The Bio Report

Spirulina, also known as blue-green algae, is edible. It can be engineered to cost-effectively produce biologics that can be taken orally. Though people have long sought to do this, Lumen Bioscience has developed platform technology that solved the various challenges is engineering spirulina to produce medicines. We spoke to Brian Finrow, co-founder and CEO of Lumen, about the company’s platform technology, why it makes possible the pursuit of biologics for indications that were previously not practical, and the potential to make these advanced therapies affordable and accessible in parts of the world where people may not have widely enjoyed their benefits.

Cancer is a global disease, and BeOne Medicines believes it should develop its cancer therapies for global markets. To do so, it’s taking innovative approaches to clinical trials, pricing, and manufacturing to enable it to support patients not only in high-income countries but also in low- and middle-income countries. We spoke to Matt Shaulis, general manager of North America for BeOne Medicines, about the significant global disparities in cancer care, the mission of BeOne Medicines to improve access and affordability to therapies, and the opportunities and challenges of taking a global approach to marketing innovative medicines.

The advent of immunotherapies is transforming cancer care. While early efforts have focused on enabling T cells to attack cancers, Myeloid Therapeutics is developing next-generation immunotherapies that use mRNA to train myeloid cells to attack cancer. We spoke to Daniel Getts, founder and CEO of Myeloid Therapeutics, about the limitations of existing immunotherapies, the role myeloid cells play in the immune system, and the benefits of the company’s therapeutic approach.

Despite having taken steps to prepare for a possible pandemic, the United States fared poorly during the COVID outbreak relative to other developed nations. It also sharpened political divides as conspiracy theories and misinformation spread on social media. In “COVID Wars: America’s Struggle Over Public Health and Personal Freedom,” tech entrepreneur-turned-historian Ronald Gruner takes a deep dive into the public data surrounding the pandemic. We spoke to Gruner about putting the pandemic in historical perspective, what the data showed, and the lessons to be learned.

GLP-1 agonists have been a breakthrough for the treatment of obesity, a global problem with serious health risks. While the benefits of these therapies are seen as outweighing the risks, there have been some concerns about the loss of muscle mass, particularly in older people using these drugs. iBio is developing next-generation obesity therapies that may be able to be used in combination with GLP-1 agonists or by themselves. Its lead experimental therapy is a myostatin inhibitor, part of a class of therapies that have been of interest to treat muscle wasting. We spoke to Martin Brenner, CEO and chief scientific officer of iBIO, about obesity, the limits of GLP-1 agonists, and the potential for myostatin inhibitors alone or in combination with GLP-1 agonists.

At the end of 2024, the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health awarded a team led by the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, and including the Foundation Fighting Blindness and six other research groups, up to $46 million to advance research to enable human eye transplants to restore vision in people who are blind. The goal of the project is to make whole eye transplantation a reality by 2030. We spoke to Kia Washington, the project’s principal investigator and professor of surgery at the University of Colorado School of Medicine; and Chad Jackson,  senior director of preclinical translational research at the Foundation Fighting Blindness about why no one has been able to restore vision through whole eye transplantation yet, the technological advancements that now put the goal in reach, and why maintaining and restoring the optic nerve remains a central challenge.

Synthetic biology companies have faced a difficult few years as share prices have been battered and investment in the sector has waned. As investors and companies are readying to gather for the annual SynBioBeta conference in San Jose May 5 through 8, a new report from the bipartisan National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology warns that the United States is at risk of losing its leadership to China and is calling for a $15 billion investment into biotech over the next five years to support startups that strengthen national security. We spoke to John Cumbers, founder and CEO of SynBioBeta, about the state of synthetic biology, the policy landscape, and the upcoming SynBioBeta 2025 conference. (Listeners of The Bio Report wishing to attend SynBioBeta can use the discount code “thebioreport” to save on their registration at synbiobeta.com.)  

Until recently, treatments for both chronic and acute pain had been an area that went for decades without the development of innovative new treatments. South Rampart Pharma is seeking to develop safer and more effective pain management therapies that avoid the liver toxicity of acetaminophen, the kidney toxicity of NSAIDs, and the abuse potential of opioids. We spoke to Hernan Bazan, co-founder and CEO of South Rampart Pharma, about the need for new pain medicines, the company’s first-in-class experimental analgesic, and how it avoids the problems common with other pain medications.

The Zimin Institute for AI Solutions in Healthcare, a joint initiative between the Zimin Foundation and the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, is seeking to accelerate the integration of AI into the life sciences. Although it is pursuing a wide range of opportunities from precision medicine to therapeutic discovery, its primary focus is on addressing real-world problems and conducting translational research. We spoke to Shai Shen-Orr, director of the Zimin Institute for AI Solutions, about the challenges the institute seeks to address, how it operates, and how it aims to bridge the gap between academic research and commercial applications in healthcare AI.

The search for non-opioid pain relievers opioids has focused on pharmaceutical alternatives including non-steroidal anti-inflammatories, antidepressants, and anticonvulsants. Brixton Biosciences is developing Neural Ice, an injectable frozen slurry that can degenerate nerves in targeted areas and provide pain relief for extended periods. The discovery capitalizes on unexpected findings about the effects of a fat-reducing cosmetic procedure. We spoke to Sameer Sabir, co-founder and CEO of Brixton Biosciences, about the unmet need for pain management, how Neural Ice works, and the company’s initial focus on osteoarthritis and post-operative knee pain.