Biotech Business with Fexingo: Life Sciences Startups, Drug Discovery, and FDA Approvals

Lucas and Luna dive into the world of targeted protein degradation, a technology that could redefine drug discovery by tackling proteins once considered undruggable. They break down how biotech startups like Arvinas and Kymera Therapeutics are using PROTACs and molecular glues to degrade disease-causing proteins from within cells. Lucas explains the mechanism—a chimeric molecule that tags a protei...

Episode 103 explores how lipid nanoparticles — the technology behind the first mRNA COVID vaccines — are being repurposed by startups for mRNA therapies in rare liver diseases, cancer immunotherapies, and even inhaled lung treatments. Lucas and Luna break down the mechanics of LNPs, the race to improve tropism beyond the liver, and what the next wave of clinical trials means for patients. Featurin...

Episode 102 of Biotech Business with Fexingo dives into the emerging field of synthetic gene circuits that act as kill switches or logic gates for cell therapies. Lucas and Luna explore how startups like Senti Biosciences and Cellectis are engineering controllable CAR-T cells to reduce toxicity and improve safety. The hosts break down the science of AND-gates and safety switches, using concrete ex...

In this episode of Biotech Business with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna dive into prime editing, the next-generation gene-editing technology that promises to correct up to 89% of known disease-causing mutations. They explore how Prime Medicine, a startup founded by the technology's co-inventor Dr. David Liu, is leading the charge, and why prime editing offers key advantages over CRISPR and base editing —...

Episode 100 of Biotech Business with Fexingo celebrates a milestone by diving into RNA editing — a therapeutic approach that corrects mutations at the messenger RNA level without altering DNA. Lucas and Luna explain how startups like Wave Life Sciences and Ascidian Therapeutics are harnessing ADAR enzymes and synthetic RNA molecules to treat conditions from alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency to Rett s...

Episode 99 of Biotech Business with Fexingo focuses on base editing, a precise gene-editing technology that corrects point mutations without cutting DNA. Lucas and Luna discuss how startups like Beam Therapeutics are advancing base editors for sickle cell disease and beta-thalassemia, the differences from CRISPR, and the regulatory landscape as of mid-2026. They explore recent clinical data, deliv...

Episode 98 of Biotech Business with Fexingo dives into CAR-NK cell therapy, the emerging competitor to CAR-T that promises off-the-shelf availability and lower toxicity. Lucas and Luna explore why startups like Fate Therapeutics and Artiva Biotherapeutics are betting on natural killer cells over T cells, examining the science of reduced cytokine release syndrome and the engineering challenges of p...

In this episode of Biotech Business with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna explore how biotech startups are using artificial intelligence to repurpose existing drugs for new indications. They focus on the case of Recursion Pharmaceuticals, which combines AI-driven high-throughput screening with a massive proprietary dataset to identify potential candidates in weeks rather than years. The hosts discuss speci...

Antibody-drug conjugates, or ADCs, are one of the hottest areas in cancer drug development. In this episode of Biotech Business with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna dive into the revolution happening in the ADC space, anchored by the recent FDA approval of Enhertu for HER2-low breast cancer—a paradigm shift that expanded the definition of a treatable patient population. They explore how startups are engin...

Most cancer drugs attack the tumor directly. But a growing number of biotech startups are taking a smarter approach: synthetic lethality. Instead of hitting the cancer cell head-on, they exploit its own genetic weaknesses. In this episode, Lucas and Luna look at the science behind synthetic lethality and how it's being commercialized. They break down the landmark example of PARP inhibitors in BRCA...

Lucas and Luna explore the rise of drug conjugates beyond the well-known antibody-drug conjugates. They focus on a specific case: a startup called CuraConjugate, which uses peptide-drug conjugates to target pancreatic cancer with a novel linker technology. The episode covers the challenges of linker chemistry, how the payload is released only at the tumor site, and why this approach could reduce s...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how biotech startups are using proteomics—the large-scale study of proteins—to discover new drug targets beyond genomics. They focus on the case of Seer, a proteomics company that has developed a proprietary nanoparticle technology to capture the proteome from blood samples, enabling deep profiling without the need for costly mass spectrometry upgrades. Luca...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna dive into the world of antisense oligonucleotides, or ASOs, a therapeutic modality that is quietly transforming treatment for certain neurological diseases. They focus on the case of nusinersen, the ASO drug for spinal muscular atrophy developed by Ionis Pharmaceuticals and Biogen, which went from a scientific concept to FDA approval in under a decade. Lucas explain...

Episode 91 of Biotech Business with Fexingo dives into the next wave of cancer immunotherapy: bispecific antibodies that bring T cells right next to tumor cells. Lucas and Luna break down the mechanics, using the FDA approval of blinatumomab as a starting point, then explore how startups are now targeting solid tumors with new generations of bispecifics. They discuss key challenges like cytokine r...

Episode 90 of Biotech Business with Fexingo explores how startups are using organ-on-a-chip technology to replace animal testing in drug development. Lucas and Luna dive into the specific example of Emulate's Human Liver-Chip, which mimics human liver function and has shown 87% accuracy in predicting drug-induced liver injury in clinical trials. They discuss how these microfluidic devices reduce r...

Episode 89 of Biotech Business with Fexingo explores how biotech startups are leveraging induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to transform drug discovery and disease modeling. Lucas and Luna dive into the science behind reprogramming adult cells into pluripotent stem cells, enabling patient-specific organoids and high-throughput screening. They discuss real-world applications, including how comp...

Episode 88 of Biotech Business dives into phage display technology, the protein engineering tool behind some of the most successful antibody drugs. Lucas and Luna use a concrete example: a startup using phage display to discover a bispecific antibody for an autoimmune disease. They break down the process — from the M13 bacteriophage to panning libraries to optimizing hits — and discuss why this te...

In this episode of Biotech Business with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna dive into directed evolution — the Nobel Prize-winning technique that lets biotech startups evolve enzymes in the lab to solve industrial and therapeutic challenges. They explore the story of Codexis, a company that evolved an enzyme to make the blockbuster cholesterol drug Lipitor more efficiently, saving Pfizer millions. Lucas expl...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how early-stage biotech companies are targeting the gut-brain axis to treat neurological conditions. They focus on Axial Therapeutics, a startup developing a small-molecule drug to reduce systemic inflammation in Parkinson's disease. The hosts walk through the biology: how gut bacteria produce metabolites that can cross the blood-brain barrier and influence...

In this episode of Biotech Business with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna dive into the world of CRISPR base editing, a precision gene-editing technology that's changing how biotech startups approach genetic diseases like sickle cell anemia. They focus on the case of Beam Therapeutics, a Cambridge-based startup that's leading the charge with its proprietary base-editing platform. Lucas explains how base ed...

Episode 84 of Biotech Business with Fexingo explores how startups are leveraging liquid biopsies—blood tests that detect circulating tumor DNA—to catch cancer earlier than traditional methods. Lucas and Luna break down the technology behind companies like Guardant Health and Exact Sciences, explain why sensitivity and specificity matter, and discuss the business challenge of convincing insurers an...

Episode 83 of Biotech Business with Fexingo dives into targeted radionuclide therapy — a precision approach that delivers radioactive isotopes directly to cancer cells. Lucas and Luna explore how startups like Radiopharm Therapeutics and AlphaQuest Biologics are developing novel ligands and chelators to attach isotopes like lutetium-177 and actinium-225 to tumor-specific targets. They discuss the...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore how biotech startups are combining single-cell RNA sequencing with proteomics and epigenomics to uncover disease mechanisms that bulk sequencing misses. They focus on the specific case of a startup called Oncode, which used multiomics to identify a novel drug target for pancreatic cancer by profiling rare cell populations in tumor biopsies. The discussion co...

In this episode of Biotech Business with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna explore the cutting-edge world of targeted protein degradation. They focus on a specific case: Arvinas and its PROTAC drug ARV-471 for breast cancer. Lucas breaks down how PROTACs work like tiny matchmakers, hijacking the cell's trash disposal to destroy disease-causing proteins that traditional drugs can't touch. They discuss the 'u...

Episode 80 of Biotech Business with Fexingo dives into the expanding world of mRNA therapeutics beyond COVID-19 vaccines. Lucas and Luna explore how startups like Moderna and smaller biotechs are now targeting rare genetic diseases using lipid nanoparticle delivery and self-amplifying RNA. They discuss the case of Orna Therapeutics and its circular RNA platform for treating ornithine transcarbamyl...