The Long Run with Luke Timmerman Ep189: Marc Tessier-Lavigne on Reinventing Drug Discovery with AI
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Nov 12, 2025 
Marc Tessier-Lavigne, a renowned neuroscientist and CEO of Xaira Therapeutics, shares insights on transforming drug discovery with AI. He discusses his journey from a military upbringing and academic career in neuroscience to leading innovative efforts at Zara. The conversation dives into the utilization of generative AI for protein design, tackling complex membrane targets, and creating models to understand disease drivers. Marc emphasizes the importance of collaboration in the biotech community and aims to revolutionize timelines and success rates in drug development.
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Big Launch And Clean Slate
- Marc Tessier-Lavigne described Zara's founding around David Baker's protein design work and a broad AI drug-discovery vision.
- He emphasized the company's $1 billion launch and clean-slate opportunity to remake R&D.
From Basic Discovery To Translation
- Marc recalled identifying axon guidance molecules and co-founding startups to translate his lab discoveries.
- He cited personal motivations: Paralyzed Veterans funding and his father's stroke pushed him toward translational work.
Platform Plus Product Synergy
- Zara tackles target choice, drug design, and patient selection together to capture synergies across discovery.
- Marc argues integrating product and platform work helps generate the data needed to train useful AI models.