Biotech 2050 Podcast

Kleanthis is a serial biotechnology entrepreneur with over two decades of experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical research industries as an executive, company founder, chief executive officer, investor and board member. Dr. Xanthopoulos has founded five companies, introduced three life science companies to NASDAQ and financed and brokered numerous creative strategic alliance and partnership deals with large pharmaceutical partners. In addition to his role at Shoreline Biosciences, Dr. Xanthopoulos is the Chairman of Stork Capital Life Sciences which focuses on building and investing in innovative biotechnology companies. Dr. Xanthopoulos is a member of the board of directors of IRRAS AB, Connect Biopharma, (NASDAQ: CNTB), Zosano Pharma, Inc., (NASDAQ: ZSAN), and is the co-founder and a member of the board of directors of privately held Sente Inc. Previously, he served on the boards of LDO sp.a. (Milan, Italy), Odyssey Therapeutics, Anadys Pharmaceuticals and Regulus Therapeutics. Dr. Xanthopoulos participated in The Human Genome Project as a Section Head of the National Human Genome Research Institute from 1995 to 1997. Prior to this, he was an Associate Professor at the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden. An Onassis Foundation scholar, Dr. Xanthopoulos received his B.Sc. in Biology with honors from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, and received both his M.Sc. in Microbiology and Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the University of Stockholm, Sweden. Dr. Xanthopoulos has over 45 peer-reviewed publications and several issued patents.

David Berry is the Founder and CEO of Valo and since 2005, has served as General Partner at Flagship Pioneering, having founded over 25 companies including Indigo Agriculture, Seres Therapeutics (NASDAQ: MCRB), Eleven Biotherapeutics (NASDAQ: EBIO), T2 Biosystems (NASDAQ: TTOO), Evelo Biosciences (NASDAQ: EVLO), Axcella Health (NASDAQ: AXLA), and Joule Unlimited. David played an instrumental role in the conception and implementation of Flagship Labs, which is the foundation of all of its companies. David has been broadly recognized as a world-leading innovator: elected as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, named as Innovator of the Year by Technology Review from amongst its Annual TR35 list, and selected as one of 12 Innovators Reshaping Reality by the U.S. State Department, alongside pioneers such as Tim Berners-Lee. He holds over 200 patents and patent applications. David and his companies have been awarded with over 150 additional awards and honors. David currently serves on the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network (UN SDSN), where he was a Founding Leadership Council Member. David received his MD from Harvard Medical School and his PhD from MIT in Biological Engineering.

A serial entrepreneur in software and biotech, Yochi Slonim has built multiple companies as a founder and CEO through all phases of growth all the way to IPOs and large M&A exits. As a Co-founder and CEO of Anima Biotech, he is driving the company's vision and strategy, fundraising, and partnering. Prior to Anima, Yochi was a co-founder of Mercury Interactive. As CTO and VP R&D from the company's early days, he created product vision and strategy and led a multi-product organization of 200 developers. After going public and reaching revenues of over $1B annually, Mercury was acquired by HP for $4.5B. As Senior VP of products and marketing for Tecnomatix, a public NASDAQ company, he led a 500 people organization of 4 divisions that generated revenues of $100m until the company was acquired by UGS for $230m. In 2000, Yochi was founder and CEO of Identify. The company reached revenues of $50m in less than 5 years and was acquired by BMC in 2006 for $150m in cash. Yochi founded ffwd.me, a unique startup acceleration program where he led a team that worked with over 25 startups in diverse areas and technologies, developing strategy, products and go to market operations while raising multiple rounds of financing from VCs and private investors. As one of Israel's leading speakers on the subject of startup positioning and company building, several of Yochi's approachable and amusing lectures can be found on Youtube ("Youtube Yochi Slonim").

Lovisa Afzelius is an origination partner at Flagship Pioneering and the former SVP of Strategy & Operations at Flagship-founded Cogen Immune Medicines, now known as Repertoire Immune Medicines. A computational scientist by training, she has two decades of leadership experience and a passion for data-driven drug discovery, from early inception to clinical development across multiple therapeutic areas. Previously, Lovisa built and led Pfizer’s systems immunology function and served as executive director of clinical programs. In this role, she launched several Phase II studies across autoimmune indications and as a member of the Inflammation & Immunology Research Unit leadership team, Lovisa co-managed the portfolio from early target discovery to Phase II clinical trials across all immunological assets. In addition, she served on Pfizer’s Worldwide R&D Data Strategy Committee. In 2017, Lovisa co-founded Elsa.science, a digital health company in the rheumatoid arthritis space where she serves as chairman of the board. She also serves on the board of the Swedish New England Chamber of Commerce. Before moving to the US in 2013, Lovisa was CEO of BioChromix Pharma. Lovisa began her career at AstraZeneca as Project Director, Global In Vitro Metabolism Leader and Computational Chemist across cardiovascular, metabolic, and neurodegenerative diseases. Lovisa has received numerous accolades for her work: she was included in the top 100 ​“most influential persons under age 40 in Sweden” by Affärsvärlden, and ​“scientist of tomorrow” at the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations’ 30th anniversary. Lovisa received the Rosenön Award for best thesis of the year within the field of pharmacodynamics/​pharmacokinetics in Sweden. Lovisa holds a Ph.D. in computational chemistry from Uppsala University, a Master of Science in integrative pharmacology from Gothenburg University as well as an M.B.A. from the MIT Sloan School of Management. Theonie is a principal at Flagship Pioneering where she conceives, builds and grows the science, intellectual property and business strategy that form the foundation of Flagship’s next breakthrough startups. She co-founded Alltrna and serves as its chief innovation officer. Prior to joining Flagship, Theonie completed her graduate studies in cell and molecular biology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research focused on replication fork dynamics in the context of cancer development and therapeutics. Theonie has received several awards and has been granted multiple fellowships for her academic work, including an NIH NRSA Predoctoral Fellowship. During her graduate studies, Theonie held multiple leadership positions on Executive and Curriculum Committees. She also completed a Wharton Business Foundations Specialization and was a mentor at the yearly Larta Institute NIH CAP FeedForward Sessions. Theonie is a Business Advisory Board member of the Harvard Institute for RNA Medicine and a member of the Bioscience & Investor Inclusion Group (BIIG) Diverse Talent Network Group. Theonie’s work has resulted in multiple pending patents and publications, including articles in Nature Biotechnology, Molecular Cell and Journal of Biological Chemistry.

James Mackay, PhD, Founder, President and Chief Executive Officer, has over 25 years of development and commercialization expertise in the pharmaceutical industry, including 6 drug product approvals across multiple therapeutic areas. Prior to founding Aristea, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of Ardea Biosciences, Inc., following the company’s acquisition by AstraZeneca in 2012. James was instrumental to setting up an innovative model for Ardea Biosciences that retained the biotech’s independence and accountability for the development of the gout franchise while also developing a synergistic and collaborative relationship with the parent company, AstraZeneca. Prior to Ardea, James held senior executive positions at AstraZeneca where he led the development and commercialization of drugs across a range of therapy areas. and managed significant global functional departments. James plays a pivotal role in the San Diego Ecosystem and currently sits on the Board and Executive Committee of CONNECT and sits on the Board of BIOCOM. He is a former Board member of the San Diego Economic Development Corporation (EDC). James holds a BS in Genetics and PhD in Medical Genetics from Aberdeen University, Scotland.

A physician-scientist, her groundbreaking work in vascular and lung engineering has made Dr. Niklason a world leader in regenerative medicine. She is a member of the National Academies of Engineering and Medicine. Dr. Niklason is the founder of Humacyte and has served as President and Chief Executive Officer since November 2020 and as a member of the Humacyte Board since 2004. Dr. Niklason holds a Ph.D. in Biophysics from the University of Chicago and an M.D. from the University of Michigan.

Dr. Fordyce brings more than 15 years’ experience leading teams in drug discovery, development, clinical translation, and commercialization of new treatments. Before founding Vera, Fordyce was the founder and CEO of gene-editing company Trucode Gene Repair, Inc., having previously served as an entrepreneur in residence at Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers. Earlier in his career, Fordyce served as Senior Director of clinical research at Gilead Sciences, Inc., where he contributed to seven new drug approvals and served as project lead for Gilead’s TAF/GENVOYA development program. With subspecialty training in infectious disease from Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Fordyce was previously Chief Resident at NYU Bellevue and spent two years as a translational research fellow at Rockefeller University. Fordyce currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation. He received his BA from Harvard University and his MD from Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Schneider is the Chief Operating Officer for Solid Biosciences, responsible for overseeing corporate and technical operations, quality, patient advocacy, communications, corporate strategy, and human resources. As Solid’s first employee in 2014, Dr. Schneider was instrumental in discovering and executing proof-of-concept studies for SGT-001, as well as building the company’s unique disease-focused business model. In his role as Chief Operating Officer, Dr. Schneider oversees corporate and technical operations, quality, patient advocacy, communications, corporate strategy, and human resources. Dr. Schneider previously completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University in the Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology, characterizing and developing small molecules that enhance skeletal muscle regeneration. He holds a Ph.D. from Rutgers University and an undergraduate degree from Brandeis University. Dr. Schneider is the author of numerous peer-reviewed articles related to Duchenne and stem cell biology.

Patricia (Trish) Hurter, Dr. Patricia Hurter is CEO of Lyndra Therapeutics. Prior to Lyndra, Dr. Hurter was Senior Vice President of Pharmaceutical and Preclinical Sciences at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc. She also served as Interim Head of Global Regulatory Affairs from 2013-2014 and oversaw several label expansions for Kalydeco® and the submission of the new drug application for Orkambi®. She played a leadership role in the development and commercialization of 5 transformative therapies for Vertex: Incivek®, Kalydeco®, Orkambi® and Symdeko® and Trikafta®. Prior to joining Vertex, Dr. Hurter was Director, Formulation Design and Characterization for Merck where she was a key member of the early development team for Januvia®, a treatment for type II diabetes. A respected thought leader in the pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Hurter is a frequent contributor to many scientific publications. At Vertex, she founded and was the executive sponsor of “IWILL,” a Vertex employee network devoted to the advancement of women leaders. As a member of the Advisory Board for Women in the Enterprise of Science & Technology (WEST), she mentors Boston-area women who are early or in the midst of their careers in STEM. She also champions the Posse Foundation, an organization that recruits high school students from diverse backgrounds and supports them as they pursue college degrees and beyond. She is a mentor to alumnae from the program. Dr. Hurter earned her Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as well as an M.S. in mechanical engineering from West Virginia University and a B.Sc. in chemical engineering, cum laude, from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa. Jessica Ballinger Mrs. Ballinger is President and Chief Operations Officer of Lyndra Therapeutics. In her 25+ year career, she has contributed to the development and commercialization of more than 15 leading-edge patient therapies. Prior to joining Lyndra, she was a Senior Director at Biogen responsible for redesigning and transforming the patient-centered technical development organization. While at Biogen, she contributed to developing products in critical therapeutic areas such as hemophilia, Alzheimer’s Disease, spinal muscular atrophy and multiple sclerosis, delivering high-quality, highly-innovative, globally approved products with three products filed and approved in just three years. Prior to Biogen, she was the Senior Director Injectable Product and Device Strategy and Business Unit Interface driving technology development and lifecycle management innovation priorities for injectable products and devices in partnership with Pfizer Business Units and R&D. While in this role, Ballinger delivered ~50% capital investment savings and 25% cost-of-goods reduction through an innovative injectable device platform. She led the technical development and manufacturing scale-up of critical therapies in diabetes, endocrinology, neurology, ophthalmology, cardiovascular, women’s health and men’s sexual health. Ballinger is a respected leader in diversity and inclusion, co-creating the inaugural Biogen Alzheimer’s Patient and Caregiver Employee Resource Network (ERN), co-leading the inaugural Biogen Women’s Innovation Network, and co-leading the inaugural Pfizer European Women’s ERN. She was appointed to the inaugural Chief of Staff position supporting the Pfizer European R&D and Site Leader during her time at Pfizer Sandwich. She received the honorable Pfizer R&D Achievement Award twice in her tenure at Pfizer, recognizing her strong leadership and business impact. Ballinger is an active volunteer in fundraising and leadership roles, working with the Oasis Domestic Abuse Service and the Melanoma Education Foundation. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry from the University of Illinois – Champaign/Urbana.

Shawn M. Leland is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Elevation Oncology overseeing all day-to-day operations. Shawn brings over a decade of experience in medical affairs and business development for the pharmaceutical/biotech industry, with a focus on building collaborations to realize the full potential of targeted and personalized therapeutics. Shawn has been involved in global transactions totaling more than $450 million in upfront payments and milestone payments at Eli Lilly, ARIAD Pharmaceuticals, Argos Therapeutics and Verastem Oncology. Shawn has also served as an expert strategic consultant for Catenion providing guidance on portfolio management for pharmaceutical/biotech companies. Shawn resides in Denver, Colorado and enjoys snowboarding, hiking and cycling.