🧬 High-Throughput Innovation & Breaking Biotech Bottlenecks | Judy Chou (Part 2/4)
The Biotech Startups Podcast
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Running a 'Startup Within a Company'
Judy reflects on building a Genentech department outside campus with startup autonomy and product focus.
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🧬 The Biotech Startups Podcast is powered by Excedr—helping life science startups accelerate R&D and commercialization with founder-friendly equipment leasing. Skip the upfront costs, stay lean, and focus on breakthrough science.
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"Don't go where the path may lead you. Instead, go where there's no path and leave a trail."
In this episode of The Biotech Startups Podcast, President & CEO of AltruBio, Judy Chou, shares her pivotal transition from academia to industry, revealing how she left AbbVie when the company went idle after Humira's launch to pursue more meaningful work at Wyeth. Despite Humira becoming one of the most successful drugs in history, the company's uncertainty about biologics left Judy feeling unable to fulfill her mission to make a difference for patients.
Judy describes how she pioneered high-throughput screening for biologics at Wyeth, earning the nickname "High-Throughput Lady" when colleagues thought her ideas were crazy. She explains how she adapted small molecule screening techniques to biologics despite widespread skepticism, ultimately generating 10 grams per liter antibody production for the first time and winning Wyeth's President Award for the biggest business impact of the year. Judy also recounts being recruited to Genentech to build a revolutionary product-driven department in Oceanside, where Ann Lee's vision to break vertical silos and create a "startup within a major company" generated much of the pipeline Genentech still develops today.
Key topics covered:
- Leadership Philosophy: Balancing management expertise with hands-on technical understanding across multiple disciplines
- High-Throughput Innovation: Introducing robotics and screening tools that became industry standard despite initial mockery
- Analytical Tools as "Eyes and Ears": Creating bioanalytical methods for biomanufacturing that accelerated development timelines
- Product-Driven Departments: Building Genentech's Oceanside facility using Toyota's cross-functional model instead of traditional vertical silos
- Mindset Over Structure: Why focusing on getting products to the finish line faster matters more than having the best individual technologies
​If you enjoy The Biotech Startups Podcast, please consider subscribing, leaving a review, or sharing it with your friends. Thanks for listening.
Subscribe to the Podcast:
Find our guest, Judy Chou at these links:
Website: https://www.altrubio.com/altrubio/en
Find our host, Jon Chee, at these links:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonchee
Learn more about Excedr:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/excedr/
Website: https://www.excedr.com
Intro & Outro Songs Created by OkKyojin, Owned by Excedr:
Website: https://flow.page/kyojin
Resources & Articles:
High-Throughput Screening in Biologics:
Bioanalytical Tools in Biomanufacturing:
Cell Culture Engineering and Development: https://engconf.us/conferences/biotechnology/cell-culture-engineering-xix/
Monoclonal Antibody Production and Development:
Toyota Production System and Cross-Functional Teams:
Companies, Universities, & People mentioned:
AbbVie: https://www.abbvie.com/
Wyeth (now part of Pfizer): https://www.pfizer.com/
Genentech: https://www.gene.com/
Gilead Sciences: https://www.gilead.com/
​
Ann Lee-Karlon https://www.linkedin.com/in/ann-lee-karlon-a9592424
Tim Charlebois https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-charlebois-25a109b/
​Bob Ruffolo https://www.linkedin.com/in/bob-ruffolo-28366b9/
Napoleone Ferrara https://www.linkedin.com/in/napoleone-ferrara-7202b3b/
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
02:14 Management Philosophy: Getting Your Hands Dirty vs. Pure Leadership
05:15 Leaving AbbVie After Humira Launch
09:12 Culture Shift: Moving from AbbVie to Wyeth
14:54 Pioneering High-Throughput Screening for Biologics
22:30 Industry Collaboration in Early Biotech Days
23:55 Genentech Recruitment: Breaking the Development Bottleneck
27:53 Building Oceanside: A Product-Driven Department from Scratch
31:40 Leading Cross-Functional Projects at Genentech
37:30 Product vs. Technology Innovation: Lessons on Organizational Change
38:13 Outro
The Biotech Startups Podcast gives you a front-row seat to the business and science of building a biotech. Hosted by Jon Chee, CEO of Excedr, the show features honest conversations with founders, execs, and investors about their work, their companies, and how they got there. From scientific breakthroughs to startup lessons, each episode explores what it really takes to grow a life science company—from pre-seed to IPO.
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