Between the Biotech Waves

I am delighted to welcome back Jim Birchenough to Between the Biotech Waves. Jim is Vice Chair Wells Fargo Biopharmaceutical Investment Banking. In 2022 Jim joined the podcast to discuss the market dynamics and learnings from prior market corrections. I am welcoming him back to take stock of where we are, what the bright spots in 2022 were and crystal ball gaze into ’23. What should be watching for as the start of the year unfolds. 

Today we are talking to Jeremy Levin. Jeremy is chairman and CEO of Ovid Therapeutics, focused on rare and orphan disease of the CNS. He is the immediate past chair of BIO. Jeremy has a storied career in biotech having served as president and CEO of Teva Pharmaceutica’s, a member of the exec committee of BMS where he had global responsibilities for strategy, alliances and transactions. There he devised the “String of Pearls” BD strategy which led to the acquisition of Medarex and opened the path to the successful development of the first i-onc drugs. Prior to BMS Jeremy was head of global BD and strategic alliances at Novartis. In his spare time, amazing he has any, he runs a successful Black Angus farm from which, as I understand it, many biotech CEOs get their steaks!

Today we are talking to Laksh Aithani, Co-founder and CEO of Charm Therapeutics. Laksh is a scientist turned entrepreneur. He received his degree in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge. While at University he co-founded Genei, an AI company that automatically summarizes background reading producing blogs, articles and reports (I would note but not podcasts!). He joined Exscientia where he was a core contributor to their AI platform following which he co-founded Charm with David Baker.

Today we are talking to Tom Barnes. Tom is CEO of Orna Therapeutics, a circular RNA focused biotech developing in situ CAR therapeutics. Orna recently announced a series B with a multi billion $ mega-deal with Merck. Prior to Orna Tom and I worked together at Intellia and also Ascelagen. Tom has also had leading positions at Eleven Bio and Millennium. Tom has deep biological pathway domain expertise and has worked across a broad range of therapeutic modalities, from genome editing, to RNA therapeutics, small molecules and proteins. Tom is a true scientist and drug hunter. 

Today we are talking to JeanFrancois Formela. I have known JF for over 2 decades having worked with him at Atlas in building multiple biotech companies. JF is a partner at Atlas Venture which he joined in 1993 to build the US LS presence which has ultimately become the Atlas we all know today. He co-founded, invested in and played pivotal roles in a multitude of companies including Intellia Therapeutics, IFM Therapeutics, Korro Bio, Triplet and others. Other key investments he has made include Exelixis, Adnexus (acqd byBMS), Arteaus (acqd by Eli Lilly), CoStim Pharmaceuticals (acqd byNovartis) and Translate Bio (acqd by Sanofi).JF got his MD from Paris University School of Medicine and an MBA from Columbia. He is a wine connoisseur and lives close to the edge racing on the track.Please join me in welcoming JF.

Today we are talking to Ram Aiyer. Ram is CEO of Korro Bio, an RNA base editing company focused on co-opting ADAR, a naturally present editing system in all our cells to base edit A to I (which is translated as a G) in RNA. Prior to Korro, Ram was CBO and CFO of Corvidia, a company he successfully helped build and sell to Novo Nordisk for 2.1Bn$. Prior to Corvidia he was an EIR at BioHealth Innovation. He started his scientific career at Janssen Pharmaceuticals and held leadership roles at FlowMetric, Sofinnova Partners, and JP Morgan Chase.Today we discuss his path to becoming the CEO of a biotech company, the transition for a first time CEO, his success at Corvidia, running a leading biotech company in today’s markets and the science/technology & culture underpinning Korro. 

In this episode we discuss the formation and evolution of galaxies, our expanding universe, the big bang, the source of fast radio bursts, the James Webb Space Telescope and of course.....Aliens!

Today we talk to Abe Heifets, CEO of Atomwise, a biotech company focusing on the utilization of AI for drug discovery. Atomwise recently (post this recording) announced a $1.2B discovery deal with Sanofi. We discuss AI, its use in drug discovery and development, recent advances and the potential sentient nature of AI. Enjoy.

Discussing the formation of CRISPR Tx, the positives, negatives and everything in between. This is the first time all three of us reconnected since our respective departures from our founding roles and features some candid moments from our respective journeys. Enjoy.