Biotech 2050 Podcast

Synopsis: Geoff Nosrati is the Chief Business Officer of Nutcracker Therapeutics, an early-stage company that is pioneering a revolutionary therapeutic development and manufacturing platform designed to enable the advancement of RNA-based treatments for as many diseases as possible. Early in his career, Geoff joined McKinsey & Co. as a consultant, working with biotech and pharma companies. He then worked with several small oncology-focused biotech companies, including Aduro Biotech and ImmunoScape before joining Nutcracker. In this episode he provides his perspective on the RNA space as it stands right now and the diversity of applications that exist, some of the opportunities and challenges of working on an RNA therapeutic, how he thinks about indication selection, Nutcracker’s complete RNA platform and the work they’re doing to develop therapeutics, and where the company is now from a building and R&D perspective. Biography: As Chief Business Officer, Geoff oversees Nutcracker’s business development and corporate strategy functions. Prior to Nutcracker, Geoff served as Chief Business Officer at ImmunoScape and as SVP of Strategy and Corporate Development at Aduro Biotech. Earlier in his career, Geoff was a consultant with McKinsey & Co., where he primarily served clients across the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Geoff was awarded a B.S. in Chemistry from Duke University and received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Synopsis: John LaMattina is the former President of Global R&D at Pfizer and is currently a Senior Partner at PureTech Health. A self-proclaimed defender of the pharmaceutical industry, Dr. LaMattina worked at Pfizer for 30 years before joining the biotech industry as a board member for a variety of different biotech companies. His recently published book, “Pharma and Profits”, talks about the misconceptions around COVID-19 vaccines and other areas including the cost of drugs, and the impact that the passing of the IRA Act will have on R&D going forward. In this episode he also discusses how biotech leaders should be thinking about the new IRA Act legislation and what changes they should anticipate. Biography: Dr. John L. LaMattina is the former Senior Vice President, Pfizer Inc and President, Pfizer Global Research and Development. In this role, Dr. LaMattina oversaw the drug discovery and development efforts of over 13,000 colleagues in the United States, Europe and Asia. He retired from this position in December, 2007. Dr. LaMattina spent 30 years at Pfizer Inc having joined as a medicinal chemist in 1977. Over the years, he held positions of increasing responsibility for Pfizer Central Research, including Vice President of US Discovery Operations in 1993, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Discovery Operations in 1998 and Senior Vice President of Worldwide Development in 1999. Dr. LaMattina graduated cum laude from Boston College in 1971 with a B.S. in Chemistry. He attended the University of New Hampshire receiving a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry in 1975. He then moved on to Princeton University as a National Institutes of Health Postdoctoral Fellow in the laboratory of Professor E. C. Taylor. During his tenure as head of global R&D, Pfizer produced new treatments for cancer, smoking cessation, rheumatoid arthritis and AIDS. Dr. LaMattina is the author of numerous scientific publications and holds a number of U.S. patents. In addition, he is the author of Drug Truths: Dispelling the Myths About Pharma R&D and Devalued and Distrusted – Can the Pharmaceutical Industry Restore Its Broken Image? He is also a Forbes contributor. Dr. LaMattina has received a number of awards including the 1998 Boston College Alumni Award of Excellence in Science, the 2007 Equal Opportunity Award from Legal Momentum, an Honorary Doctor of Science degree from the University of New Hampshire and the 2010 American Chemical Society Earle Barnes Award for Leadership in Chemical Research Management. Dr. LaMattina is a Senior Partner and a member of the Board of Directors of PureTech Health. He serves on the Board of Directors of Ligand Pharmaceuticals, Immunome and Vedanta. Dr. LaMattina also serves as a Trustee Associate on the Board of Trustees of Boston College.

Synopsis: Luba Greenwood is the CEO of Kojin Therapeutics and Managing Partner of Dana Farber Cancer Institute Venture Fund. Kojin Therapeutics harnesses groundbreaking discoveries in cell state and ferroptosis biology to create novel therapies and cures for diseases traditionally considered intractable. The Dana Farber Cancer Institute Venture Fund accelerates the development of new research and technologies to treat incurable diseases, particularly in oncology and immunology. Luba discusses the early years of her career as a lawyer and how her legal experience relates to running a biotech company, her background in big pharma at Pfizer and Roche, and the work Kojin is doing in novel biology. She also dives into the qualities that she values in a board member, the importance of company culture, and her perspective on what good leadership looks like. Biography: Luba Greenwood is a leading figure in the biotech and digital health world with vast experience as an executive, investor, and company builder in the biotech, life sciences, diagnostics, and tech sectors. Luba is the Chief Executive Officer of Kojin Therapeutics, a world leader in ferroptosis, pioneering breakthrough medicines in oncology, immunology, neuro, metabolism, and inflammation. Most recently, Luba has served as the Managing Partner of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute Venture Fund, Binney Street Capital, which she has built and launched. She has also taught at Harvard University at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Previously, Ms. Greenwood served in leadership roles at Google Life Sciences, Verily, and was a VP Global Business Development and Mergers & Acquisitions at Roche, where she also established and led the East Coast Innovation Hub. Ms. Greenwood has led $5B+ in deals and investments across multiple therapeutic areas and life sciences globally. She has also co-founded companies in the oncology, AI/ML, women’s health and microbiome space. Luba began her career as a lawyer, practicing at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr. She is a recipient of several awards and honors for her work in the community, including the Science Club for Girls Catalyst Award for her commitment to advocating for women in science and technology.

Synopsis: Amber Salzman is the CEO of Epic Bio, a company that develops therapies to dynamically control gene expression and treat complex diseases. Dr. Salzman started her career in big pharma at GlaxoSmithKline before transitioning to the biotech industry and focusing on rare diseases. In this episode, she sits down with host Rahul Chaturverdi to discuss her learnings from moving from big pharma to biotech, how her roles differ from being a CEO vs. being a board member, her perspective on pursuing interesting technology in biotech, the work Epic Bio is doing in the gene therapy space, and the role of patient advocacy in early stage biotechs. Biography: Amber Salzman, Ph.D., is Epic Bio’s chief executive officer and director. Dr. Salzman is a leader with more than 30 years of experience in the pharmaceuticals industry. Before joining Epic Bio, Dr. Salzman served as the president and CEO of Ohana Biosciences, pioneering the industry’s first sperm biology platform. Before Ohana, she served as the president and CEO of Adverum Biotechnologies and was a co-founder of Annapurna, SAS, where she served as president and CEO before its merger with Avalanche Biotechnologies to become Adverum. In that role, she saw the company’s stock price double. Dr. Salzman began her career as a member of the GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) research and development executive team, where she was responsible for operations in drug development across multiple therapeutic areas, overseeing global clinical trials with over 30,000 enrolled patients, managing 1,600 employees and a $1.25B budget. Following her time at GSK, Dr. Salzman served as the CEO of Cardiokine, a pharmaceutical company that developed treatments for the prevention of cardiovascular diseases and saw the successful sale of the company to Cornerstone Therapeutics. Dr. Salzman currently serves on the Osler Diagnostics (UK) and AviadoBio (UK) Boards. Dr. Salzman received her bachelor’s degree from Temple University and holds a Ph.D. in mathematics from Bryn Mawr College. In addition to advocating for patients living with rare diseases, Dr. Salzman leads the Stop ALD Foundation, a non-profit medical research foundation focused on developing novel gene therapies for adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD).

Synopsis: Sean Bohen is the President and CEO of Olema Oncology, a company dedicated to developing targeted therapies for women with breast cancer. An oncologist by training, Dr. Bohen has a background in big pharma, having worked at Genentech and AstraZeneca before joining Olema. He talks with host Rahul Chaturverdi about the differences between working for biotech and big pharma companies, the work his team is pursuing at Olema, the opportunities and challenges within the breast cancer landscape, the ups and downs of running a biotech company and managing a team with the current market dynamics, and the importance of partnerships and how they can strength companies. Biography: Dr. Bohen has served as Chief Executive Officer of Olema Oncology and a member of the Board of Directors since September 2020. He is also a non-executive director of Gyroscope Therapeutics, Ltd. and AltruBio, Inc. He has extensive oncology drug development experience, having served as Executive Vice President, Global Medicines Development, and Chief Medical Officer at AstraZeneca PLC. Before that, he held a number of senior leadership roles at Genentech, Inc., including Senior Vice President, Early Development, Genentech Research and Early Development. Prior to Genentech, he was a Clinical Instructor in Oncology at Stanford University School of Medicine; a research associate at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute; and a postdoctoral fellow at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Dr. Bohen received a B.S. in bacteriology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a Ph.D. in biochemistry and biophysics and an M.D. from the University of California, San Francisco.

Synopsis: Bill Hinshaw is the President and CEO of Axcella Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering a new approach to treat complex diseases using endogenous metabolic modulator (EMM) compositions. Bill entered biotech a little over four years ago following a long life sciences career in pharma, working for companies such as Novartis and Schering Plough. He joins host Rahul Chaturverdi for a discussion about where Axcella is from a development perspective and the therapeutic areas they’re pursuing, the company’s work to treat long Covid, the challenges of developing drugs to treat nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), and Axcella’s “combination by design” multi-targeted approach to tackle complex diseases. Read More on Axcella Announces Positive Interim Data from Phase 2b EMMPACT Study of AXA1125 in Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH) https://bit.ly/3U0iEa6 Biography: Mr. Hinshaw joined Axcella as CEO in May 2018. He is the former Executive Vice President of U.S. Oncology at Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, having served 15 years with the organization. Mr. Hinshaw led all aspects of this >$6B organization, heading up more than a dozen product launches, including Tasigna®, Gleevec®, and Kymriah®; the integration of the GSK oncology portfolio; innovative medical, commercial, and market access models; and a patient-centric focus on education and support programs. He also played a key role on the Global Oncology Executive Committee, including leading key strategic programs to maximize the portfolio and pipeline development. Mr. Hinshaw was formerly the Head of the Northern and Central Europe Region for Novartis Oncology where he was responsible for leading all functions across 33 countries. Prior to that role, Mr. Hinshaw was the head of Group Emerging Markets, which included all divisions of Novartis in 50 countries worldwide. Prior to his role as EVP, Mr. Hinshaw held a number of lead roles for Novartis, including Head of the Hematology Business Franchise, which achieved >20% overall growth each year under Mr. Hinshaw’s leadership. He also was the Global Head of Infectious Disease and Transplantation and Immunology (IDTI) based out of Basel, Switzerland, with responsibility for all functions of the organization, including commercial, development, BD&L, and strategy for the Business Unit. Other Novartis positions held by Mr. Hinshaw included Global Head of Infectious Disease Marketing and IDTI Development and Business Development & Licensing; Business Franchise Head, Infectious Disease; and Head of Infectious Disease Marketing. Mr. Hinshaw started his career at Schering Plough, where over the course of 12 years, he held a series of roles of increasing responsibility in the sales and marketing functions in both primary care and specialty business units, including market research, new products and in-line brand management, and sales positions at the representative, district, regional, and national levels. He also led the U.S. Oncology Unit where he was responsible for sales, marketing and business development. Mr. Hinshaw holds a B.S. in Molecular Biology from the University of Wisconsin.

Synopsis: Jeremy Levin is the Chairman and CEO of Ovid Therapeutics, a company that develops medicines to treat patients with rare neurological conditions, including epilepsies and seizure-related disorders. Dr. Levin earned a PhD from Oxford and medical and surgical degrees from Cambridge before moving to the States in the late 1980s and eventually working in big pharma for companies such as Teva Pharmaceuticals and Bristol-Myers Squibb. He discusses how his formative years shaped his personal philosophy and mission to change the world for the better, the differences he experienced from running big pharma companies to early stage biotech startups, the science at Ovid and their pipeline, and his hopes for R&D in neurology over the next 10-20 years. Biography: Jeremy Levin, D.Phil, MB BChir, is chairman and chief executive officer of Ovid Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ: OVID), a company whose mission is to bring treatments to patients with rare neurological conditions. Dr. Levin is concurrently the chairman of Opthea (NASDAQ.OPT). Prior to founding Ovid, Dr. Levin was president and CEO of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., (TLV: TEVA). Before Teva, Dr. Levin was a member of the executive committee Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE: BMY). In that capacity, he was the architect, lead and implementer of the String of Pearls Strategy, which transformed Bristol and facilitated the dawn and massive growth of the immuno-oncology revolution in the biopharmaceutical industry. Dr. Levin joined Bristol from Novartis (NYSE: NVS), where he was the global head of strategic alliances. He has served as a member of the board of directors of various public and private biopharmaceutical companies, including Biocon Ltd., (NSE: BIOCON), and is currently on the board of directors of Lundbeck (OMX: LUN). Dr. Levin also serves on the board and executive committee of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) as the immediate past chairman. Dr. Levin was voted as one of the 25 most influential biotechnology leaders by Fierce Biotech, one of the top three biotechnology CEOs by The Healthcare Technology Report and one of the PharmaVoice100 CEOs in 2020. He was selected by Endpoints in 2021 as one of the 60 living pioneers of the industry. He is the recipient of the Albert Einstein Award for Leadership in Life Sciences and the B’nai B’rith Award for Distinguished Achievement. In June 2020, he edited and published the best seller “Biotechnology in the Time of Covid-19”. Dr Levin has been widely quoted and interviewed in national and international news outlets and life science industry-related publications. He believes that the role of leaders in business is to take a public stand on public policy matters as a core part of their business strategy and responsibility to shareholders, industry and society. He is committed to a public stance on key aspects of society and industry, including, but not limited to: encouraging immigration; policies that drive innovation; patient access to medicines; the principles of diversity, equity and inclusion; the primacy of medicine and science as the sole determinants to develop medical products; and the democratic right to vote for all citizens. Dr. Levin has practiced medicine at university hospitals in England, South Africa and Switzerland. Dr. Levin earned a First-Class Bachelor in Zoology, winning the University Prize, and subsequently, was awarded a master’s degree and doctorate in chromatin structure, at the University of Oxford. Thereafter, he earned his medical and surgical degrees from the University of Cambridge, where he won the Kermode Prize for his work on Captopril.

Synopsis: Keith Flaherty is the Director of Clinical Research at Mass General Cancer Center and a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Flaherty is a medical oncologist and has worked in the field for 22 years, during which he has founded seven biotech companies. He joins Rahul for an in-depth conversation about his work in oncology. They cover a wide range of topics including his early decision in school to switch from neuroscience to oncology, his entrepreneurial journey and what he’s learned along the way, his perspective on the immuno-oncology landscape and opportunities that lie ahead in this field, what he values in a board and how you can be most effective as a board member, and much more. Biography: Dr. Keith Flaherty is the Director of Clinical Research at Mass General Cancer Center, a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and an Associate Physician of Medicine, Hematology/Oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Flaherty is also the Deputy Chair for Biomarker Sciences and the Chair of the Developmental Therapeutics Committee in the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group. Dr. Flaherty has served as Principal Investigator for numerous first-in-human clinical trials with novel, targeted therapies, including the first in-human trials of the first prospectively developed selective BRAF inhibitors for metastatic melanoma and has published more than 300 peer-reviewed papers. He currently serves on the board of directors of Scorpion Therapeutics (founder), Strata Oncology (founder), Kinnate Biopharma, and Clovis Oncology. Dr. Flaherty has a Bachelor of Science from Yale University and medical degree from Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Flaherty trained in internal medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and completed a medical oncology fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania.

Synopsis: Dennis Zaller is the Chief Scientific Officer of ROME Therapeutics, a company developing novel therapies for cancer and autoimmune diseases by harnessing the power of the dark genome, defined as vast stretches of uncharted genetic material that have long been dismissed as “junk DNA.” Dennis joins host Rahul Chaturverdi for a conversation about ROME’s unique path to conquering disease and the multiple drug discovery programs they have underway. They also discuss Dennis’ transition to biotech after having worked in big pharma for 30 years, the application of data science and drug development at ROME tx, what the company’s pipeline and company building looks like over the next several years, and how the dynamic between biotech and big pharma has changed over the last 10-20 years, and where it’s headed. Biography: Dennis is Chief Scientific Officer at ROME Therapeutics. He has more than 30 years of experience in the biopharma industry. Most recently, he spent five years as executive director, integrative sciences at Celgene (later Bristol Myers Squibb). In this role, he provided scientific leadership across a large portfolio of external collaborations with early stage biotechs that helped bring six novel molecules to the clinic. During his time at Celgene, Dennis participated in more than 20 joint steering research committees with biotechs and academic collaborators and helped bring six novel molecules to the clinic. Prior to Celgene, he spent 25 years at Merck Research Laboratories in a series of roles with increasing responsibility leading large drug discovery teams at Merck’s New Jersey and Boston sites. While at Merck, Dennis helped to advance 28 molecules into the clinic resulting in eight marketed drugs, including aprepitant, sitagliptin and vibegron. Before joining industry, he conducted academic research at the California Institute of Technology. Dennis has a B.S. from the State University of New York at Albany, and an M.A., M.Phil. & Ph.D. from Columbia University. He is an author of more than 60 manuscripts in leading journals covering a variety of scientific discoveries and is an inventor on seven patents.

Synopsis: This episode is co-hosted by Chris Ghadban at BIOS Builders. Guests Tim Lu and Kanya Rajangam are the Co-Founder & CEO and Chief Medical and Development Officer, respectively, of Senti Bio, a company that develops and manufactures intelligent gene circuits for use in next-generation cell and gene therapies across therapeutic areas and modalities. They join Chris and Alok for a conversation about how Senti Bio uses its gene circuit technologies to increase the efficacy of cancer treatments. They also discuss their path to an IND from the FDA, some of the challenges they still have to overcome, and the potential their platform has for enabling future cell therapies. Watch on BIOS Builders: https://bit.ly/3sNe5EZ Biography: Tim Lu has served as Senti Bio’s CEO since he co-founded the company in 2016. Since 2010, Dr. Lu has been an MIT faculty member in the departments of Biological Engineering and Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. In addition, Dr. Lu has been a co-founder and a Scientific Advisory Board member to a number of biotechnology and biopharmaceutical companies, including BiomX, Corvium, Eligo Bioscience, Engine Biosciences, Synlogic and Tango Therapeutics. Dr. Lu earned his M.D. from Harvard Medical School and his Ph.D. in Electrical and Biomedical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology as part of the Harvard-MIT Health Sciences and Technology Medical Engineering and Medical Physics Program. Dr. Lu has extensive experience in the field of synthetic biology and has received numerous awards: NIH New Innovator Award, US President Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, MIT Technology Review’s TR35, Navy and Army Young Investigator Prizes and others. Kanya Rajangam is responsible for leading the development and regulatory strategy to rapidly advance Senti Bio's off-the-shelf CAR-NK cell oncology programs into and through clinical development. Dr. Rajangam served in leadership roles at various biotech companies, most recently Nkarta Therapeutics where, as chief medical officer, she was responsible for clinical development of CAR-NK cell therapies for oncology. Prior to Nkarta, she was chief medical officer at Atara Biotherapeutics where she led the development of T-cell therapies for oncology, neurology and infectious diseases. Prior to that, Dr. Rajangam was chief medical officer of Cleave Biosciences, where she led oncology clinical development programs. Prior to becoming a chief medical officer, Dr. Rajangam gained relevant senior leadership experience at Onyx and Exelixis, while contributing to the clinical development and global approval of several marketed oncology products including Kyprolis®, Cotellic® and Cometriq®/Cabometyx®. Dr. Rajangam currently serves on the board of directors of Turnstone Biologics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing next-generation tumor infiltrating lymphocyte cell therapies and oncolytic virus cancer immunotherapies. Dr. Rajangam received a medical degree from St. Johns’ Medical College and completed her surgical residency with a focus on oncology at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), both in India. She received a Ph.D. in biomedical cell and tissue engineering from Northwestern University.