Christina Smolke

Dr. Christina Smolke, co-founder and CEO of Antheia, is on a mission to transform pharmaceutical production. She discusses the risks of U.S. reliance on foreign active pharmaceutical ingredients and how Antheia's innovative yeast fermentation technology can ensure domestic drug availability. Christina explains the unique process of programming yeast to produce critical medicines and reveals that Antheia has successfully launched its first product. She emphasizes their focus on resolving essential drug shortages and the rigorous safety standards governing their biosynthetic ingredients.

In this compelling discussion, investment lead Eugene Chiu, synthetic biology pioneer Christina Smolke, and mineral tech innovator Nathan Ratledge unpack the transformative power of engineered biology. They reveal how yeast can produce vital pharmaceuticals in just ten days and how proteins can safely separate rare earth elements, reshaping supply chains. Addressing U.S. resilience, they highlight infrastructure gaps and propose public-private partnerships to accelerate innovation. Their insights pave the way for a future where biology drives security and sustainability.

Guest Christa Smolke, Co-founder and CEO of Antheia, discusses turning yeast cells into tiny factories for drug production, potentially solving drug shortage issues. The podcast explores the challenges of engineering yeast to produce drugs, the use of yeast in disrupting traditional farming methods for drug ingredients, and the benefits of therapy and bioengineering insights.