Biotech 2050 Podcast

Synopsis: Troy Wilson, Ph. D., J.D., is the President and CEO of Kura Oncology, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company committed to realizing the promise of precision medicines for the treatment of cancer. Troy talks about his experiences being a CEO and the differences in responsibility between being a CEO and a board member. He also shares what it takes to have a productive board for a biote...

Synopsis: Keith Gottesdiener, MD, and Jeremy Duffield, MD, PhD, FRCP, are the President & CEO and CSO, respectively, of Prime Medicine. Prime Medicine was founded to bring the promise of gene editing to patients. They use Prime Editing, a next-generation technology that can “search and replace” to restore normal genetic function almost anywhere in the genome. Keith and Jeremy discuss the arc of th...

Synopsis: Brett Hall, Ph. D., is the CSO of Immuneering, a public, clinical-stage oncology company dedicated to developing medicines for broad populations of cancer patients by applying its deep knowledge of translational bioinformatics to every stage of the drug development process. Brett talks about his background in the military targeting nuclear missiles prior to becoming a scientist and some...

Synopsis: Ivana Magovčević-Liebisch, PhD, JD, is the President and CEO of Vigil Neuroscience, a microglia-focused company dedicated to improving the lives of patients, caregivers, and families affected by rare and common neurodegenerative diseases by restoring the vigilance of microglia, the sentinel cells of the brain’s immune system. Ivana shares how sitting on boards of other companies has info...

Synopsis: Bobak Azamian, MD, Ph. D., is the CEO and Chairman of Tarsus Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company that applies proven science and new technology to revolutionize treatment for patients, starting with eye care. Bobby talks about his early years working in the venture capital space before founding his first company. He shares what it’s like running a publicly traded biotech for the...

Synopsis: Nima Farzan is the CEO of Kinnate Biopharma, a clinical-stage precision oncology company focused on expanding on the promise of targeted therapies for those battling cancer. The company is developing medicines for known oncogenic drivers where there are no approved targeted drugs. Having started his biotech career in the late 90s, Nima discusses how his vision of leadership has evolved o...

Synopsis: Mark Litton, Ph. D., is the President and CEO of Athira Pharma, a late clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing small molecules to restore neuronal health and slow neurodegeneration for those suffering from Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease, dementia, and more. Mark talks about being a CEO for the first time and what he’s learned. He discusses how the biotech ecosyst...

Synopsis: Ram Aiyar, Ph. D., MBA, is the President & CEO of Korro Bio. Korro Bio harnesses the body’s natural RNA editing machinery to make precise, single-base RNA edits to modulate protein function, addressing the medical needs of patients. Having founded several companies, Ram talks about some of the non-obvious differences in terms of being senior leadership and founder of a company versus bei...

Synopsis: Seemay Chou, Ph. D., is the Co-Founder and CEO of Arcadia Science, a research and development company leveraging the biology of emerging research organisms. Seemay sits down with Alok to discuss her move from academic science into an entrepreneurial role and her advice for others looking to make a similar transition. She talks about Arcadia’s unique model and how they’re pushing the boun...

Synopsis: Michelle Werner is the CEO of Alltrna and a CEO-Partner at Flagship Pioneering. Alltrna is the world’s first tRNA platform company to decipher tRNA biology and pioneer tRNA therapeutics to treat thousands of diseases. Flagship Pioneering conceives, creates, resources, and develops first-in-category bioplatform companies to transform human health and sustainability. Michelle discusses her...

Synopsis: Bernard Coulie is the President and CEO of Pliant Therapeutics, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing novel therapeutics that seek to halt progression of fibrotic diseases — ultimately preserving organ function. Bernard discusses the arc of his career and shares his perspective on the European biotech ecosystem compared to the United States, and...

Synopsis: Mahesh Karande is the President and CEO of Omega Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering the development of a new class of programmable epigenomic mRNA medicines for unprecedented control of gene regulation and cellular function. Through its OMEGA platform, the company engineers mRNA therapeutics called Omega Epigenomic Controllers™ (OECs), with the goal of treati...

Synopsis: Joseph Payne is the Founder, President and CEO of Arcturus Therapeutics, a global late-stage clinical messenger RNA medicines and vaccines company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of therapeutics for rare diseases and vaccines. Joseph discusses the founding story behind Arcturus and the impetus behind starting his own company. He talks about fundraising and wha...

Synopsis: Robert Blum and Fady Malik are the President & CEO and EVP, Research and Development, respectively, of Cytokinetics, ​​a late-stage biopharmaceutical company committed to developing potential medicines that impact the mechanics of muscle and may improve the lives of people living with debilitating diseases. Robert and Fady discuss how they have developed a company culture that embraces s...

Synopsis: James McArthur is the CEO of PepGen, a biotech company creating a pipeline of disease-modifying therapeutics with the potential to safely and effectively target the root cause of serious genetic diseases, with an initial focus on neuromuscular diseases. James talks about his experience on the venture capital side and how that has influenced his management style and overall approach to co...

Synopsis: Paul Lammers, M.D., is the CEO of Triumvira Immunologics, a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company developing unique, targeted autologous and allogeneic T cell therapeutics that co-opt the natural biology of T cells to treat a broad range of patients with cancer. A Dutch-trained biologist and physician, Paul talks about starting his career in pharma and some of the commonalities between...

Synopsis: Andrew Scharenberg is the Co-founder and CEO of Umoja Biopharma, a company pioneering the future of immunotherapy by reprogramming T cells in vivo. Umoja’s groundbreaking integrated platform therapeutics reprogram the immune system in the patient’s body to target cancer cells and generate lasting remissions. Andrew talks about the CAR T-cell therapy space, the opportunities he sees, and...

Synopsis: Theresa Heah, M.D., is the CEO of Intergalactic Therapeutics. Intergalactic is overcoming the limitations of viral-based gene therapy and developing a best-in-class non-viral alternative. Intergalactic uses synthetic biology and engineered gene circuits to make covalently closed and circular DNA (“C3DNA”) molecules designed to provide a potentially safer and more effective solution for p...

Synopsis: Volker Herrmann is the President and CEO of Sonata Therapeutics, a Flagship Pioneering company revolutionizing the world’s understanding of the cellular microenvironment and its importance to human biology and disease. Sonata’s product-platform creates drugs based on a systematic, comprehensive characterization of the microenvironment in diseases with high unmet medical need. Volker disc...

Synopsis: Greg Flesher is the President and CEO of Reneo Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company focused on the development of therapies for patients with rare genetic mitochondrial diseases with significant unmet medical needs. Greg discusses beginning his career at Eli Lilly in the mid 1990s and how he approaches being a CEO differently the second time around. He talks about the...

Synopsis: Adrian Gottschalk is the president and CEO of Foghorn Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering a new class of medicines that treat cancers and other serious diseases by correcting abnormal gene expression. Adrian discusses his early beginnings at Biogen before joining Foghorn. He talks about the evolution of his role as CEO at Foghorn, particularly as the company h...

Synopsis: Jim Brown is the President and CEO of DURECT Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company committed to transforming the treatment of acute organ injuries and chronic liver diseases by advancing novel and potentially lifesaving epigenetic therapies. Jim discusses how his early beginnings as a vet ultimately led him to the biotech industry. He talks about epigenetic regulation and how it ties...

Synopsis: James Peyer, Ph. D., is the Founder and CEO of Cambrian Bio, a clinical-stage drug-development company focused on creating therapies to prevent and cure age-related diseases. James discusses the driving force behind his interest in aging biology and oncology, how his perspective on aging has changed over the years, his entrepreneurial journey, and what he hopes to achieve over the next d...

Synopsis: Gary Lee, Ph. D. is the CSO of Lyell Immunopharma, a T-cell reprogramming company dedicated to developing cell therapies for patients with solid tumors. A chemical engineer by training, Gary has been working in the gene therapy field for 20+ years. He discusses how he’s observed the cell therapy space evolve over the last couple of decades. He talks about the work his team is doing to de...

Synopsis: Liang Schweizer, Ph. D. is the Founder and CEO of HiFiBiO Therapeutics, a clinical-stage global biotech company mobilizing the human immune system to combat disease. The company employs its unique Drug Intelligence Science (DIS®) platform, which combines its proprietary microfluidic single-cell platform with advanced AI/ML-based data analytics, to gain insights into human disease biology...