Bioverge

Kiersten Stead, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of DCVC Bio discusses her firm’s approach to deep tech investing in biotech and focus on platform technologies. They delve into the intersection of in vivo CAR-T therapy and AI in healthcare, the challenges of developing safe and effective drugs, and the importance of science and team in biotech. The chapter also emphasizes the value of combining data, people, and technology to gain insights.

Professor of Finance, Andrew Lo, discusses the challenges of funding drug development and proposes a Netflix-inspired subscription model to address the crisis. Topics include innovative financing for biomedical innovation, the inspiring story of a life-saving drug, the value of death in biotech funding, challenges in paying for expensive medicines, breaking constraints in the payment system, and the potential of a subscription model for advanced therapies.

Faizzan Ahmad, Co-Founder and CEO of Cure8bio, discusses their hub-and-spoke model in regenerative medicine, the benefits of a diverse portfolio, Schwann cell transplantation, de-differentiation therapy for fibrosis, A VAIL for drug discovery, making go-no-go decisions, and the role of a strong central hub in regenerative medicine.

Nathan Hunkapiller, Chief Scientific Officer and Co-Founder of Curve Biosciences, sits down with Neil to discuss liquid biopsies, the company’s efforts to expand the use of these blood-based tests to improve the treatment of chronic diseases, and how it is enabling earlier intervention.

Drew Titmarsh, Co-Founder and CEO of Dynomics, sits down with Neil to discuss that lack of innovative therapies to treat heat disease, the company’s discovery platform that uses engineered cardiac organoids that function like adult human heart tissue, and how the company is using this to develop precision therapies to address the root causes of heart failure.

David Li, Co-Founder and CEO of Meliora Therapeutics, sits down with Neil to discuss why the mechanism of action for cancer therapies in development is poorly understood, how this leads to a high and costly clinical failure rate, and how Meliora's platform technology uncovers the true mechanism of action of a drug and it enables it to identify promising drug scaffolds to accelerate the development process.

Anat Burkovitz, CEO of TrojanBio, sits down with Neil to discuss its AI-drive antibodies platform, how it enlists the viral immune system in the fight against cancer, and why she thinks the technology will broaden the population of patients who will benefit from immunotherapies.

Amit Etkin, Founder and CEO of Alto Neuroscience, sits down with Neil to discuss the lack of innovation in psychiatric medicines, how the company has identified AI-derived brain biomarkers, and how that is fueling its pipeline of precision therapies to treat mental health disorders.

Vineeta Agarwala, General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz's Bio + Health Fund, sits down with Neil to discuss their investment process, how technology is transforming biotech and healthcare, and why she thinks drug development is becoming more and more like software development.

David Kirn, Co-Founder and CEO of 4DMT, sits down with Neil to discuss the limits of existing AAV vectors and how his company is using its Therapeutic Vector Evolution platform to invent customized vectors that allows it to take a disease specific approach to unlock the potential of genetic medicines.