The Bio Report

Real-world data promises to provide insights that lead to better therapies, change how we treat diseases, and improve outcomes for patients. One of the limits of realizing benefits from all of the health information we are swimming in is the lack of access to high-quality data in a usable format. Verana Health has built partnerships with medical societies to provide access to exclusive, real-world data from a network of more than 20,000 clinicians. We spoke to Sujay Jadhav, CEO of Verana Health, about the potential for real-world data to improve our understanding of health, how Verana is addressing challenges these data can present, and the areas of medicine on which it is focused.

Artificial intelligence promises to reshape the healthcare landscape and deliver new insights into the molecular drivers of health and wellness, provide rapid diagnoses of patients, and discover and design therapies that extend beyond human imagination. Swaroop ‘Kittu’ Kolluri, founder and managing director of Neotribe Ventures, is using his experience as a Silicon Valley entrepreneur to invest in the emerging TechBio space. We spoke to Kolluri about the state of AI, the potential of technology to transform healthcare, and Neotribe’s approach to investing.

Though many drug developers are harnessing AI to create novel chemical compounds, Iambic Therapeutic’s generative AI is leveraging quantum mechanics to get to better drugs. It says its physics-informed machine learning approach has yielded promising lead candidates with superior profiles in record time. In October, Iambic completed a $100 million series B financing round to support development of its platform and to advance multiple candidates into clinical development. We spoke to Tom Miller, co-founder and CEO of Iambic, about its AI platform,, the insights Iambic gains from using a quantum mechanics-based approach to drug discovery, and its growing pipeline of cancer therapies.

One of the challenges with treating Alzheimer’s disease is diagnosing patients early enough in the course of its progression to have a meaningful impact with treatments. Sunbird Bio said it can accurately detect and differentiate specific proteins that aggregate and signal the presence of Alzheimer's disease, with a simple blood draw. It said its test in development could address the growing need for more sensitive, reliable, non-invasive diagnostic tests to accelerate drug development and enhance patient care. We spoke to John McDonough, executive chair and CEO of Sunbird Bio, about its diagnostic test for Alzheimer’s disease, how it has the potential to impact treatments and outcomes for millions of patients with the condition, and how its merger with Glympse Bio is expected to push it into new markets.

About 40 percent of all drugs in the Western world are derived from plants. But challenges with producing a reliable supply inherent with materials derived from agricultural processes can lead to drug shortages as climate events, pests, and plant diseases can affect yields. Antheia is harnessing synthetic biology to produce active pharmaceutical ingredients as an alternative to reliance on crop production. We spoke to Christina Smolke, co-founder and CEO of Antheia, about the supply-chain challenges underlying drug shortages, how the company is using synthetic biology to create a reliable supply of active pharmaceutical ingredients, and its growing pipeline of products in development.

The COVID 19 pandemic provided a painful reminder of the global need to protect people against the threat of existing and emerging infectious diseases. Emergex Vaccines is developing fully synthetic vaccines that provide advantages over live attenuated and RNA-based vaccines. The company says its vaccines can provide long-lasting T cell immunity, are cost effective, and stable at room temperature. We spoke to Thomas Rademacher, co-founder and CEO of Emergex Vaccines, about the company’s platform technologies, the manufacturing advantages they offer, and the company’s pursuit of universal coronavirus and influenza vaccines that work across variants.

The advent of targeted therapies has contributed to notable progress in the fight against cancer, but the ability of cancers to develop resistance to these precision medicines continues to leave patients in need of new approaches. Concarlo Therapeutics is developing therapies that target a critical driver of cell proliferation that is reactivated once a cancer grows resistant to certain targeted therapies. We spoke to Stacy Blain, co-founder and chief scientific officer of Concarlo, about the development of drug resistance in cancer, the company’s initial focus on breast cancer, and her own journey from academia to biopharma.

There have been significant advances to immunotherapies since their first introduction, but challenges remain to realizing their full potential in solid tumors. That’s because of the ability of tumors to use multiple mechanisms to evade the immune system. Akamis Bio is developing tumor gene therapies that are capable of targeting tumors and driving expression of multiple immunologically active biomolecules and therapeutic proteins to create a robust, antitumor immune responses. We spoke to Howard Davis, CEO of Akamis Bio, about the challenges immunotherapies have faced in addressing solid tumors, the company’s tumor gene therapy platform, and how it turns tumors against themselves to stimulate an immune response.

Mini-proteins have the power and performance of an antibody with the ability to bind tightly to a target. But because of their small size, it can penetrate into places where small molecules can go. Ordaōs Bio is leveraging its generative AI platform to develop a pipeline of mini-protein therapeutics. We spoke to David Longo, co-founder and CEO of Ordaōs, about the company’s focus on mini-proteins, its generative AI platform, and why its building its own pipeline around rare disease indications and partnering with other drug developers on other indications.

The Fas signaling pathway plays a central role in activating cell death. As such, it is implicated in a range of conditions and has been associated with ophthalmic diseases. ONL Therapeutics is developing therapies that target Fas signaling to address a range of retinal conditions. We spoke to Connie Chang, chief operating officer for ONL Therapeutics, about the role Fas-signaling plays in cell death, how this underlies a number of retinal diseases, and the company’s experimental therapy to inhibit Fas signaling.

Antibody discovery is a long, costly, and complex process. LabGenius is reinventing that process by using its platform technology that combines AI with robotic systems capable of designing, conducting, and learning from its own experiments. Its platform not only has the potential to accelerate the drug discovery process but can generate high-performing molecules that likely would not have been found through conventional discovery methods. We spoke to James Field, founder and CEO of LabGenius, about the company’s use of generative AI to discover new therapeutic antibodies, its initial focus on immunotherapies, why he thinks the data the company is generating to train its AI system is a significant point of differentiation.

Opioid overdose, abuse, and addiction affect an estimated 3 million Americans and accounts for $35 billion in U.S. healthcare costs every year. Tris Pharma is developing the opioid Cebranopadol, as an effective pain management therapy without the addictive potential of FDA-approved opioids. We spoke to Ketan Mehta, founder and CEO of Tris Pharma, about Cebranopadol, how it modulates the addictive potential by targeting two receptors at once, and its potential to address the opioid crisis. An editor’s note: since recording this podcast, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the National Institutes of Health, awarded Tris a five-year, $16.6 million grant to advance Cebranopadol.

With the rapid advances in cancer research, it can be difficult for physicians to stay on top of all of the emerging treatments in clinical development. Leal Health has developed an AI-powered platform that provides a personalized list of treatment options to match a patient’s precise diagnosis to advanced therapies in clinical testing. We spoke to Tzvia Bader, co-founder and CEO of Leal Health, about her own experience with cancer, how that led to the creation of Leal Health, and how it is harnessing AI to connect patients to clinical trials based on their exact diagnoses.  

Earlier this year, the venture capital firm SR One closed a $600 million fund, its second since spinning out from the pharmaceutical giant GSK. Despite the difficult investment landscape today for biotechs, it’s a reminder that significant capital is available to be deployed. We spoke to Simeon George, CEO and managing partner for SR One, about the firm’s investment approach, how the current landscape is causing venture capitalists and therapeutics developers to think differently, and what advice he’d offer entrepreneurs seeking to raise money today.  

Cytokines, which play an essential role in immune cell signaling, have long been recognized as having great therapeutic potential, but efforts to harness them have been hampered by their toxicity. Bonum Therapeutics is overcoming this limitation by engineering cytokines with a sensor domain that makes their activity dependent on their environment. While the company is focusing its efforts to develop regulated cytokine to treat cancer, it also has potential as an approach to autoimmune, metabolic, and other conditions. We spoke to Bonum Therapeutics Chief Scientific Officer Diane Hollenbaugh and Bonum Chief Business Officer Neela Patel about the therapeutic potential of cytokines, the challenges of using them as therapeutics, and why Bonum’s context-dependent cytokines may enable wider use of these proteins to treat a range of diseases

The Epstein-Barr virus is among the most common viruses associated diseases including multiple sclerosis and certain cancers. Atara Biotherapeutics is developing off-the-shelf, T-cell immunotherapies designed to target cancers and autoimmune conditions driven by the Epstein-Barr virus. It is also using its EBV T-cell platform to develop next-generation allogenic CAR T therapies to target a range of non-EBV associated diseases. We spoke to Pascal Touchon, president and CEO of Atara, about the role of the Epstein-Barr virus in certain cancers and autoimmune conditions, the company’s platform technology for allogenic CAR T therapies, and why it has implications beyond EBV-driven diseases.

Myeloid cells can stimulate anti-tumor effects in the body and recruit additional immune system cells to turn a cold tumor hot. Bolt Biotherapeutics is developing a new category of immunotherapies that combines the precision of antibody targeting with the strength of the innate and adaptive immune systems. By activating and recruiting myeloid cells, the company’s experimental therapies are designed to re-program the tumor microenvironment and invoke an anti-tumor immune response. We spoke to Randy Schatzman, CEO of Bolt Biotherapeutics, about the company’s immune-stimulating antibody conjugates, the case for activating both the innate and adaptive immune systems to fight cancer, and the company’s lead experimental therapy for HER2 positive cancers.

The development of mRNA-based vaccines has represented a major advance in the field of vaccine development. Rather than using weakened or inactivated viruses to stimulate an immune response to generate protective antibodies, mRNA-based vaccines provide a potentially safer and more effective approach. mRNA vaccines work by introducing a small piece of mRNA into the body, which encodes instructions to produce a specific viral protein for the cell to manufacture. This protein then triggers an immune response, leading to the production of antibodies that can protect against specific diseases. Combined Therapeutics has designed a modified mRNA-based vaccine platform that allows for the inhibition of protein expression in specific tissues, enabling targeted vaccine treatment and preventing off-target side effects. It’s designed to be adaptable and efficient, which makes possible rapid production of vaccines for a wide range of diseases and disease variants. We spoke to Thomas VanCott, chief scientific officer of Co

Infectious diseases and microbial resistance represent major concerns in developing nations. The combination of globalization with the expanded use of antibiotics in resource-constrained environments is worsening the problem. In fact, hospital acquired infection rates in some regions are three times greater than in the United States and as much as 30 percent of all such infections are antimicrobial resistant. HDT Bio is developing immune activators and RNA-based vaccines to address this challenge with cost-effective and accessible medicines. We spoke to Chris Pirie, co-founder and chief operating officer of HDT Bio, about the problem the company is seeking to address, its platform technology for producing safe and stable RNA vaccines, and the potential to use the same platform to produce immunotherapies for cancer.

Bacteriophage are viruses that target bacteria. Though they emerged in the 1920s as treatments for infectious diseases, because of their high level of specificity, they fell out of favor with the advent of broad-spectrum antibiotics. BiomX is developing both natural and engineered phage cocktails designed to target and destroy harmful bacteria in chronic diseases, such as cystic fibrosis, inflammatory bowel disease, and atopic dermatitis. We spoke to Jonathan Solomon, CEO of BiomX, about the case for phage therapies, the company’s approach to creating a phage cocktail that could effectively target a population of patients, and why it's focusing on chronic diseases.