The BioHub - by Avetix

On this episode of The BioHub, Amber Hayes is joined by Michael Fenn, Chief Business Officer at Bexorg, a precision neurology company combining AI with a pioneering whole-human brain platform to transform CNS drug discovery. Michael brings experience spanning biotech investing, business development and company building, including previous roles at Dewpoint Therapeutics and Iaso Ventures. He shares...

On this episode, we sit down with the CEO & CTO of Circio to get into the world of circular RNA. Erik, Thomas and the team are developing circVec, a circular RNA expression platform designed to make C&G therapies more powerful and durable. The guys dig into the science & history behind circular RNA before discussing some initial data they have in heart, brain and other tissues, whilst...

We were delighted to be joined by Johanna Kaufmann, Chief Scientific Officer at Deck Bio. Johanna has spent her career at the intersection of oncology, immunology and drug development, working across both biotech and big pharma. She started her career in cancer virology before moving through roles at Genocea, TESARO and GSK, and later joined Codagenix, where she led its oncology and immunology eff...

We were delighted to be joined by Dr. Sam Blackman, a physician-scientist, biotech entrepreneur and investor who has built a fascinating career across medicine, drug development and biotechnology. Sam trained as a physician and spent much of his early career focused on pediatric oncology before moving into the biotech world, where he became one of the co-founders of Day One Biopharmaceuticals. He...

We were delighted to be joined by two highly experienced leaders in the biotechnology industry, Howard Berman, Ph. D., and Kia Motesharei, Ph. D. Both Howard and Kia have built impressive careers across biotechnology, capital markets, business development and strategic transactions, with a track record of helping companies navigate some of the most important stages of their growth. Howard is now C...

In this episode of The BioHub Podcast, Ben sits down with Dr. Inder Kaul, Chief Medical Officer at Draig Therapeutics, to discuss the evolution of neuropsychiatric drug development and what it takes to translate novel neuroscience into meaningful medicines for patients. Inder brings decades of global clinical development experience, most recently playing a key role in the development of Cobenfy at...

In this episode of The BioHub by Avetix , I’m joined by Eran Seger , CEO and Co-Founder of Protai . Eran shares his unique journey into biotech and the inspiration behind founding Protai, where the team is combining proteomics and AI to better understand disease biology and improve how new medicines are discovered. We discuss what makes Protai’s platform different, the realities of being a first-t...

We welcomed Mandana Honu onto the BioHub podcast

In this episode of The BioHub Podcast, Ben is joined by Dr. Marc Hedrick, President & CEO of Cerenome, and Russell Bradley, President & General Manager of CNSide Diagnostics. We explore why CNS cancers remain so difficult to diagnose and treat, and how Cerenome is attempting to address both sides of that problem. Russell takes us inside CNSide®, the company’s cerebrospinal fluid-based diag...

In this episode of The BioHub by Avetix , I’m joined by Dan O’Connell , President and CEO of Acumen Pharmaceuticals . Dan shares his journey from neuroscience investing and company creation into the CEO role, and how he has helped take Acumen from a private, preclinical biotech into a publicly traded clinical-stage company focused on Alzheimer’s disease. We discuss the origins of Acumen, what it w...

In this episode of The BioHub by Avetix , I’m joined by Paul Hastings , CEO of Nkarta . Paul has spent more than three decades in biotech, leading companies across oncology, rare disease and cell therapy, while also becoming one of the industry’s most prominent patient advocates. At Nkarta, he’s now leading the development of allogeneic NK cell therapies designed to make cell therapy safer, more s...

We welcomed Lei Fang the CEO of Excalipoint to the BioHub

Today we’re joined by Jay Fine, President of Research & Development at EvolveImmune Therapeutics. Jay has spent more than 30 years working across drug discovery and development, with a career spanning immunology, immuno-oncology, inflammatory diseases and respiratory disorders. Before joining EvolveImmune, he spent many years at Boehringer Ingelheim, where he led global research efforts in imm...

Editor’s note: At the time of recording, Alan Bash was serving as Interim CEO of Legend Biotech. He has since resumed his role as President of CARVYKTI® following the appointment of Ingrid Zhang as CEO. In this episode of The BioHub by Avetix , I’m joined by Alan Bash , President of CARVYKTI® at Legend Biotech . Alan shares what drew him to Legend, what he believes has made the company such a stan...

Today we’re joined by Dr. Stacy Blain, Founder and CEO of Concarlo Therapeutics. Stacy has spent more than 30 years working in cell cycle and cancer biology, including two decades as a tenured professor and NIH-funded researcher at SUNY Downstate. She then made the transition from academia into entrepreneurship, founding Concarlo to develop new approaches to treating drug-resistant cancers. At Con...

In this episode of The BioHub Podcast by Avetix, Ben O’Keefe sits down with Nick Sireau, Executive Chairman and Co-Founder of Serenatis Bio, to discuss the company’s mission to develop a new generation of treatments for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Nick shares the deeply personal story behind Serenatis, from his own experience living with OCD to the loss of a close friend to the condition,...

On this episode we feature the CEO of Bionyra, Frederic Marrache, after closing French-biotech's largest ever Series A ($165million) this summer. Bionyra are a Sofinnova-incubated I&I biotech advancing in-licensed monoclonal (TL1A & IL25) & bispecific (TL1AxIL-23p19) HLE antibodies for a range of autoimmune indications. In this conversation we discuss why, after a decade within Sanofi'...

In this episode of The BioHub by Avetix , I’m joined by Edward van Wezel , Managing Partner and Co-Founder of BioGeneration Ventures . Edward shares his journey into venture capital and the story behind building BGV into one of Europe’s leading early-stage life sciences investors. We discuss how he evaluates companies at the earliest stages, what he looks for in founders and leadership teams, and...

Today, I’m joined by Jo Lane, a senior People and HR leader currently working with COMPASS Pathways, where she plays a key role in supporting the organisation and its people as the company continues to develop and grow. Jo has built an impressive career across the life sciences and healthcare sectors, with senior HR and organisational development roles at COMPASS Pathways, Ipsen and IQVIA. Her exp...

In this episode of The BioHub by Avetix , I’m joined by Tony Estrada , Co-Founder and CEO of Tenvie Therapeutics . Tony shares his journey from Genentech and Denali Therapeutics to founding Tenvie, and why he chose to build a company focused on some of the toughest challenges in neuroscience. We discuss what it takes to launch a biotech in a difficult funding environment, why being scrappy and dis...

In this episode of The BioHub by Avetix , I’m joined by Kristen Stants , Chief People Officer at Parabilis Medicines . Recorded shortly after Parabilis completed its record-breaking IPO, Kristen shares what that milestone means for the company and how the people strategy changes when a biotech suddenly enters a new phase of rapid growth. We also discuss how to protect culture while scaling, the qu...

On this episode of the podcast we feature CEO & Co-Founder of Infinimmune, Wyatt McDonnell, to discuss a hugely impressive & milestone-rich journey since founding in 2022.  Infinimmune was founded on the belief that human disease is best treated with truly human therapeutics. Their discovery platform, developed by Wyatt and his five former 10X Genomics colleagues, has already been tapped b...

In this episode of The BioHub Podcast, Amber is joined by Dr. Brent Richards, Founder and CEO of 5 Prime Sciences, a company helping biotech, pharma and investors use human genetics to make better drug development decisions. Brent shares his background in clinical medicine and human genetics, the story behind 5 Prime Sciences, and how genetic evidence can help identify and validate drug targets. W...

Today I’m joined by Frédéric Sweeney, President and CEO of VedaBio. Fred has spent his career at the intersection of healthcare, diagnostics, venture capital and company building. He’s also been involved with a number of companies as an investor, board member and advisor. Today, Fred is leading VedaBio, which is developing a new approach to molecular diagnostics using CRISPR. The company’s technol...

In this episode of The BioHub by Avetix , I’m joined by Steve Tregay , Managing General Partner at Mission BioCapital . Steve shares his journey across research, pharma, biotech company building and venture capital, including the story behind founding FORMA Therapeutics and the lessons that experience taught him about creating successful biotech companies. We also discuss how Mission BioCapital ap...