Beyond Biotech - the podcast from Labiotech

Hearing loss is a huge – and growing – global challenge.Using its OSPREY platform, UK-based Rinri Therapeutics is developing a portfolio of off-the-shelf regenerative cell therapy products to address sensorineural hearing loss, a significant global medical challenge. The company’s lead asset, Rincell-1, is designed to regenerate auditory neurons and provide a novel treatment for patients with severe-to-profound age-related hearing loss or auditory neuropathy. The company is looking to start first-in-human trials in 2025.Today, on the podcast we have a conversation with Rinri CEO Simon Chandler about the different kinds of hearing loss, what’s being done to tackle them, and Rinri’s novel approach to treatments.01:08-03:19: About Rinri Therapeutics03:19-05:16: About hearing loss05:16-07:31: Mental health and hearing loss07:31-10:22: The different kinds of hearing loss10:22-11:37: The importance of early intervention11:37-13:46: What is Rinri doing to tackle hearing loss?13:46-15:58: The difficulty of accessing the cochlea15:58-19:12: Is your treatment a cure for hearing loss?19:12-20:45: Would repeat treatment be necessary?20:45-23:30: Are other companies working on hearing loss?23:30-25:27: The cost of treating hearing loss25:27-27:13: The economic costs of hearing loss27:13-28:33: Rinri treatment timelines28:33-30:15: The rest of Rinri’s pipeline Interested in being a sponsor of an episode of our podcast? Discover how you can get involved here! Stay updated by subscribing to our newsletter

June is myasthenia gravis awareness month. Myasthenia gravis is a chronic autoimmune disorder where antibodies destroy the communication between nerves and muscle, and this results in weakness of the skeletal muscles. It especially affects the voluntary muscles of the eyes, mouth, throat and/or limbs. It is most frequent in women from 20 and 30 and men aged 50 and older. To talk about the disease, how it is being treated, and what is in the pipeline for future treatments, we had a conversation with Dana Vigier, head of Central Eastern and Northern Europe at Alexion.01:07-04:26: Background on Dr Dana Vigier04:26-07:07: What is myasthenia gravis?07:07-09:43: What is the prognosis for someone diagnosed with myasthenia gravis?09:43-11:33: How effective are current treatments for myasthenia gravis?11:33-12:56: Do all the myasthenia gravis drugs work in the same way?  12:56-18:35: What R&D is taking place in myasthenia gravis?18:35-21:14: Alexion and its work on myasthenia gravis21:14-22:01: Myasthenia gravis clinical trials22:01-23:58: The importance of myasthenia gravis awareness month23:58-25:31: Would early diagnosis make a difference?25:31-27:54: Transformation through new treatmentsInterested in being a sponsor of an episode of our podcast? Discover how you can get involved here! Stay updated by subscribing to our newsletter

German-headquartered Isarna Therapeutics is developing a portfolio of antisense therapies targeting an emerging therapeutic field in human biology – transforming growth factor beta (TGF-B) signaling. Precise modulation of TGF-B pathways using antisense therapy may result in safer and more effective treatment options for a broad range of indications.The company’s lead compound, ISTH0036, is in clinical development in ophthalmology.On the podcast this week we chat with René Rückert, chief operating officer at Isarna Therapeutics, who explains TGF-B and antisense oligonucleotides’ role in tackling disease.00:59-02:45: About Isarna Therapeutics02:45-05:05: What is transforming growth factor beta?05:05-06:16: Why is TGF a good target?06:16-09:00: What are antisense oligonucleotides?09:00-10:02: What are antisense oligonucleotides useful for treating?10:02-11:21: What advantages do antisense oligonucleotides have?11:21-13:00: How can antisense oligonucleotides be delivered?13:00-14:58: Are antisense oligonucleotides still being researched?14:58-16:31: Are there challenges with using antisense oligonucleotides?16:31-16:56: Are many companies working on antisense oligonucleotides?16:56-18:06: Are antisense oligonucleotides best used as a monotherapy or with other treatments?18:06-20:42: What is Isarna’s pipeline?20:42-22:47: How does your AMD treatment work?22:47-23:50: What is the timeline for your treatment?23:50-26:34: What can patients expect?Interested in being a sponsor of an episode of our podcast? Discover how you can get involved here! Stay updated by subscribing to our newsletter

Robert Blum, CEO of Cytokinetics, discusses the company's aficamten, cardiac myosin inhibitor, and potential treatments for cardiovascular diseases. They cover aficamten's administration, path to commercialization, impact on patients, and future applications. The conversation also explores CK-136 and omecamtiv mecarbil as innovative pharmacological approaches in cardiac muscle activation for heart health.

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a genetic disorder with progressive muscle degeneration and weakness due to changes in the protein dystrophin, which helps keep muscle cells intact. There are few treatments for DMD, although recent advances mean that males – who are primarily affected by DMD – can now sometimes survive into their 30s.More drugs are being developed in the fight against DMD, and this week we had a conversation with Frank Gleeson, CEO of Satellos Bioscience, about recent work on addressing DMD, including the company’s own work in the field.00:47-02:01: About Satellos Bioscience02:01-04:33: What is Duchenne muscular dystrophy?04:33-05:43: What are the challenges in treating Duchenne muscular dystrophy?05:43-09:08: What are the new treatments for Duchenne muscular dystrophy?  09:08-11:20: What is your treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy?11:20-13:42: Are there different approaches to treating Duchenne muscular dystrophy?13:42-14:06: How is your treatment delivered?14:06-17:32: How important is early intervention?17:32-18:56: Where is Satellos at with clinical trials?18:56-20:41: Preclinical trial results20:41-21:44: Outreach to the Duchenne muscular dystrophy community21:44-23:12: Is a cure for Duchenne muscular dystrophy possible?Interested in being a sponsor of an episode of our podcast? Discover how you can get involved here! Stay updated by subscribing to our newsletter 

This week, we have a conversation about clinical trial design with Gen Li, the president and founder of Phesi, a global provider of patient-centric data analysis. Earlier this year, Phesi’s global analysis of all clinical trials conducted in 2023 revealed that more than a quarter (28%) of trials were cancelled during phase II – above the average attrition rate of 20% before 2020. 00:39-01:31: About Phesi01:31-01:49: Is your database global?01:49-03:08: How successful are the different phases of clinical trials?03:08-04:29: What are the biggest challenges for clinical trials currently?04:29-06:23: Are clinical trials improving?06:23-08:14: How can data improve clinical trials?08:14-10:47: How does artificial intelligence affect clinical trial design?10:47-12:53: Can clinical trial costs be reduced?12:53-15:15: Can clinical trial times be shortened? 15:15-18:21: Can data help with clinical trial diversity?18:21-19:46: How can you fill knowledge gaps?19:46-22:01: Do you have less data for rare diseases?22:01-23:28: How does your company help with clinical trial design?23:28-25:12: What kind of solutions can you provide?Interested in being a sponsor of an episode of our podcast? Discover how you can get involved here! Stay updated by subscribing to our newsletter

The podcast delves into the biotech investment landscape in 2024 with a focus on financing for innovative companies. Topics include evaluating biotech companies, raising funds, undervalued sectors, M&As, IPOs, major trends in biotech, impact of US elections, royalties market, regional differences, and getting good biotech deals today.

Doloromics is a precision neuropharmaceuticals company. It was set up four years ago, to use newer technologies, particularly in the omics space, to take advantage of different single-cell transcriptomic technologies or proteomic technologies to better understand the progression of neurological diseases like chronic pain.The Doloromics pipeline is built upon a proprietary discovery and validation platform DOLOReS. Jackson Brougher, chief scientific officer and co-founder of Doloromics, is our guest on this week’s Beyond Biotech podcast.00:46-04:41: About Doloromics04:41-07:09: What is chronic pain?07:09-08:30: How challenging is the subjectivity of pain?08:30-11:04: What is nociception?11:04-12:23: The challenges of treating pain12:23-16:35: Is chronic pain a disease?16:35-19:57: What is VX-548?19:57-22:17: Monoclonal antibodies and CGRPs22:17-26:22: How have recent advances in genomic technologies advanced the understanding of pain?26:22-31:03: What is the DOLOReS platform?31:03-32:37: Delivery methods32:37-33:55: Keeping costs low33:55-34:58: Next stepsInterested in being a sponsor of an episode of our podcast? Discover how you can get involved here! Stay updated by subscribing to our newsletter

Based in Austin, Texas, biotech Colossal Biosciences is at the forefront of de-extinction, critically endangered species protection and the repopulation of critical ecosystems. Its mission is to use CRISPR technology to bring back extinct animals, such as the mammoth, the thylacine, and the dodo.Since DNA was recovered in 2021 from mammoths frozen in the Arctic tundra, the company has been working on splicing bits of the recovered DNA into the genome of its closest relative, the Asian elephant, as it shares 99.6% of its DNA. Ben Lamm, co-founder and CEO of Colossal Biosciences spoke with us about the company’s plans.01:03-02:57: Introduction to Ben Lamm02:57-04:26: About Colossal Biosciences04:26-09:35: What techniques are used to tackle de-extinction?09:35-13:48: What are the biggest challenges?13:48-14:57: What tools do you need to ‘build’ an extinct species? 14:57-19:17: How do you address not adversely affecting ecosystems?19:17-22:22: How do you take on negativity over your de-extinction work?22:22-23:26: Reintroducing existing species into previous habitats?23:26-24:06: Does this extend to critically endangered species?24:06-25:54: Why is there a lot of interest in de-extinction?25:54-28:10: How do you ensure we don’t repeat the same patterns of extinction?28:10-29:38: Can you address the loss of current species?29:38-30:35: How can you help solve the loss of species?30:35-33:48: Addressing the challenges of introducing different species?33:48-35:22: Transparency through documentaries35:22-37:27: 2028 goal for mammoth calvesInterested in being a sponsor of an episode of our podcast? Discover how you can get involved here! Stay updated by subscribing to our newsletter

It would appear that 2024 is shaping up to be a big year for the development of treatments for schizophrenia, with several clinical trials under way.Recently, Boehringer Ingelheim and Sosei Group Corporation (Sosei Heptares) announced a global collaboration and exclusive option-to-license agreement. This is to develop and commercialize Sosei Heptares’ portfolio of first-in-class GPR52 agonists, a novel G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) target. The goal is to improve patient outcomes by addressing the positive, negative, and cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia.Clíona MacSweeney, Sosei Heptares’ GPR52 program leader, spoke with us about that partnership, as well as other developments in the field of schizophrenia treatments.00:57-03:44: What is schizophrenia?03:44-04:52: What are the current schizophrenia treatments?04:52-06:27: Why is schizophrenia challenging to treat?06:27-07:34: Why is 2024 a big year for schizophrenia treatments?07:34-08:56: Seratonin and dopamine modulation08:56-10:46: How does muscarinic modulation work?10:46-12:35: Excitatory and inhibitory tone pipeline 12:35-14:12: Digital therapeutic and epigenetic modulation14:12-16:12: GPR52 agonists16:12-17:53: How are GPR52 agonists different?17:53-19:03: Are there lots of schizophrenia treatments coming?19:03-20:10: Will some new schizophrenia treatments be used in conjunction with existing treatments?20:10-20:49: Is a schizophrenia cure possible?20:49-21:22: Treatment frequency21:22-22:21: Where is Sosei Heptares with clinical trials for schizophrenia?22:21-22:45: What else is in Sosei Heptares’ pipeline?22:45-23:35: Sosei Heptares becoming Nxera23:35-24:42: Schizophrenia conferencesInterested in being a sponsor of an episode of our podcast? Discover how you can get involved here! Stay updated by subscribing to our newsletter