🧬 Barry Ticho - Part 4 | Founding Verve Therapeutics Over Breakfast | Gene Editing for Cardiovascular Disease | Leadership Lessons From a First-Time Founder | Stoke’s Vision for RNA-Based Medicines

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Part 4 of 4: Jon Chee hosts Barry Ticho, Founder of Verve Therapeutics and Chief Medical Officer at Stoke Therapeutics, a biotech company addressing the underlying cause of severe diseases by upregulating protein expression with RNA-based medicines.

With an MD PhD from the University of Chicago and extensive experience across academia and industry, Barry brings over two decades of expertise in clinical development. His journey includes roles as Head of Development at Moderna, Head of External R&D Innovation at Pfizer, and VP of Clinical Development at Biogen, where he's been instrumental in advancing numerous therapeutic programs across multiple disease areas.

Barry's unique perspective spanning academic medicine and biotechnology innovation makes his insights invaluable for aspiring leaders in the field.

Please enjoy Jon’s conversation with Barry Ticho.

Subscribe to the podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-biotech-startups-podcast/id1679591994

https://www.linkedin.com/in/barryticho/ 

https://www.stoketherapeutics.com/ 

https://www.vervetherapeutics.com/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/excedr/ 

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@excedr 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/excedr_inc 

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ExcedrInc 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/excedr 

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@excedr 

Podcast Website: https://www.thebiotechstartupspodcast.com/ 

Verve Therapeutics: https://www.vervetx.com/

Stoke Therapeutics: https://www.stoketherapeutics.com/

Google Ventures: https://www.gv.com/

Mass General Hospital: https://www.massgeneral.org/

Brigham and Women’s Hospital: https://www.brighamandwomens.org/

Biogen: https://www.biogen.com/ 

University of Pennsylvania: https://www.upenn.edu/

Gene Editing and Its Impact on Cardiovascular Disease: https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/gene-therapy-for-cardiovascular-disease

RNA-Based Medicines for Rare Disease Treatment: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41419-022-05075-2

Biotech Partnerships With Big Pharma: https://www.excedr.com/blog/how-biotech-partnerships-support-research

Business Development in Biotech: https://www.excedr.com/resources/business-development-in-the-life-sciences

Biotech Funding Options: https://www.excedr.com/resources/biotech-startup-funding-options

Scaling Biotechs to Meet Key Milestones with Leasing: https://www.excedr.com/blog/how-leasing-helps-biotechs-scale-efficiently

Sekar Kathiresan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sekar-sek-kathiresan-3501846/

00:00 Intro

02:15 Founding Verve Therapeutics over breakfast

05:31 Gene editing for cardiovascular disease: The PCSK9 story

07:49 Barry’s experience as a first-time CEO

12:01 Joining Stoke Therapeutics and exploring RNA-based medicines

16:56 Building strong networks and the value of professional connections

22:09 Transitioning Stoke from private to public company

26:29 Hiring wisely and making difficult decisions quickly

30:09 Chief medical officer lessons: patient focus and team amplification

33:25 Stoke’s future: Dravet syndrome trials and pipeline expansion

35:12 Shouts and advice to younger self

37:23 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.