Business Of Biotech

We love to hear from our listeners. Send us a message. On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech, Mardi Dier, CFO at Madrigal Pharmaceuticals, talks about building relationships in investment banking and investor relations before moving into business development and becoming a chief financial officer. Mardi describes how drug companies transition from an R&D focus to commercializing products, how to read IPO windows and manage expectations, pricing new drugs, and balancing commercial efforts with pipeline renewal and maintenance. Access this and hundreds of episodes of the Business of Biotech videocast under the Business of Biotech tab at lifescienceleader.com. Subscribe to our monthly Business of Biotech newsletter. Get in touch with guest and topic suggestions: ben.comer@lifescienceleader.comFind Ben Comer on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bencomer/

We love to hear from our listeners. Send us a message. On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech, we're speaking with Bernard Ravina, M.D., CEO at Vima Therapeutics, a company that emerged from stealth in May with $60 million Series A financing to develop an oral candidate for dystonia, a movement disorder. Ravina talks about transitioning from government and academic medicine to industry, partnering with Atlas Ventures and defining the company's thesis, the reasons behind working in stealth mode and when to emerge, and the clinical plan and potential for VIM0423.  Access this and hundreds of episodes of the Business of Biotech videocast under the Business of Biotech tab at lifescienceleader.com. Subscribe to our monthly Business of Biotech newsletter. Get in touch with guest and topic suggestions: ben.comer@lifescienceleader.comFind Ben Comer on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bencomer/

We love to hear from our listeners. Send us a message. On this week's episode — the last of our four-part series focused on South Florida — we catch up with Rich Daly, CEO at Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, a member of Life Science Leader's editorial advisory board and Miami-based location host for our in-person series. Rich talks about Catalyst's rare disease strategy built on operational excellence (including how to select a rare disease special pharmacy), his criteria for selecting de-risked, differentiated, and accretive products for rare diseases, partnering outside the U.S., and what new incentives Florida politicians could create to help South Florida grow even faster as a life sciences hub. Access this and hundreds of episodes of the Business of Biotech videocast under the Business of Biotech tab at lifescienceleader.com. Subscribe to our monthly Business of Biotech newsletter. Get in touch with guest and topic suggestions: ben.comer@lifescienceleader.comFind Ben Comer on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bencomer/

We love to hear from our listeners. Send us a message. On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech -- part three in a four part series recorded in-person at Catalyst Pharmaceuticals' Miami headquarters -- Anthony Japour, M.D., CEO at iTolerance, talks about his work as a physician treating infectious diseases, his CEO role in diagnostics at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, what he learned working as a medical director at a large CRO, and iTolerance's work toward a cure for Type 1 diabetes that doesn't require chronic immunosuppression. Anthony also provides insights on overcoming CMC challenges and how to bypass avoidable detours, the funding climate for preclinical biotechs, and operating in South Florida. Access this and hundreds of episodes of the Business of Biotech videocast under the Business of Biotech tab at lifescienceleader.com. Subscribe to our monthly Business of Biotech newsletter. Get in touch with guest and topic suggestions: ben.comer@lifescienceleader.comFind Ben Comer on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bencomer/

We love to hear from our listeners. Send us a message. In this week's episode of the Business of Biotech -- part two in a four-part series recorded in-person at Catalyst Pharmaceuticals' Miami headquarters -- we're speaking with Daniel Teper, an entrepreneur and most recently, founder and CEO at NAYA Therapeutics. Based in South Florida, NAYA is developing NK-engaging bifunctional antibodies and Astatine-211 radiopharmaceuticals targeting hepatocellular carcinoma. Daniel discusses the company's decentralized manufacturing strategy, the current funding climate for early-stage companies, his plan to conduct clinical trials in China, and what's unique about the South Florida life sciences ecosystem.  Access this and hundreds of episodes of the Business of Biotech videocast under the Business of Biotech tab at lifescienceleader.com. Subscribe to our monthly Business of Biotech newsletter. Get in touch with guest and topic suggestions: ben.comer@lifescienceleader.comFind Ben Comer on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bencomer/

We love to hear from our listeners. Send us a message. The Business of Biotech is on location in Miami this week! For the first episode in this four-part series on the biotech scene in South Florida, Raquel Cabo, Founder and President of the Miami Biotech Collective, talks about her experiences as a member of the founding team at Ovid Therapeutics, why South Florida needed an organization to connect regional drug developers, what Miami offers to biotech companies and operators, and what gaps in the South Florida life sciences ecosystem still exist.  Access this and hundreds of episodes of the Business of Biotech videocast under the Business of Biotech tab at lifescienceleader.com. Subscribe to our monthly Business of Biotech newsletter. Get in touch with guest and topic suggestions: ben.comer@lifescienceleader.comFind Ben Comer on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bencomer/

We love to hear from our listeners. Send us a message. On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech, Rob Abbott, CEO of ISPOR, explains how startup and early-stage clinical drug development companies benefit from conducting health economics and outcomes research (HEOR), and not just with patients and commercial payers. HEOR, viewed as a strategic lever as opposed to a compliance exercise, can help answer investor questions about market differentiation, pricing pathways, and real world product validation. Abbott talks about the value of cost-of-illness studies, burden-of-disease analyses, and payer landscape assessments, and how AI, real world evidence, and patient-centered research can improve drug and trial design and accelerate market access.       Access this and hundreds of episodes of the Business of Biotech videocast under the Business of Biotech tab at lifescienceleader.com. Subscribe to our monthly Business of Biotech newsletter. Get in touch with guest and topic suggestions: ben.comer@lifescienceleader.comFind Ben Comer on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bencomer/

We love to hear from our listeners. Send us a message. On this week's episode, Joel Latham, President and CEO at Incannex Healthcare, talks about developing cannabinoid and psychedelic combination therapies for conditions as diverse as sleep apnea, rheumatoid arthritis, and generalized anxiety disorder. Joel walks through his funding strategy for the publicly-traded company, his desire to lead in a new category of medicine, and what comes next. Access this and hundreds of episodes of the Business of Biotech videocast under the Business of Biotech tab at lifescienceleader.com. Subscribe to our monthly Business of Biotech newsletter. Get in touch with guest and topic suggestions: ben.comer@lifescienceleader.comFind Ben Comer on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bencomer/

We love to hear from our listeners. Send us a message. On this week's episode, Lyle Small, Founder and CEO at Lahjavida, a dye drug conjugate start-up, talks about creating the famous color-changing technology that turned the mountains blue on cold Coors Light beer cans, to launching a dye-drug conjugate startup developing targeted cancer therapies. Small talks through Lahjavida's early preclinical work and the ongoing animal studies he hopes will secure an IND filing by 2027, his experience with scaling up manufacturing of new technologies, and his approach to leadership and company culture.   Access this and hundreds of episodes of the Business of Biotech videocast under the Business of Biotech tab at lifescienceleader.com. Subscribe to our monthly Business of Biotech newsletter. Get in touch with guest and topic suggestions: ben.comer@lifescienceleader.comFind Ben Comer on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bencomer/

We love to hear from our listeners. Send us a message. On the Business of Biotech this week, Sahir Ali, Ph.D., founder and general partner at Modi Ventures, a family office investing at the intersection of technology and biology, talks about adapting the Markowitz model to improve returns and balance risk, his concept of the "biostack" for making direct investments into life sciences companies, and the revolutionary potential of scientific super intelligence. Ali explains why Houston, Texas is an underrated ecosystem for life sciences, and what AI will mean for medicine and the future of healthcare consumption.  Access this and hundreds of episodes of the Business of Biotech videocast under the Business of Biotech tab at lifescienceleader.com. Subscribe to our monthly Business of Biotech newsletter. Get in touch with guest and topic suggestions: ben.comer@lifescienceleader.comFind Ben Comer on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bencomer/