The Biotech Startups Podcast

In this installment, Judy Chou, a biotech executive and former leader at Wyeth and Genentech, shares insights from her transformative journey from academia to industry. She discusses pioneering high-throughput screening for biologics and achieving unprecedented antibody production levels. Judy reveals her strategies for creating cross-functional teams and overcoming resistance to innovation within large organizations. Her experiences underscore the importance of meaningful work and leadership in the biotech landscape.

🧬 The Biotech Startups Podcast is powered by Excedr—helping life science startups accelerate R&D and commercialization with founder-friendly equipment leasing. Skip the upfront costs, stay lean, and focus on breakthrough science.As a TBSP listener, you can get exclusive perks through Excedr’s partner network—special savings, promotions, and more. Explore these offers today: https://www.excedr.com/partners."Multidisciplinary is key. It's where the innovation really comes from."In this episode of The Biotech Startups Podcast by Excedr, AltruBio President and CEO Judy Chou traces her journey from an arts-driven childhood in politically tense, conservative Taiwan to leading a clinical-stage biotech company in the U.S., sharing how an “inner rebel,” a love of physics, and two pivotal uncles redirected her from an elite engineering track into medicine and biology at National Taiwan University, where she hustled her way into research labs each summer. A heartbreaking encounter with a young boy whose mother was dying of leukemia convinced her that treating one patient at a time was not enough, propelling her to Yale for a PhD, where she earned five Honors in a single semester, dove into cutting-edge neuroscience and synaptic vesicle biology, and survived a “Home Alone” phase after her advisor left—pushing a cart of reagents between world-class labs and forging the resilience, independence, and multidisciplinary mindset that now underpin her leadership and her pursuit of first-in-class therapies for immune and inflammatory diseases.Key topics covered:Inner Rebel & Upbringing: Growing up in conservative, politically tense Taiwan and developing an inner drive to follow expectations while quietly breaking traditions.Choosing Science Over the Arts: Moving from prodigy-level talent in painting, music, and writing to physics, and ultimately into medicine and biology after pivotal family conversations.The Longest Walk: How witnessing a young leukemia patient losing his mother in the ER catalyzed Judy’s decision to leave clinical practice and focus on finding real solutions in the lab.Yale & Neuroscience: Earning five Honors in one semester, entering a nascent neuroscience program, and working at the frontier of synaptic vesicle biology amid future Nobel-winning discoveries.Radical Independence in Training: Surviving after her PI left Yale, becoming a “homeless scientist” moving between elite labs, and how that forged the independence and multidisciplinary mindset she carries into biotech leadership today.If you enjoy The Biotech Startups Podcast, please consider subscribing, leaving a review, or sharing it with your friends. Thanks for listening.Subscribe to the Podcast:Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-biotech-startups-podcast/id1679591994Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2PSL162R2s0zOwU5913Zv4Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thebiotechstartupspodcast Website: https://www.thebiotechstartupspodcast.com/ Find our guest, Judy Chou at these links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/judy-chou-ph-d-biotechWebsite: https://www.altrubio.com/altrubio/en Find our host, Jon Chee, at these links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joncheeLearn more about Excedr:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/excedr/ Website: https://www.excedr.comIntro & Outro Songs Created by OkKyojin, Owned by Excedr:Website: https://flow.page/kyojin Resources & Articles:SNARE Complex and Synaptic Vesicle Biology: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2013/summary/James Rothman's Nobel Prize Research on Vesicle Trafficking: https://www.nature.com/articles/nrm3323Rab Proteins and Intracellular Trafficking: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3146697/Neuroscience Graduate Programs and Multidisciplinary Training: https://medicine.yale.edu/neuroscience/CPG Column Technology for Protein Purification: CPG (Controlled Pore Glass) Synthesis Column, 0.2 μmol, 500 Angstrom Pore Size, T EachMax Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry: https://www.mpinat.mpg.de/enBone Marrow Transplantation in Acute Leukemia: Stem Cell Transplant for Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) | American Cancer Society​Howard Hughes Medical Institute Graduate Programs: Becoming an HHMI Scientist | HHMI Science ProgramsHigh-Throughput Screening in Biologics Development: https://www.nature.com/articles/nrd1470​Companies, Universities, & People mentioned:Yale University: https://www.yale.edu/​Max Planck Institute: https://www.mpg.de/enHarvard Medical School: https://hms.harvard.edu/National Taiwan University: https://www.ntu.edu.tw/english/Reinhard Jahn https://www.mpinat.mpg.de/jahnPietro De Camilli https://medicine.yale.edu/profile/pietro-decamilli/Spyros Artavanis-Tsakonas https://www.gairdner.org/winner/spyros-artavanis-tsakonasIra Mellman https://acgtfoundation.org/people/ira-mellman-phd/Manfred Eigen https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manfred_EigenErwin Neher https://mediatheque.lindau-nobel.org/laureates/neherTimestamps: 00:00 Intro04:45 Growing Up in Taiwan: Living with Threats and Breaking Tradition07:45 The Inner Rebel and Conservative Expectations11:02 Artist Family Background: Parents in Literature and Library Sciences12:19 From Arts Prodigy to Politics to Science13:36 Falling in Love with Physics in Middle School16:48 Two Uncles Change Everything: The Medical School Decision25:21 Medical School Experience and Lab Work29:59 Professor Chen and the Shadow of Limited Solutions33:06 The Longest Walk: Emergency Room to Lab38:03 Choosing Yale for PhD and Genuine Curiosity41:45 Five Honors in One Semester at Yale49:59 The "Home Alone" PhD: When the Lab Moved Away55:40 Max Planck Postdoc: CPG Columns and Concert HallsThe Biotech Startups Podcast gives you a front-row seat to the business and science of building a biotech. Hosted by Jon Chee, CEO of Excedr, the show features honest conversations with founders, execs, and investors about their work, their companies, and how they got there. From scientific breakthroughs to startup lessons, each episode explores what it really takes to grow a life science company—from pre-seed to IPO.

🧬 The Biotech Startups Podcast is powered by Excedr—helping life science startups accelerate R&D and commercialization with founder-friendly equipment leasing. Skip the upfront costs, stay lean, and focus on breakthrough science.As a TBSP listener, you can get exclusive perks through Excedr’s partner network—special savings, promotions, and more. Explore these offers today: https://www.excedr.com/partners."Sometimes no response is the loudest response of all."In this episode of The Biotech Startups Podcast, Amy Hay, Chief Business Officer at CTMC, shares how CTMC bridges academia and industry to help lean cell therapy teams reach the clinic faster and more capital-efficiently through a co-development model that bundles manufacturing, regulatory, and operational support so scientists can stay focused on the science while building scalable, commercialization-ready processes from day one. Amy and host Jon Chee dig into why business model innovation—milestone-based contracts and, in some cases, equity alignment—can be as critical as scientific breakthroughs in today’s tough fundraising landscape, and how regional manufacturing, knowledge transfer, and global network alliances are turning cell therapy from a theoretical option into a practical reality for patients around the world.Key topics covered:CTMC’s mission: Bridging academia and industry to accelerate early cell therapy programs into the clinic.Co-developing with early biotechs: End-to-end support (manufacturing, regulatory, logistics) to reduce time and capital burden.Scaling early to avoid late pain: Building sustainable, commercializable processes and de-risking Phase 1 through commercial.Business model innovation: Milestone-based contracts and equity alignment to create incentives and improve fundraising narratives.Democratizing cell therapy globally: Regional manufacturing, network alliances, and why “the patient is part of the supply chain.”If you enjoy The Biotech Startups Podcast, please consider subscribing, leaving a review, or sharing it with your friends. Thanks for listeningSubscribe to the Podcast:Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-biotech-startups-podcast/id1679591994Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2PSL162R2s0zOwU5913Zv4Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thebiotechstartupspodcast Website: https://www.thebiotechstartupspodcast.com/ Find our guest, Amy Hay at these links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amychay/Website: https://ctmc.com/ Find our host, Jon Chee, at these links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joncheeLearn more about Excedr:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/excedr/ Website: https://www.excedr.comIntro & Outro Songs Created by OkKyojin, Owned by Excedr:Website: https://flow.page/kyojin Resources & Articles:TIL (Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocyte) Therapy: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/tumor-infiltrating-lymphocyte-til-therapyIND (Investigational New Drug) Application Process: https://www.fda.gov/drugs/types-applications/investigational-new-drug-ind-applicationGlobal Access to Cell and Gene Therapies: https://www.cell.com/molecular-therapy-family/molecular-therapy/fulltext/S1525-0016(25)00270-9Melanoma Treatment & TIL Therapy Outcomes: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2210233​Companies, Universities, & People mentioned:MD Anderson Cancer Center: https://www.mdanderson.org/National Resilience (Resilience Labs): https://www.resilience.com/Varian Medical Systems: https://www.varian.com/Siemens Healthineers: https://www.siemens-healthineers.com/products-servicesHenrique Neves, General Director, Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein: https://www.linkedin.com/in/henrique-sneves/Timestamps: 00:00 Intro01:57 CTMC's Mission and North Star07:51 State of the Cell Therapy Market10:54 Business Model Innovation and Deal Structuring12:25 What an Engagement with CTMC Looks Like15:35 Archetypical Partners and Customers19:46 Building End-to-End Capabilities and Future Developments25:57 Democratizing Cell Therapy Globally28:35 Shout-Outs to Key Supporters and Mentors32:02 Advice to 21-Year-Old Self: Patience and Grace33:41 OutroThe Biotech Startups Podcast gives you a front-row seat to the business and science of building a biotech. Hosted by Jon Chee, CEO of Excedr, the show features honest conversations with founders, execs, and investors about their work, their companies, and how they got there. From scientific breakthroughs to startup lessons, each episode explores what it really takes to grow a life science company—from pre-seed to IPO.

"The moment that you stop being curious in your job is the moment you need to run out the front door."In this episode of The Biotech Startups Podcast, we explore Amy Hay's remarkable evolution from a longtime leader at MD Anderson Cancer Center to an entrepreneurial consultant and medtech executive. Amy shares the deeply personal and professional challenges of leaving an institution that defined her for two decades, describing how a "painful" leadership change became the ultimate catalyst for her growth and reinvention.Amy details her global journey, from navigating the cultural nuances of opening oncology clinics in Brazil to the eye-opening experience of consulting in Nigeria, where she learned that healthcare innovation must meet people where they are. She discusses the founding of her consulting firm, Evolve, its timely acquisition by Varian just before the global pandemic, and her eventual full-circle return to the Houston biotech ecosystem to lead strategy in the burgeoning field of cell therapy.Key topics covered:Global Healthcare Nuances: Lessons from Brazil and Nigeria on why "plug-and-play" medical models fail without cultural adaptation.Navigating Career Inflections: How to pivot with passion and curiosity when professional circumstances shift unexpectedly.The Entrepreneurial Leap: Founding and selling a boutique consulting firm (Evolv) and the importance of timing in business.Medtech Integration Strategies: Insights into the human psychology of acquisitions and the merger between Varian and Siemens Healthineers.The Future of Precision Medicine: Bridging the gap between academic research and industrial scale in cell therapy manufacturing.If you enjoy The Biotech Startups Podcast, please consider subscribing, leaving a review, or sharing it with your friends. Thanks for listening.Subscribe to the Podcast:Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-biotech-startups-podcast/id1679591994Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2PSL162R2s0zOwU5913Zv4Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thebiotechstartupspodcast Website: https://www.thebiotechstartupspodcast.com/ Find our guest, Amy Hay at these links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amychay/Website: https://ctmc.com/ Find our host, Jon Chee, at these links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joncheeLearn more about Excedr:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/excedr/ Website: https://www.excedr.comIntro & Outro Songs Created by OkKyojin, Owned by Excedr:Website: https://flow.page/kyojin Resources & Articles:Proton Therapy for Cancer Treatment: https://www.cancer.org/cancer/managing-cancer/treatment-types/radiation/proton-therapy.htmlCell Therapy Manufacturing and CDMO Services: https://resilience.com/cell-therapyMD Anderson Cancer Network Model: https://www.premierhealth.com/your-health/articles/premier-pulse/2024-md-anderson-cancer-network-changesAdministrative Fellowships in Healthcare: ​https://www.ache.org/career-resource-center/seek-new-opportunities/administrative-fellowshipsMulti-omics in Precision Medicine: https://www.mdpi.com/topics/Z6ZWJQ7U1I​Theranostics in Cancer Care: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TheranosticsCompanies, Universities, & People mentioned:MD Anderson Cancer Center: https://www.mdanderson.org/Albert Einstein Israelite Hospital (Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein): https://www.einstein.br/Varian Medical Systems (Varian, a Siemens Healthineers company): https://www.varian.com/Siemens Healthineers: https://www.siemens-healthineers.com/Henrique Neves: https://www.linkedin.com/in/henrique-sneves/?locale=en_USJames Cox: https://www.astro.org/about-astro/history/history-interviews/james-coxJason Bock: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-b-bock/Timestamps: 00:00 Intro01:55 The Plug-and-Play Healthcare Lesson: Building Einstein's Oncology Program in Brazil05:58 Meeting People Where They Are: Consulting Work in Nigeria09:15 Getting Bored at the Top: Recognizing When It's Time to Leave MD Anderson13:06 The Luckiest Unluckiest Person: Pivoting After a Career-Defining Loss18:02 Founding Evolv Consulting and Selling to Varian Before the Pandemic22:08 Navigating the Siemens Healthineers Acquisition of Varian27:49 Full Circle: Returning to MD Anderson's Ecosystem Through CTMC30:26 Key Lessons on Managing Humans Through Acquisition and Change32:58 When to Integrate vs. Keep Separate: Alignment and Synergy34:07 OutroThe Biotech Startups Podcast gives you a front-row seat to the business and science of building a biotech. Hosted by Jon Chee, CEO of Excedr, the show features honest conversations with founders, execs, and investors about their work, their companies, and how they got there. From scientific breakthroughs to startup lessons, each episode explores what it really takes to grow a life science company—from pre-seed to IPO.

🧬 The Biotech Startups Podcast is powered by Excedr—helping life science startups accelerate R&D and commercialization with founder-friendly equipment leasing. Skip the upfront costs, stay lean, and focus on breakthrough science.As a TBSP listener, you can get exclusive perks through Excedr’s partner network—special savings, promotions, and more. Explore these offers today: https://www.excedr.com/partners."If you're persistent, you can get there. If I think it's gonna be meaningful, I'm willing to do whatever it takes."In this episode of The Biotech Startups Podcast, Amy Hay, Chief Business Officer at CTMC, shares how she transformed ground-level patient care experience at MD Anderson into high-impact leadership that reshaped cancer treatment delivery. She traces her path from MD Anderson's first-ever internal administrative fellow to spearheading the institution's first proton therapy center and pioneering satellite clinics—including a "flea-bitten" Bellaire, Texas facility that became a runaway success by prioritizing convenience, compassion, and continuity of care. Amy recounts the audacious multi-year journey of raising 125 million dollars by assembling an unlikely coalition of clinicians, physicists, investment bankers, and construction operators, weathering the shock of 9/11 and frozen capital markets, then pivoting to purpose-driven local investors like firefighters' and police officers' pension funds whose communities are directly impacted by cancer.Along the way, Amy reflects on the challenges of intrapreneurship inside a major academic medical center, the unexpected emotional letdown that follows a "big win," and how that restlessness ultimately pushed her toward global oncology. She shares how collaborations with Hospital Albert Einstein in São Paulo, the American Hospital in Istanbul, and other international partners expanded her perspective beyond elite U.S. centers, sharpening her focus on access, alignment, and building care models that work across diverse health systems—not just in Houston.Key topics covered:Standing out internally: How Amy became MD Anderson’s first internal administrative fellow by connecting frontline experience to C‑suite impact.Building a Proton Therapy Center: From a vision with no budget to a 125 million dollar project, and what it took operationally and emotionally to make it real.Pivot after 9/11: Why the team abandoned traditional Wall Street fundraising and turned to firefighter and police pension funds aligned with the mission.Patient‑centric satellite care: Transforming a “flea‑bitten” Bellaire clinic into a beloved extension of MD Anderson by prioritizing convenience, continuity, and compassion.From Houston to global oncology: Amy’s shift from U.S. academic medicine to building international cancer networks and improving access to quality care worldwide.If you enjoy The Biotech Startups Podcast, please consider subscribing, leaving a review, or sharing it with your friends. Thanks for listening.Subscribe to the Podcast:Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-biotech-startups-podcast/id1679591994Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2PSL162R2s0zOwU5913Zv4Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thebiotechstartupspodcast Website: https://www.thebiotechstartupspodcast.com/ Find our guest, Amy Hay at these links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amychay/Website: https://ctmc.com/ Find our host, Jon Chee, at these links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joncheeLearn more about Excedr:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/excedr/ Website: https://www.excedr.comIntro & Outro Songs Created by OkKyojin, Owned by Excedr:Website: https://flow.page/kyojin Resources & Articles:Proton Therapy for Cancer Treatment (patient-friendly overview) – https://www.cancer.org/cancer/managing-cancer/treatment-types/radiation/proton-therapy.htmlHow Radiation Therapy Works – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation_therapyUnderstanding Pension Funds and Mission-Driven Investing – https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/pensionfund.aspHealthcare Intrapreneurship and Innovation in Large Organizations – https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9530418/Satellite Clinics and Access to Care in Oncology – https://www.accc-cancer.org/docs/documents/oncology-issues/articles/2022/v37-n3/filling-the-gap-app-utilization-to-meet-care-needs-in-oncology.pdf?sfvrsn=d68651de_6Global Disparities in Cancer Care Access – https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/cancerCompanies, Universities, & People mentioned:MD Anderson Cancer Center: https://www.mdanderson.org/Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein: https://www.einstein.br/enMassachusetts General Hospital: https://www.massgeneral.org/Loma Linda University Medical Center: https://lluh.org/James Cox, MD https://www3.mdanderson.org/library/hrc/legacies/cox.html​Ritsuko Komaki, MD https://www.linkedin.com/in/ritsuko-komaki-11a14918/ Timestamps: 00:00 Intro01:46 Landing the coveted MD Anderson administrative fellowship04:57 Discovering a passion for ORs, labs, and radiation oncology07:10 Vision to build MD Anderson’s first proton therapy center09:40 Transforming a “flea‑bitten” Bellaire satellite into a patient favorite​11:40 Starting the proton center project with no budget and a “proton family”​14:20 Fundraising pivot after 9/11 and partnering with local pension funds19:18 Building and operating the Proton Therapy Center with Hitachi technology21:32 Lessons in alignment, teams, and “intrapreneurship” inside MD Anderson24:34 Boredom after success and realizing most cancer care happens in the community26:40 Global oncology work with Hospital Albert Einstein and other international partners29:15 OutroThe Biotech Startups Podcast gives you a front-row seat to the business and science of building a biotech. Hosted by Jon Chee, CEO of Excedr, the show features honest conversations with founders, execs, and investors about their work, their companies, and how they got there. From scientific breakthroughs to startup lessons, each episode explores what it really takes to grow a life science company—from pre-seed to IPO.

🧬 The Biotech Startups Podcast is powered by Excedr—helping life science startups accelerate R&D and commercialization with founder-friendly equipment leasing. Skip the upfront costs, stay lean, and focus on breakthrough science.As a TBSP listener, you can get exclusive perks through Excedr’s partner network—special savings, promotions, and more. Explore these offers today: https://www.excedr.com/partners."If you work hard and you try hard, you'll get there. It might take a long time. It might be a little bit bloody, and you might be battered, but you'll get to the top of the mountain. You just have to work hard."In this episode of The Biotech Startups Podcast, we explore Amy Hay's formative years and the experiences that shaped her unique approach to healthcare leadership. From caring for her grandparents through dementia in Dallas to landing her first job at MD Anderson Cancer Center on the same day as its new president, Amy's journey reveals how personal crisis, liberal arts education, and unwavering resilience can forge a distinctive path in oncology and biotechnology.​Amy shares how her father's advice to "behave as if you're in your next job" transformed her approach to work, starting from her role as a receptionist where she learned to never say no—only how. She recounts her unconventional college application using a photo essay documenting individuals at a Dallas food bank on Thanksgiving, her child life internship at Santa Rosa Hospital, and how these experiences taught her that meaningful healthcare careers extend far beyond clinical roles. Amy also discusses the critical balance between the business of healthcare and patient care, explaining how her decision to pursue a Master's in Healthcare Administration while working full-time at MD Anderson gave her real-world context to apply theoretical knowledge immediately.Key topics covered:Early Healthcare Exposure: How caring for grandparents with dementia and watching her parents navigate crisis sparked a lifelong passion for supporting people through difficult timesArtistic Business Thinking: Blending her mother's artistic creativity with her father's business acumen to create novel collaborations and partnerships that shouldn't work on paper but become exceptionalLiberal Arts Foundation: Using photography and psychology at Southwestern University to understand people deeply, culminating in a child life internship that revealed non-clinical healthcare pathwaysBuilding Reputation Through Service: Starting as an MD Anderson receptionist in 1996, learning every system, and becoming the go-to problem solver by always saying yes and figuring out howNo Margin, No Mission: Recognizing the symbiotic relationship between healthcare business economics and quality patient care, leading to graduate education while maintaining full-time workIf you enjoy The Biotech Startups Podcast, please consider subscribing, leaving a review, or sharing it with your friends. Thanks for listening.Subscribe to the Podcast:Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-biotech-startups-podcast/id1679591994Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2PSL162R2s0zOwU5913Zv4Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thebiotechstartupspodcast Website: https://www.thebiotechstartupspodcast.com/ Find our guest, Amy Hay at these links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amychay/Website: https://ctmc.com/ Find our host, Jon Chee, at these links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joncheeLearn more about Excedr:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/excedr/ Website: https://www.excedr.comIntro & Outro Songs Created by OkKyojin, Owned by Excedr:Website: https://flow.page/kyojin Resources & Articles:Child Life Specialist Role and Training: https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/22651-child-life-specialistChild Life Specialists in Cancer Care: https://www.fredhutch.org/en/patient-care/services/child-life.htmlCompanies, Universities, & People mentioned:MD Anderson Cancer Center: https://www.mdanderson.org/Southwestern University: https://www.southwestern.edu/Santa Rosa Hospital: https://www.christushealth.org/locations/santa-rosa-hospital-westover-hillsHouston Baptist University: https://www.hbu.edu/​Dr. John Mendelsohn https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Mendelsohn_(doctor) Timestamps: 00:00 Intro05:13 Amy’s upbringing and early passion for helping people08:08 The “behave as if you’re in your next job” philosophy09:23 Influence of Amy’s artist mother and business-minded father11:22 College journey and the photo essay application16:25 Internship as a child life specialist at Santa Rosa Hospital17:40 Undergraduate experience and influential professors20:05 First day at MD Anderson Cancer Center in 199625:34 Learning the business of healthcare and “no margin, no mission”27:26 Bridging research, clinical care, and business29:01 Graduate school experience at Houston Baptist University31:45 OutroThe Biotech Startups Podcast gives you a front-row seat to the business and science of building a biotech. Hosted by Jon Chee, CEO of Excedr, the show features honest conversations with founders, execs, and investors about their work, their companies, and how they got there. From scientific breakthroughs to startup lessons, each episode explores what it really takes to grow a life science company—from pre-seed to IPO.

🧬 The Biotech Startups Podcast is powered by Excedr—helping life science startups accelerate R&D and commercialization with founder-friendly equipment leasing. Skip the upfront costs, stay lean, and focus on breakthrough science.As a TBSP listener, you can get exclusive perks through Excedr’s partner network—special savings, promotions, and more. Explore these offers today: https://www.excedr.com/partners."The best thing about starting your own business is you get to design the business that you always wanted to work for."We’re revisiting some of our previous episodes over the holidays this year. Our next re-release is this episode of The Biotech Startups Podcast, where Jason C. Foster takes us through his remarkable journey of building an international pharmaceutical company across Europe and his transition to founding Ori Biotech, a pioneering cell therapy manufacturing technology company. Jason shares how he moved from Richmond, Virginia to London in 2010 with a pregnant wife and toddler to build what would become Indivior, scaling the business from just a handful of employees to over 1,100 people across 37 countries before listing on the London Stock Exchange in 2014.​Jason offers candid insights into the cultural challenges of doing business across Northern and Southern Europe, the complexities of navigating different regulatory environments, and the critical importance of building mission-driven culture over purely financial incentives. He discusses how discovering cell therapy's potential to cure cancer—yet seeing patients unable to access these treatments due to cost and manufacturing limitations—compelled him to co-found Ori Biotech in 2018. Jason explains how the company is revolutionizing personalized medicine by creating scalable, affordable manufacturing platforms for cell therapies, with their Iro platform launching in 2024 and expecting to treat first patients in clinical trials in 2025.Key topics covered:Building across borders: Navigating cultural differences, employment laws, and business norms while scaling a pharmaceutical company from 3 employees to 1,100+ across 37 countries in Europe and beyond​Culture as competitive advantage: Why culture eats strategy for breakfast, lessons from Netflix's No Rules Rules, and designing companies around autonomy, mastery, and purpose rather than financial incentives​The cell therapy revolution: Understanding personalized living medicines that turn human immune cells into cancer cures, and why 35,000+ patients have been treated but accessibility remains limited​Commercial viability from day one: Why researchers must elevate cost and scalability alongside safety and efficacy in early development, or risk creating therapies that never reach patients​From vendor to trusted advisor: Building Ori Biotech's ecosystem approach with servant leadership, focusing on long-term partnerships over short-term profit maximizationIf you enjoy The Biotech Startups Podcast, please consider subscribing, leaving a review, or sharing it with your friends. Thanks for listening.Subscribe to the Podcast:Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-biotech-startups-podcast/id1679591994Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2PSL162R2s0zOwU5913Zv4Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thebiotechstartupspodcast Website: https://www.thebiotechstartupspodcast.com/ Find Our Guest, Jason C. Foster, at these links: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncfoster/ https://oribiotech.com/  Find our host, Jon Chee, at these links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joncheeLearn more about Excedr:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/excedr/ Website: https://www.excedr.comIntro & Outro Songs Created by OkKyojin, Owned by Excedr:Website: https://flow.page/kyojin Resources & Articles:How to Spin Out of Academia https://www.excedr.com/resources/how-to-spin-out-of-academia-and-into-a-startup How VC-Backed Startups Win When They Lease https://www.excedr.com/blog/how-vc-backed-startups-win-when-they-lease Marketing & Sales Strategies for Startups https://www.excedr.com/blog/marketing-sales-strategies-for-biotechs Companies, Universities, & People mentioned:Farlan Veraitch  https://www.linkedin.com/in/farlan-singh-veraitch-a677112/ Reed Hastings https://www.linkedin.com/in/reedhastings/ Dan Pink https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielpink/ Timestamps:00:00 Intro​01:39 Touching Down in London and Cultural Adjustments​04:44 Mentorship and Navigating European Business07:09 The Journey to IPO at the LSE​11:08 Lessons in Entrepreneurship and Finding Your Role​15:26 The Power of Culture in Building Companies​20:17 Entering the Venture Ecosystem and Discovering Cell Therapy27:04 Founding Ori Biotech and Building From Scratch33:17 Commercial Viability and Downstream Thinking in Drug Development​39:33 Go-to-Market Approach and Building Credibility​54:59 What's Next for Ori Biotech​57:41 Shout-Outs and Closing Advice​01:00:41 OutroThe Biotech Startups Podcast gives you a front-row seat to the business and science of building a biotech. Hosted by Jon Chee, CEO of Excedr, the show features honest conversations with founders, execs, and investors about their work, their companies, and how they got there. From scientific breakthroughs to startup lessons, each episode explores what it really takes to grow a life science company—from pre-seed to IPO.

🧬 The Biotech Startups Podcast is powered by Excedr—helping life science startups accelerate R&D and commercialization with founder-friendly equipment leasing. Skip the upfront costs, stay lean, and focus on breakthrough science.As a TBSP listener, you can get exclusive perks through Excedr’s partner network—special savings, promotions, and more. Explore these offers today: https://www.excedr.com/partners."If you think about what we do as human beings, the vast majority of the value we create is through communication."We’re revisiting some of our previous episodes over the holidays this year. Our next re-release is this episode of The Biotech Startups Podcast, where Jason C. Foster, CEO and Executive Director at Ori Biotech, shares how his upbringing in Richmond, Virginia and his family’s deep roots in business shaped his entrepreneurial drive and leadership style. Growing up as an only child surrounded by adults, Jason cultivated strong communication skills early on, while paper routes, lawn care, and door-to-door sales instilled in him a bias toward self-sufficiency and finding creative ways to add value.Jason walks through his journey from studying government at the University of Virginia and working on healthcare policy in Washington, D.C., to realizing that real impact on patient outcomes often happens in the private sector rather than in government. He then reflects on his formative years at Columbia Business School in New York City, where exposure to a highly international, high-performing peer group—and to the chaos and energy of post-9/11 New York—pushed him out of his comfort zone and helped crystallize his aspiration to build and lead in healthcare and startups.Throughout the conversation, Jason and host Jon Chee discuss lessons that stayed with him: the importance of early work experiences, the value of dealing with the public in retail and hospitality, why sometimes leaders must choose the “least worst” option when no perfect decision exists, and how understanding that people are not purely rational transforms how you approach negotiation, sales, and leadership. Jason also shares early insights that foreshadow his later work at Ori Biotech, including the power of mission-driven teams and the need to bridge different cultures and working styles, such as engineers and biologists, to build transformative technologies.Key topics covered:Early Entrepreneurial Roots: How paper routes, yard work, and door-to-door sales built Jason’s work ethic and self-sufficiency from a young age​Family and Business Influence: Growing up in a business-oriented household and seeing sales, travel, and “international business” up close​From Policy to Healthcare: Moving from the House Commerce Committee and FDA reform work in D.C. to recognizing the greater impact potential in the private sector​Columbia MBA Lessons: International exposure, high-performance peers, and pivotal teachings about “least worst” decisions and non-rational behavior​Communication and Leadership: Why communication creates outsized value, and how understanding human behavior shapes sales, management, and startup decision-makingIf you enjoy The Biotech Startups Podcast, please consider subscribing, leaving a review, or sharing it with your friends. Thanks for listening.Subscribe to the Podcast:Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-biotech-startups-podcast/id1679591994Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2PSL162R2s0zOwU5913Zv4Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thebiotechstartupspodcast Website: https://www.thebiotechstartupspodcast.com/ Find Our Guest, Jason C. Foster, at these links: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncfoster/ https://oribiotech.com/  Find our host, Jon Chee, at these links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joncheeLearn more about Excedr:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/excedr/ Website: https://www.excedr.comIntro & Outro Songs Created by OkKyojin, Owned by Excedr:Website: https://flow.page/kyojin Resources & Articles:University of Virginia https://www.virginia.edu/ Columbia University https://www.columbia.edu/ How to Spin Out of Academia https://www.excedr.com/resources/how-to-spin-out-of-academia-and-into-a-startup How VC-Backed Startups Win When They Lease https://www.excedr.com/blog/how-vc-backed-startups-win-when-they-lease Marketing & Sales Strategies for Startups https://www.excedr.com/blog/marketing-sales-strategies-for-biotechs Companies, Universities, & People mentioned:Merck https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merck_%26_Co. Medco https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medco_Health_Solutions Larry Sabato https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Sabato Emma Walmsley https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmawalmsleygsk/?originalSubdomain=uk Timestamps:00:00 Intro02:30 Growing Up as an Only Child and Early Communication Skills04:33 Family Business Background and Early Entrepreneurial Spirit09:52 College Decision and University of Virginia Experience13:18 Political Science at UVA and Path to Washington D.C.20:39 Choosing Columbia MBA and Moving to New York24:46 Memorable Challenges at Columbia Business School43:01 Job Search During Economic Downturn and Entry into Pharma46:36 Starting Field Marketing Division at Medco50:44 Joining Small Pharma Company in Addiction Medicine54:41 OutroThe Biotech Startups Podcast gives you a front-row seat to the business and science of building a biotech. Hosted by Jon Chee, CEO of Excedr, the show features honest conversations with founders, execs, and investors about their work, their companies, and how they got there. From scientific breakthroughs to startup lessons, each episode explores what it really takes to grow a life science company—from pre-seed to IPO.

🧬 The Biotech Startups Podcast is powered by Excedr—helping life science startups accelerate R&D and commercialization with founder-friendly equipment leasing. Skip the upfront costs, stay lean, and focus on breakthrough science.As a TBSP listener, you can get exclusive perks through Excedr’s partner network—special savings, promotions, and more. Explore these offers today: https://www.excedr.com/partners."If you can synthesize, then there's no such thing as too much expertise."We’re revisiting some of our previous episodes over the holidays this year. Our next re-release is this episode of The Biotech Startups Podcast, where Jacob Glanville pulls back the curtain on the “black box” of venture capital for biotech founders, sharing what he learned moving from pitching antibody platforms to pitching VCs. He explains how aligning with each firm’s investment thesis, simplifying your story, and using sharp visuals—while treating fundraising like dating, not a numbers game—can dramatically improve your odds without ever resorting to exaggeration or dishonesty.​Jacob then dives into choosing the right venture partners, negotiating fair terms, and focusing on what real success looks like for both founders and investors. He shows how the best VCs act as strategic allies and “polishing engines,” and explains why he partnered with NFX and GHIC to help drive Centivax’s universal vaccine programs forward, from RNA-LNP–enabled flu vaccines to broad-spectrum efforts in HIV and coronaviruses, all powered by a village of mentors, collaborators, and family.​Key topics covered:How to pitch VCs: Simplifying your deck, using strong visuals, anticipating objections, and treating fundraising like dating rather than a numbers game.​Founder mindset during rejection: Seeking honest feedback, avoiding neediness or defensiveness, and using “your baby is ugly” moments to strengthen the story.​Selecting the right VC partners: Investment theses, stage and check-size fit, reputation checks with portfolio founders, and the importance of warm introductions.​Negotiation and deal terms: Market comparables, fair ownership splits, avoiding paranoia, and focusing on building a massive outcome rather than fighting over a few points.​Beyond the money: How NFX and GHIC provide networks, strategic guidance, media amplification, and “fairy godmother” polishing for Centivax’s universal vaccine platform.​Roadmap for Centivax: Universal flu vaccine timelines, pivot to RNA-LNP delivery, expansion into HIV and coronavirus programs, and organizing the company around going first-in-human.​If you enjoy The Biotech Startups Podcast, please consider subscribing, leaving a review, or sharing it with your friends. Thanks for listening.​Subscribe to the Podcast:Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-biotech-startups-podcast/id1679591994Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2PSL162R2s0zOwU5913Zv4Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thebiotechstartupspodcast Website: https://www.thebiotechstartupspodcast.com/ Find our guest, Jacob Glanville, at these links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacobglanville/Website: https://www.centivax.com/ Find our host, Jon Chee, at these links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joncheeLearn more about Excedr:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/excedr/ Website: https://www.excedr.comIntro & Outro Songs Created by OkKyojin, Owned by Excedr:Website: https://flow.page/kyojin Resources & Articles:Building Backwards to Biotech (Book by Stephanie Wisner): https://books.google.com/books/about/Building_Backwards_to_Biotech.html?id=6pwlzwEACAAJVenture Capital Investment Thesis Explained: https://www.investopedia.com/terms/i/investment-thesis.aspRNA-LNP (Lipid Nanoparticle) Vaccine Technology: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lipid-based_nanoparticleIND-Enabling Studies for Clinical Trials: https://www.fda.gov/drugs/types-applications/investigational-new-drug-ind-applicationHAI Titer and Vaccine Efficacy Correlates: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6530189/Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) Standards: https://safetyculture.com/topics/gmpNegotiation Strategies for Founders: https://hbr.org/2014/04/15-rules-for-negotiating-a-job-offerSeries A Fundraising for Biotech Startups: https://www.excedr.com/resources/what-it-takes-to-raise-a-series-aContract Research Organizations (CROs) in Drug Development: https://novotech-cro.com/blog/what-role-cros-drug-developmentCompanies, Universities, & People mentioned:NFX https://www.nfx.com​​Global Health Investment Corporation (GHIC) https://ghicfunds.org​​Twist Bioscience https://www.twistbioscience.comCharles River Laboratories https://www.criver.com/ Endpoints News https://endpts.com/Stephanie Wisner https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-wisner-5aa4556a/Timestamps: 00:00 Intro01:00 Condensing the Pitch Deck and Lessons from Fundraising01:26 Finding Mentors and Understanding VC Culture07:45 Handling Rejection and Learning from Feedback11:42 Choosing the Right VC: Beyond Just the Money16:54 Negotiation Strategy and Fair Terms19:01 Building Awareness and Living Rent-Free in People's Minds20:11 Centivax's Next Steps: Universal Vaccines and RNA LNP Technology24:58 Phase 1 Clinical Trials and Platform Validation25:49 Shout-Outs to Team Members and Collaborators29:15 OutroThe Biotech Startups Podcast gives you a front-row seat to the business and science of building a biotech. Hosted by Jon Chee, CEO of Excedr, the show features honest conversations with founders, execs, and investors about their work, their companies, and how they got there. From scientific breakthroughs to startup lessons, each episode explores what it really takes to grow a life science company—from pre-seed to IPO.

🧬 The Biotech Startups Podcast is powered by Excedr—helping life science startups accelerate R&D and commercialization with founder-friendly equipment leasing. Skip the upfront costs, stay lean, and focus on breakthrough science.As a TBSP listener, you can get exclusive perks through Excedr’s partner network—special savings, promotions, and more. Explore these offers today: https://www.excedr.com/partners."If you are capable of acquiring knowledge, of applying the knowledge, and you like it, you can succeed. It doesn't matter what it is."We’re revisiting some of our previous episodes over the holidays this year. Our next re-release is this episode of The Biotech Startups Podcast, in which Jacob Glanville breaks down how he built Distributed Bio from a napkin-stage idea into a full-service antibody discovery platform—without traditional venture capital. He shares how creative partnerships with USF’s biotech master’s program and a scrappy animal facility in Guatemala helped him access labs, talent, and proof-of-concept data, even as early setbacks with SuperHuman 1.0 cost him clients and sleep.The conversation then dives into the realities of scaling: squeezing into half a bench at JLABS before expanding into a 7,500-square-foot facility powered by smart equipment leasing and a growing team. Jacob also introduces his “Respiration Model” of leadership—open debate followed by uncompromising execution—and explains why rising competition and strong universal vaccine data led him to sell Distributed Bio to Charles River Laboratories and spin out Centivax just as the pandemic hit.Key topics covered:Building Distributed Bio's business model: Software licensing, SuperHuman library development, and service contracts without VC fundingScrappy early-stage execution: USF grad student partnerships, Guatemala animal facility, and surviving SuperHuman 1.0's defectsScaling operations: JLABS growth, equipment leasing strategy, protocol standardization, and hiring 60-70 interns over multiple yearsThe "Respiration Model": Balancing organic innovation with hierarchical execution, managing co-founder tensions, and creating cultureStrategic exit and new chapter: CRO acquisition timing, competitive landscape analysis, and spinning out Centivax for universal vaccinesIf you enjoy The Biotech Startups Podcast, please consider subscribing, leaving a review, or sharing it with your friends. Thanks for listening.Subscribe to the Podcast:Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-biotech-startups-podcast/id1679591994Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2PSL162R2s0zOwU5913Zv4Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thebiotechstartupspodcast Website: https://www.thebiotechstartupspodcast.com/ Find our guest, Jacob Glanville, at these links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacobglanville/Website: https://www.centivax.com/ Find our host, Jon Chee, at these links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joncheeLearn more about Excedr:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/excedr/ Website: https://www.excedr.comIntro & Outro Songs Created by OkKyojin, Owned by Excedr:Website: https://flow.page/kyojin Resources & Articles:Distributed Bio Acquisition https://www.criver.com/charles-river-acquired-distributed-bio Deep Sequencing for Phage Display Library Analysis https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37966608/PEGS Conferences https://www.pegsummit.com/Amazon Web Services (AWS) Cloud Computing https://aws.amazon.com/health/life-sciences/Phage Display Technology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phage_displayEquipment Leasing for Biotech Startups https://www.excedr.com/resources/equipment-leasing-strategies-for-biotech-startupsIncubator Models (JLABS) https://jnjinnovation.com/jlabsCompanies, Universities, & People mentioned:Pfizer: https://www.pfizer.com/JLABS: https://www.jnj.com/tag/jlabsCharles River Laboratories (CRO): https://www.criver.com/ University of San Francisco (USF): https://www.usfca.edu/Gates Foundation: https://www.gatesfoundation.org/Illumina: https://www.illumina.com/Gilead: https://www.gilead.com/Boehringer Ingelheim: https://www.boehringer-ingelheim.com/Adimab: https://adimab.com/Timestamps: 00:00 Intro01:09 Finding Co-Founders and the Three-Stage Plan06:46 Building the SuperHuman Library with USF Graduate Students​10:22 Starting at JLABS and Scaling Lab Space​11:19 Equipment Leasing as a Growth Strategy​14:02 Challenges That Kept Him Up at Night​18:13 Learning from Academia vs Big Pharma Approaches​20:27 The Respiration Model: Balancing Innovation and Execution​23:32 Decision to Pursue Acquisition with Charles River​27:15 Spinning Out Centivax and Universal Vaccine Technology​27:43 Pandemic Timing and Gates Foundation Support​32:19 Outro​The Biotech Startups Podcast gives you a front-row seat to the business and science of building a biotech. Hosted by Jon Chee, CEO of Excedr, the show features honest conversations with founders, execs, and investors about their work, their companies, and how they got there. From scientific breakthroughs to startup lessons, each episode explores what it really takes to grow a life science company—from pre-seed to IPO.