

Business Of Biotech
Ben Comer
The Business of Biotech is the pod dedicated to leaders of emerging biopharma firms. SUBSCRIBE to our new newsletter at www.bioprocessonline.com/bob. We bring you insight into organizational, finance and funding, HR, clinical, manufacturing, regulatory, and commercial challenges you’ll face as you navigate your company from an idea to success in the clinic and beyond. Each episode features guest commentary and best practices from accomplished founders and biopharma industry luminaries. The Business of Biotech is produced by Life Science Connect.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Feb 28, 2022 • 50min
AI-Driven Biologics With Fountain Therapeutics' William Greene, M.D
We love to hear from our listeners. Send us a message. With its hypothesis-free, target-free, AI-driven drug discovery platform, Fountain Therapeutics is turning the traditional drug discovery pathway on its ear to address a variety of age-related disease. On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech, Fountain CEO William Greene, M.D. joins us to discuss the approach, its rationale, and how the company is applying substantial support from the likes of Eli Lilly, Alexandria Venture Investments, R42 Group, Khosla Ventures, and Nan Fung Life Sciences.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/

Feb 21, 2022 • 42min
Regulatory Harmonization With Aurion Biotech's Dr. Daniela Drago
We love to hear from our listeners. Send us a message. If you're taking a candidate into clinical trials that will be monitored by multiple international regulatory bodies, this episode is an absolute must-listen. Dr. Daniela Drago , Chief Regulatory Officer at Aurion Biotech, shares her encyclopedic knowledge of the dynamic regulatory harmonization landscape. Along the way, she offers concrete advice on creating multijurisdictional regulatory efficiencies that will smooth your journey through the clinic and beyond. Don't miss this one. 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/

Feb 14, 2022 • 51min
Plant-Based Biologics With iBio's Randy Maddux
We love to hear from our listeners. Send us a message. iBio COO Randy Maddux walks us through the Bryan, Texas-based biopharma's attempt to turn the CHO cell biologic development paradigm on its ear with hydroponically-grown N. benthamiana. His company's FastPharming approach to protein production, he says, could be modularized to speed cycle times and dramatically reduce upstream costs at scales large and small. For its part, iBio is proving out the approach on a host of therapeutic and vaccine candidates for oncological, infectious, and fibrotic diseases.Learn more about iBio's COVID-19 vaccine candidate from CEO Tom Isett and Head of Vaccine Development Melissa Berquist, Ph.D. in this feature story at bioprocessonline.com.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/

Feb 7, 2022 • 38min
NK Cell Therapy Accessibility With Shoreline Biosciences' Dr. Kleanthis Xanthopoulos
We love to hear from our listeners. Send us a message. Shoreline Biosciences CEO Kleanthis Xanthopoulos, Ph.D. joins the Business of Biotech to share the company's strategy for the development, manufacture, and commercialization of off-the-shelf NK (natural killer) cell therapy. On this episode, Dr. Xanthopoulos shares why the cell and gene immunotherapeutic market has underperformed to date, why he believes autologous is not the long-term path forward, and the safety and accessibility advantages he sees in his allogeneic-based, pluripotent stem cell approach. Visit www.bioprocessonline.com to learn how another emerging biopharma is leveraging allogeneic NK cells in oncology. 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/

Jan 31, 2022 • 45min
A Hybrid mAb Manufacturing Model With John Glasspool
We love to hear from our listeners. Send us a message. Post-operative venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a serious and prevalent post-operative risk that has several contributing factors. John Glasspool, CEO at Anthos therapeutics, is on a mission to address the issue—and a host of other cardiovascular and metabolic conditions—with monoclonal antibodies that inhibit coagulation Factor XI and its activated form XIa. On this episode of the Business of Biotech, Glasspool discusses the advantages and challenges of the hybrid manufacturing approach at Anthos, and how its strategy has enabled phase 1 and 2 clinical studies that have demonstrated an 80% reduction of the rate of VTE in post-operative total knee arthroplasty patients compared to the standard of care (enoxaparin).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/

Jan 24, 2022 • 48min
Biotech Capital Markets Forecast With Allan Shaw
We love to hear from our listeners. Send us a message. As Allan Shaw likes to say, "there have never been so many people with their hands out, and there has never been so much money to go around." But how sustainable is this seemingly perennial boom in the biotech capital markets? Will the road go on forever and the party never end, or are there signs of a slowdown on the horizon? Shaw once again joins us to break down the market activity he's seeing, and what he anticipates for early-stage biotech leaders in 2022. 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/

Jan 17, 2022 • 46min
Venture Philanthropy For Type 1 Diabetes With T1D Fund's Katie Ellias
We love to hear from our listeners. Send us a message. The JDRF's T1D Fund is exemplary of an indication-specific advocacy group's aggressive pursuit of a cure through venture philanthropy. Put simply, unlike traditional VC firms who entertain myriad and often diverse pitches from biotech startups, the T1D fund creates financial and advisory incentives for the biotechs in its portfolio to pursue candidates and formalize programs around Type 1 Diabetes therapies. A growing number of the programs the T1D fund is supporting are cell and gene therapies and biologics. Katie Ellias, a managing director at the fund, joins the Business of Biotech to explain the JDRF T1D fund's unique approach, why Type 1 Diabetes is an important and potentially lucrative indication, and how the venture philanthropy model applies to the life sciences startup community. 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/

Jan 10, 2022 • 57min
Precision Approach To Infectious Disease With Locus Biosciences' Paul Garofolo
We love to hear from our listeners. Send us a message. Locus Biosciences CEO Paul Garofolo built his biotech leadership career on the back of an MIS degree, having learned the business from the inside out via the tentacles of the IT networks at companies including Genentech, The Broadlane Group, Valeant Pharmaceuticals and Patheon. On today's episode of the Business of Biotech, Garofolo shares how a technologist's approach has helped shape the effort to develop precision therapeutics for infectious diseases at Locus, the company's decision to build its own cGMP manufacturing facility in Research Triangle, and the massive business opportunity the field addresses in the effort to overcome antibiotic resistance. 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/

Jan 3, 2022 • 41min
Bioengineering Human Tissue With Humacyte's Dr. Heather Prichard
We love to hear from our listeners. Send us a message. Humacyte COO Dr. Heather Prichard joins the Business of Biotech for a discussion on the company's pipeline of candidates for the repair, replacement, and reconstruction of human vascular vessels. The company recently scaled the production of its implantable bioengineered human tissues from 10 to 200 per day to meet Phase 3 vascular trauma and arteriovenous access trials. On today's episode, Dr. Prichard shares the company's scale-up story and the science and engineering behind a unique approach to regenerative medicine using human tissue. 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/

Dec 27, 2021 • 45min
The Top Stories Of 2021 With Allan Shaw
We love to hear from our listeners. Send us a message. Join your host Matt Pillar and guest Allan Shaw for a no-hold-barred retrospective on the year's top stories and trends. From the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic to the questionable approval of Aduhelm to leadership instability at the FDA and more, Shaw dissects the year past and predicts how those stories will influence the biotech industry in 2022 and beyond.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/