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The Biotech Startups Podcast

🧬Chris Moxham - Transcripta Bio - Part 2 | From Eli Lilly Recruit to NYC Lab Builder | Leading High-Stakes Drug Discovery | Pioneering Quantitative Biology | "Making the Trains Run on Time"

Nov 14, 2024
29:34
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Part 2 of 4: Jon Chee hosts Chris Moxham, the Co-Founder, CEO, and CSO of Transcripta Bio, a pioneering biotech company charting a faster path in drug discovery to create better lives for people around the world.

Chris earned his PhD in Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology at Stony Brook University and is a seasoned veteran with over 25 years of drug discovery experience, having spent two decades at Eli Lilly where he was instrumental in advancing over 10 molecules into clinical trials across multiple therapeutic areas and both small and large molecule modalities. 

Chris has a wealth of knowledge, and his commitment to both scientific advancement and team growth makes his insights invaluable for aspiring leaders in biotech.

Join us this week to hear about:

  • How he got recruited to Eli Lilly through persistent outreach by VP Jose Caro, who recognized Chris's potential 
  • How Chris advanced rapidly from obesity research to heading lead generation biology at Lilly Indianapolis
  • His experience successfully leading a complex $20M lab buildout in NYC after Lilly's ImClone acquisition
  • Transitioning to biotech as CSO at Fulcrum Therapeutics, where he gained valuable experience in investor relations and helped raise $200M in public markets
  • What it means to serve as CEO developing an innovative "drug machine" platform that combines machine learning with wet lab approaches 

Please enjoy Jon’s conversation with Chris Moxham.


Find Our Guest, Chris Moxham, at these links: 

Find Our Host, Jon Chee, at these links: 

Excedr Socials & Website

Enriched Notes:

Topics Mentioned:
Fulcrum Therapeutics https://www.fulcrumtx.com/

Biotech Partnerships: How Partnering with Big Pharma Can Support R&D: https://www.excedr.com/blog/how-biotech-partnerships-support-research

People Mentioned:

Timestamps:
00:49 Intro
02:31 "The Power of Persistence in Recruiting" - How Jose Caro's personal outreach convinced Chris to join Eli Lilly
05:31 Early days at Lilly: Transitioning from obesity research to high-throughput screening platforms
08:18 Leadership evolution: Key lessons in scaling from small teams to managing 45+ scientists
12:16 Cultural contrasts: Navigating the different environments between Merck and Eli Lilly
14:48 "Making Your Own Opportunities" - How Chris engineered his move to Lilly's NYC labs
17:31 Building from the ground up: Creating Quantitative Biology for antibody discovery despite initial resistance
20:20 The biotech leap: Transitioning to Fulcrum and experiencing the startup world
23:07 Leading a $20M lab buildout: Unexpected challenges in construction and coordination
27:23 "Making the trains run on time" - Critical lessons in project management and execution
28:50 Outro
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