke with Alessio Travaglia, PhD, Director Neuroscience at the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) who also manages FNIH’s new Accelerating Medicines Partnership in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (AMP ALS) program, and Nadia Sethi, DDS, an ALS patient advocate who formerly served as Director of Community Outreach and Engagement at the ALS Therapy Develop...