Biotech 2050 Podcast

Synopsis: Jim Brown is the President and CEO of DURECT Corporation, a biopharmaceutical company committed to transforming the treatment of acute organ injuries and chronic liver diseases by advancing novel and potentially lifesaving epigenetic therapies. Jim discusses how his early beginnings as a vet ultimately led him to the biotech industry. He talks about epigenetic regulation and how it ties into the work DURECT is leading. He dives into the unmet need for treatment for chronic liver diseases and how he gets capital markets to understand the potential impact in an area where there isn’t a lot of awareness. He also discusses where the company is from a development perspective, their plans to commercialize, and his advice to other entrepreneurs and leaders as they navigate the inherent risk that’s involved in developing a new therapeutic. Biography: James E. Brown, D.V.M., co-founded DURECT in February 1998 and has served as President, Chief Executive Officer, and a Director since June 1998. He previously worked at ALZA Corporation as Vice President of Biopharmaceutical and Implant Research and Development from June 1995 to June 1998. Prior to that, Dr. Brown held various positions at Syntex Corporation, a pharmaceutical company, including Director of Business Development from May 1994 to May 1995, Director of Joint Ventures for Discovery Research from April 1992 to May 1995, and held a number of positions, including Program Director, for Syntex Research and Development from October 1985 to March 1992. Dr. Brown holds a Bachelor of Arts from San Jose State University and a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from the University of California, Davis, where he also conducted postgraduate work in pharmacology and toxicology.

Synopsis: James Peyer, Ph.D., is the Founder and CEO of Cambrian Bio, a clinical-stage drug-development company focused on creating therapies to prevent and cure age-related diseases. James discusses the driving force behind his interest in aging biology and oncology, how his perspective on aging has changed over the years, his entrepreneurial journey, and what he hopes to achieve over the next decade with PipeCos such as Telos, Amplifier, and Tornado. He also discusses the inherent risk involved in drug development, how he manages the emotional aspects, and Cambrian’s vision for the future of drug development. Biography: James Peyer is the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Cambrian Bio. He also holds multiple board and executive roles across Cambrian’s pipeline. He has spent his entire life dedicated to the mission of finding ways of preventing people from getting diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s instead of waiting for people to get sick. James was previously Founder and Managing Partner at Apollo Ventures, the first global longevity-focused venture capital firm, investing across the US and Europe. Prior to Apollo, James was a biotech R&D specialist at the New York office of McKinsey & Company, serving major pharmaceutical clients. He earned his PhD in stem cell biology at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center as a National Science Foundation Fellow and received his B.A. with special honors from the University of Chicago. Interested to learn more: Telos: https://www.telosbio.com/ Amplifier: https://www.amplifier-tx.com/ Tornado: https://www.tornado-tx.com/

Synopsis: Gary Lee, Ph.D. is the CSO of Lyell Immunopharma, a T-cell reprogramming company dedicated to developing cell therapies for patients with solid tumors. A chemical engineer by training, Gary has been working in the gene therapy field for 20+ years. He discusses how he’s observed the cell therapy space evolve over the last couple of decades. He talks about the work his team is doing to develop effective cell-based therapies for solid tumor cancers and where they are from a development and team-building perspective. He also provides his perspective on opportunities he sees for future technology across the cell therapy landscape. Biography: Gary Lee, Ph.D., has served as our Chief Scientific Officer since January 2022. Dr. Lee is a veteran biotech executive with over a decade of experience leading cell and gene therapy programs for human applications. From October 2018 to January 2022, Dr. Lee was the Chief Scientific Officer at Senti Bio. From August 2005 to October 2018, Dr. Lee held positions of increasing scientific and leadership responsibility at Sangamo Therapeutics, including last as the Vice President of Cell Therapy. Dr. Lee earned his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley, and his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the California Institute of Technology.

Liang Schweizer, Founder & CEO of HiFiBiO Therapeutics, discusses mobilizing the immune system to combat disease. Topics include leveraging technology in drug development, managing globally distributed teams, and the evolution of the Chinese biotech ecosystem.

Detlev Biniszkiewicz, Founder & CEO of NextPoint Therapeutics, discusses the challenges and opportunities in immuno-oncology, team building, and the current biotech environment. He shares the founding story of NextPoint and their focus on targeting the A to LA2 receptor for immune therapy. The chapter also explores the challenges of transitioning from preclinical to clinical stages, securing funding, and the speaker's rapid career growth.

Eric Dobmeier, President and CEO of Chinook Therapeutics, discusses the landscape of kidney disease, the current unmet need, opportunities in the space, and growing interest in kidney disease amongst big pharma. He also talks about Chinook's progress in developing precision medicines for rare chronic kidney diseases.

Synopsis: Faraz Ali is the CEO of Tenaya Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company with a mission to discover, develop and deliver potentially curative therapies that address the underlying causes of heart disease. Faraz discusses his non-traditional background as an electrical engineer before he found his passion for applying science and technology to healthcare problems. He talks about his experience working at Genzyme and what aspects from his time there he still carries with him today. Faraz also discusses his perspective on the application of genetic modalities, and his team’s work pursuing treatment for both rare and prevalent forms of heart disease. Finally, he talks about what it’s like being a first time CEO and his thoughts on team building. Biography: Faraz Ali, MBA, is the CEO of Tenaya Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company with a mission to discover, develop and deliver potentially curative therapies that address the underlying causes of heart disease. He was most recently Chief Business Officer at REGENXBIO, where he had accountability for corporate development, commercial planning, portfolio strategy, alliance management and corporate communications. Prior to that, Mr. Ali was a Vice President at bluebird bio, where he was responsible for new product planning, program management, patient advocacy and external affairs. He also held roles of increasing global commercial leadership at Genzyme Corporation, where he helped launch multiple first-in-class enzyme replacement therapies for rare diseases. He started his career at General Electric, including technical roles at GE Healthcare and business assignments at GE Corporate. Mr. Ali received his MBA from Harvard Business School and his B.S. from Stanford University. He was appointed to the Board of Directors for The Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (ARM), the leading international advocacy organization dedicated to realizing the promise of regenerative medicines and advanced therapies, in 2022.

Synopsis: Gregory Verdine, Ph.D., is the Co-Founder, President and CEO of LifeMine Therapeutics and FogPharma. LifeMine Therapeutics is reinventing drug discovery by mining genetically-encoded small molecules (GEMs) from the biosphere. FogPharma is developing a new class of drugs to address the limitations of today’s precision medicines and achieve universal druggability. In this episode, Greg discusses his unique journey from starting as an academic scientist to transitioning to an investor, and how that exposure to the venture world rounds out his approach to how he now runs biotechs. He talks about what it’s been like running two companies for six years and how he structures his time so he can successfully operate between the two. He also discusses fundraising in a challenging environment and the importance of being part of a team in biotech. Biography: Greg Verdine is a leader in the discovery, development and commercialization of new drug modalities. A passionate and accomplished inventor of novel approaches and drug classes to engage targets widely believed intractable, Greg coined the phrase “drugging the undruggable” to describe his life’s mission. Greg is the co-founder of FogPharma, which has its roots in the scientific work of Greg and his academic team at Harvard University and Harvard Medical School, a hotbed of innovation and invention in the new modality therapeutics space. Greg is also the co-founder and CEO of LifeMine Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company refashioning drug discovery by mining genetically-encoded small molecules from the biosphere. Together with co-founder WeiQing Zhou, he developed the scientific and business concept for FogPharma and LifeMine and co-led the companys’ initial capitalization and operationalization in mid-2016 and 2017, respectively. Greg is highly regarded for having moved seamlessly between roles as an academic scientist, biotech entrepreneur, investor and company executive. As Erving Professor at Harvard University and Harvard Medical School, he founded the burgeoning field of hyperstabilized alpha-helical peptides, starting with the first-generation all-hydrocarbon stapled peptide technology, and invented not only the modality but also the direct precursor to the Phase 2 stapled peptide ALRN 6924. The greatly improved second-generation Helicon technology was developed in the Verdine Lab at Harvard and licensed exclusively to FogPharma, and subsequently developed by FogPharma into the third-generation approach that is so impactful today. The Verdine Lab at Harvard also made seminal contributions to understanding fundamental mechanisms of DNA repair and epigenetic DNA methylation. As an entrepreneur, Dr. Verdine has founded multiple public biotech companies including Variagenics, Enanta Pharmaceuticals, Eleven Bio, Tokai Pharmaceuticals, Wave Life Sciences and Aileron Therapeutics, and a private company, Gloucester Pharmaceuticals, which was acquired by Celgene. These companies have succeeded in achieving FDA approval for three marketed drugs. Greg has served on the board of directors of Enanta Pharmaceuticals, Wave Life Sciences, Warp Drive Bio and LifeMine Therapeutics. Having led the formation and financing of Wave Life Sciences, Warp Drive Bio and LifeMine Therapeutics, Greg took a role in managing these companies as their president, chief executive officer and chief scientific officer. Greg also conceived of, co-founded and served as the founding president and chairman of the tandem non-profits Gloucester Biotechnology Academy, which trains high school graduates for technical careers in biotech, and Gloucester Marine Genomics Institute, which is supporting fisheries science and economic development on Cape Ann. Greg earned his Ph.D. in chemistry from Columbia University and served as an NIH postdoctoral fellow in molecular biology at MIT and Harvard Medical School. He also holds an honorary Ph.D. degree from Clarkson University.

Synopsis: Kate Haviland is the CEO of Blueprint Medicines, a global precision therapy company that creates life-changing medicines for people with cancer and blood disorders. Applying an approach that is both precise and agile, they create medicines that selectively target genetic drivers, with the goal of staying one step ahead across stages of disease. Kate discusses beginning her career at Genzyme before joining Blueprint Medicines, and what the transition to becoming CEO was like after having held various different roles at Blueprint. She also talks about how personalized medicine is transforming patient care, and the company’s focus on applying precision medicine to cancer and hematologic diseases. Finally, she dives into how the current environment informs how she approaches leading a publicly traded biotech and her perspective on partnerships. Interested in learning more? Check out their recent approval here: https://rb.gy/4126e Biography: Kate brings an impressive breadth of experience and leadership within the biopharmaceutical industry, as well as a substantial background in business development, commercial and strategic planning, and program management. Since April 2022, Kate has served as Chief Executive Officer of Blueprint Medicines. Kate joined Blueprint in 2016 as Chief Business Officer and later served as Chief Operating Officer, where she served as the founding chair of the portfolio management team, formed and executed business development strategy, drove global capital investment plans, and played a key role in capital market financings. In addition, she worked to drive the transformative growth of the company and support its evolution into a fully integrated business by developing and providing ongoing management of critical functions, including portfolio strategy, corporate development, commercial strategy, international, technical operations, corporate affairs, and information systems. Prior to joining Blueprint Medicines, Kate held leadership roles focused on building emerging, high-growth companies and advancing the development of innovative therapies in oncology and rare diseases as Vice President, Rare Diseases and Oncology Program Leadership at Idera Pharmaceuticals, Head of Commercial Development at Sarepta Therapeutics, Executive Director of Commercial Development at PTC Therapeutics, and roles in both corporate development and project management at Genzyme. She holds a B.A. from Wesleyan University with a double major in Biochemistry/Molecular Biology and Economics and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. Kate currently serves as chair of the board of directors at Fulcrum Therapeutics and is a member of the audit and compensation committees.

Synopsis: Asit Parikh, M.D., Ph.D., is the President and CEO of MOMA Therapeutics, a biotech company discovering the next generation of precision medicines by targeting highly dynamic proteins that underlie human disease. Asit discusses his experience and learnings being the CEO of a biotech for the first time and his approach to recruiting high quality talent. He also talks about the inherent risks in drug development, how he manages the emotional ups and downs, and provides his perspective on how drug development has changed and evolved over the last couple decades. Biography: Asit Parikh, M.D., Ph.D., joined MOMA in 2021 as President, Chief Executive Officer and member of the board of directors. Asit brings to MOMA more than 20 years of academic and industry experience. Prior to MOMA, Asit served as senior vice president and head of Takeda’s gastroenterology unit from 2014 to 2020. Under his leadership, Takeda achieved global approvals for Entyvio® for ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease; European adult and U.S. pediatric approvals for Gattex®/Revestive® for short bowel syndrome; Japan and China approvals for Takecab®/Vocinti® for acid-related disorders; a European approval for Alofisel® for perianal fistulizing Crohn’s disease; and a U.S. approval for Motegrity® for chronic constipation. During this time, to ensure a sustainable pipeline, Asit oversaw the creation of a drug discovery unit focused on gastroenterology and liver diseases and identified and executed over 25 business development deals. These diverse transactions included regional and global licensing (eg Arrowhead A1AT), M&A (eg Tigenix SA) and company creation (eg Ambys Medicines). Previously, Asit served as the general internal medicine franchise head at Takeda. Earlier, he held leadership roles in inflammation and oncology clinical development at Millennium Pharmaceuticals (acquired by Takeda in 2008). During his tenure at Millennium/Takeda, Asit was regularly recognized at the enterprise level for his inspirational leadership style, and as an identifier and developer of talent. Asit remains actively engaged in the practice of medicine as a consulting gastroenterologist at Newton-Wellesley Hospital in Newton, Massachusetts, and serves as a board member of Ambys Medicines, Phathom Pharmaceuticals and Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Basic Sciences. Asit earned his Ph.D. in biochemistry and M.D. from Vanderbilt University, completed his internal medicine residency at the University of Pennsylvania and subspecialty training in gastroenterology at Massachusetts General Hospital. He performed postdoctoral research in cancer biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.