Xtalks Life Science Podcast

In this episode, Ayesha speaks with Ebrahim S. Delpassand, MD, Founder and CEO of RadioMedix , a company developing innovative radiopharmaceuticals for cancer diagnosis, monitoring and treatment. With a focus on both PET imaging and therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals labeled with alpha and beta emitters, RadioMedix is helping to shape the future of precision oncology. Dr. Delpassand brings a wealth...

In this episode, Ayesha speaks with Norman Putzki, MD, Senior Vice President and Global Development Head of Neuroscience and Gene Therapy at Novartis, about the complexities and real-world challenges of bringing new therapies to patients with neurological diseases. Dr. Putzki discusses the challenges and opportunities in developing treatments for complex brain disorders, and how gene therapy is be...

In this episode, Ayesha speaks with Sumita Bhatta, MD, Vice President and Global Development Therapeutic Head of Rare Disease at Amgen. In the conversation, Dr. Bhatta shares insights on how large pharmaceutical companies like Amgen are approaching innovation and patient-centricity in the rare disease space. She also discusses the unique challenges and opportunities in developing therapies for sma...

In this episode, Ayesha spoke with Paul Romness, MHP, chair and CEO of OS Therapies , a company developing novel immunotherapies for cancers like osteosarcoma and other solid tumors. Paul shares insights into OS Therapies’ lead program, the scientific rationale behind the company’s innovative immunotherapy approach and how the company is addressing unmet needs in osteosarcoma. Paul has over 25 yea...

In this episode, Ayesha spoke with Dr. Shaharyar Khan, co-founder and chief scientific officer at Rivus Pharmaceuticals . Rivus is developing a new class of investigational medicines called controlled metabolic accelerators (CMAs) for cardiometabolic diseases like diabetes, heart disease, heart failure and MASH by targeting obesity. Dr. Khan is an expert in the field of mitochondrial biology and t...

In this episode, Ayesha spoke with Marc Hedrick, MD, MBA, president and CEO of Plus Therapeutics, a company focused on developing a novel class of targeted radiotherapeutics. Prior to heading Plus Therapeutics, Dr. Hedrick served in a number of executive leadership roles including president, CEO and director at Cytori Therapeutics, and president and CEO of StemSource.  Dr. Hedrick is a trained gen...

In this episode, Ayesha spoke with Carlos Martin, MBA, chief commercial operations and revenue officer at Rocket Pharmaceuticals , a company developing gene therapy cures for rare diseases through innovative science and platforms. Carlos joined Rocket in April 2021 and established the company’s early commercial strategy and infrastructure as Chief Commercial Officer. Prior to joining Rocket, Carlo...

In this episode, Ayesha spoke with Marshall Fordyce, MD, founder and CEO of Vera Therapeutics , a company focused on developing treatments for autoimmune diseases. Dr. Fordyce founded Vera in 2016 as an entrepreneur in residence at Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, took the company public in 2021 and has advanced its lead molecule through a successful Phase II trial in IgA nephropathy. The compa...

In this episode, Ayesha spoke with Shalabh Gupta, MD, founder, chairman and CEO of Unicycive Therapeutics , a company focused on addressing unmet medical needs in renal diseases. Kidney diseases are a major global health concern. In the US, chronic kidney disease (CKD) affects more than one in seven individuals, and one in three adults with diabetes may have the condition. Before founding Unicyciv...

Join us as we celebrate a major milestone — the 200th episode of the Xtalks Life Science Podcast! From groundbreaking biotech innovations to exclusive interviews with life science industry innovators and leaders, we've covered it all. Thank you for tuning in each week! We look forward to continuing to bring the latest and greatest across the pharma, biotech and medical industries! In this episode,...

In this episode, Vera spoke with Ann Beliën, PhD, founder and CEO of Rejuvenate Biomed , a biotech company leveraging AI-driven platforms to develop therapies for age-related diseases and promote healthy aging. Rejuvenate Biomed is aiming to transform the treatment landscape for diseases such as sarcopenia, neuromuscular, metabolic and neurodegenerative disorders. Dr. Beliën founded Rejuvenate Bio...

In this episode, Ayesha spoke with Anthea Cherednichenko, MPH, MBA, Vice President, Hematology Franchise Head, Takeda, who discussed driving innovation in rare diseases through collaborations focused on better serving patients and their communities. Anthea has more than a decade of global experience serving the rare disease community, particularly those with blood and bleeding disorders, at Takeda...

In this episode, Ayesha spoke with Lee Honigberg, PhD, VP of Research & Development, ALZpath , a provider of diagnostic tools for Alzheimer’s disease.    This includes a blood-based biomarker assay, called the ALZpathDx assay, which measures pTau217 in the blood. Prior to joining ALZpath, Dr. Honigberg was most recently Senior Director and Distinguished Scientist in Translational Medicine at G...

In this episode, Vera speaks with Oded Kraft, Co-Founder, CEO and President of GrayMatters Health , a company transforming mental health care through evidence-based digital brain biomarker technology. Oded shares insights into GrayMatters Health’s mission to improve patient outcomes for mental health disorders like PTSD by leveraging their proprietary EEG-fMRI-Pattern (EFP) biomarker. He discusses...

In this episode, Ayesha spoke with Mario Marcondes, MD, PhD, VP Head of Clinical Development at Nektar Therapeutics , a company focused on the discovery and development of novel therapies for autoimmune disorders and cancer. Dr. Marcondes is a licensed and trained physician, specializing in oncology and immune oncology. He has more than 15 years of research and teaching experience in Bone Marrow T...

In this episode, Ayesha spoke with Sarah Averill Lott, MPH, CPH, Research Lead at Digital Medicine Society (DiMe) and Diane Stephenson, PhD, Executive Director at the Critical Path for Parkinson (CPP) at the Critical Path Institute . DiMe is a global non-profit and a professional home for digital medicine that aims to drive the broad adoption of digital approaches to advance medicine and public he...

In this episode, Ayesha spoke with Amit Etkin, Founder, President and CEO of Alto Neuroscience , a company developing precision treatments for neuropsychiatric conditions. Alto Neuroscience is focused on designing candidates that target core brain processes in patient populations not adequately treated by currently available medications. Alto is currently pursuing candidates in major depressive di...

In this episode, Vera spoke with Dr. Robert Den, Chief Medical Officer (CMO) of Alpha Tau Medical , a company developing cancer treatment with its highly potent alpha radiation technology. Dr. Den shared his journey to becoming CMO at Alpha Tau Medical and discussed the company’s mission to bring innovative cancer therapies to patients worldwide. Learn how Alpha Tau’s technology differs from tradi...

In this episode, Ayesha spoke with Judy Chou, PhD, CEO, President and Board member of AltruBio , a company developing first-in-class immunomodulators to target diseases of the immune system. AltruBio’s pipeline includes compounds being investigated for indications such as ulcerative colitis, psoriatic arthritis and acute graft vs. host disease. Prior to joining AltruBio, Dr. Chou headed the global...

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...