Development and Research

Don't look now, but there are bacteriophages on your shoes. And if you scraped off a sample and sent them to a phage biology lab, one strain of them might turn out to be a natural, targeted predator for an antibiotic-resistant bacterial infection that a surgery patient has been fighting for the past year.I'm joined this week by Jessica Sacher, a Stanford phage biologist, cofounder of Phage Directory, and founding research staff at Phage Australia. Jessica has spent more than a decade studying natural viruses that kill bacteria, trying to bring century-old ‘phage’ therapy into modern medicine—with everything from basic-science research to personally hand-preparing treatments for individual patients.We talk about why this promising therapy got written off as "commie science," what fraction of PhD-thesis research samples just happen to cure an antibiotic-resistant infection, where they sell over-the-counter phage medication that's developed like a sourdough starter, and what it'll take to design clinical trials when every treatment is personalized to a particular patient.Full transcript at https://developmentandresearch.bio/episode/jessica-sacher/

Most venture capitalists avoid infectious disease because the sickest patients live in countries that can't pay for expensive medicine—and because a one-time treatment can charge only a fraction of what a lifetime chronic drug can. Then again, one-time treatments for patients aged 18-30 in the developing world can be 10× to 100× cheaper to study than the Big Pharma playbook would have you believe.I'm joined this week by Charlie Petty, a managing director at the Global Health Investment Corporation—a venture fund that looks for profitable investments in companies developing treatments for the developing world. Their thesis is that you can make money solving problems for huge markets of people who have relatively little money, if you're creative about how markets work.We talk about what makes his job harder (and easier) than conventional biotech VC, which clinical trials cost an order of magnitude (or more!) less than you'd expect, selling to national and international drug stockpiles, and the looming rise of a “less unipolar” biotech world.Full transcript at https://developmentandresearch.bio/episode/charlie-petty/

I'm joined this week by Brian Finrow, CEO of Lumen Bioscience, who thinks we would be better off if we grew more drugs in algae, and fewer in Chinese Hamster Ovary cells.We talk about why "monoclonal antibodies" are particularly safe and effective as drugs—but incredibly expensive to manufacture—and whether the fundamental problem of the biotech industry is that everyone just has too much money.Full transcript at https://developmentandresearch.bio/episode/brian-finrow/

Meri Beckwith, Founder of Lindus Health, shares her unique perspective as a clinical trial patient and venture capitalist. She reveals why clinical trials lag behind in technology adoption. Meri discusses unexpected factors, like a flooded supply closet, that can lead to billion-dollar failures. She highlights the need for innovative patient recruitment and streamlined operations to enhance trial integrity. Lastly, she critiques traditional practices and advocates for adaptive methodologies to revolutionize drug development and improve patient engagement.

Development & Research is a video series about doing things differently in the world of clinical trials. Development and Research is produced by Samuel Cottrell (hath.blog)Thank you to Michael Curzi at Hallsong Media (hallsong.com) for producing the trailer.