LifeSci Beat

by Wharton Health Care

Season 2

Leo Grady Ph.D. on Leveraging AI to Impact Healthcare

On the second episode of this season, we chatted with Leo Grady Ph.D. Our conversation focused on his career working at medical technology companies and the many applications of AI in healthcare. Leo is internationally recognized for his work to deliver AI in healthcare for 20 years at the multinational medical company Siemens and pioneering startups HeartFlow and Paige.AI. As CEO of Paige, Leo led the company to become an industry leader, internationally launching groundbreaking products and receiving the first-ever FDA approval for an AI product in pathology. Leo is currently CEO in Residence with Breyer Capital and Founder and CEO of Jona.

S2 · E2

Nov 7, 2022

38:59

Kiersten Stead, Managing Partner at DCVC Bio, on Deep TechBio Company Creation

In the first episode of our second season, we chatted with Dr. Kiersten Stead, Managing Partner at DCVC Bio. Our conversation focused on computational drug discovery, her latest investments, and the keys to company creation in this burgeoning space. DCVC Bio is the bio-focused arm of DCVC, a VC with $3B+ in AUM focused on deep-tech investing, where Kiersten invests in therapeutics, agriculture, and synthetic biology companies with a deep-tech advantage.

S2 · E1

Oct 23, 2022

30:26

Season 1

John Evans, CEO of Beam Therapeutics, on the Business of Biotech

In our final episode of our first season, we chatted with John Evans, CEO of Beam Therapeutics. Our conversation spans lessons in commercializing therapies across the development life cycle, programmable gene editing platforms, evaluating biopharma partnerships, future trends in gene therapy accessibility, and more. Beam Therapeutics is a leader in the nascent gene editing space, pioneering proprietary base editing to develop precision genetic medicines. In January 2022, Beam entered a $300M+ research collaboration with Pfizer. Beam Therapeutics is based in Cambridge, MA.

S1 · E8

May 31, 2022

35:52

Brian Harris, CEO and Co-Founder of MedRhythms, on Pioneering the Next Generation of Digital Therapeutics Using Music to Improve Walking

In this episode, we spoke with Brian Harris, CEO and Co-Founder of MedRhythms. We explore Brian’s upbringing and how his passion for music and desire to help people manifested into the career he has today. We dive into his career as a music therapist which led to the creation of MedRhythms. MedRhythms uses sensors, music, and software to build digital therapeutics that aim to improve walking impairments caused by neurologic injuries. MedRhythms raised their series B last year and is featured as one of CBInsights top 150 most innovative digital health companies. Music Featured: Walk This Way by Aerosmith

S1 · E7

Apr 24, 2022

34:50

Enoch Kariuki, Former CEO of Lengo Therapeutics, on Translating Science to Therapies

In this episode, we sat down with Dr. Enoch Kariuki – former CEO at Lengo Therapeutics, CFO at VelosBio, and SVP of Corporate Development at Synthorx. We explore Enoch’s upbringing in Kenya and how a family member’s battle with HIV inspired his pursuit of a career in healthcare. We also dive into Enoch’s journey as a biotech executive at three separate start-ups, all of which were acquired. Enoch is based in San Diego, CA.

S1 · E6

Apr 18, 2022

36:17

Lalo Flores, CEO at Century Therapeutics, on Developing Next-Generation Cell Therapies

In this episode, we sat down with Dr. Osvaldo (Lalo) Flores, CEO at Century Therapeutics. We discuss Lalo's early career in R&D, the founding story (and eventual acquisition) of Novira Therapeutics, and his outlook on next-generation cell therapies with Century. Century Therapeutics is a biotechnology company developing transformative allogeneic cell therapies to create products for both hematological and solid tumor malignancies. In January 2022, Century entered into a strategic collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) to develop induced pluripotent stem cell (IPSC)-derived allogeneic cell therapies. Century is based in Philadelphia, PA.

S1 · E5

Mar 20, 2022

34:03

Dr. Ali Behbahani, Partner at NEA, on evaluating and investing in cutting-edge life sciences

In this episode, we sat down with Dr. Ali Behbahani, General Partner at New Enterprise Associates. Dr. Behbahani has been with NEA since 2007, spearheading over 40 biotech and medtech investments such as CRISPR Therapeutics, Adaptimmune, and Nevro. We discussed his views on breaking into VC, his approach to assessing early-stage life science innovations, the current trends in the biotech investing landscape, and much more. NEA is a global VC firm with $25B in AUM and over 300 active investments across both technology and healthcare sectors. Founded in 1977, NEA has made transformational investments such as Robinhood, Salesforce, Bright Health, and CRISPR Therapeutics. NEA has offices in Menlo Park, San Francisco, New York, and the Washington, D.C. metro area, and is widely considered one of the largest leading VCs in the world.

S1 · E4

Feb 13, 2022

33:06

Karun Naga, Partner at The Foundry, on Creating Medical Technologies and Building Innovative Companies

In this episode, we sat down with Karun Naga, Partner at The Foundry, a leading venture studio focused on building pioneering life-saving medical technologies. We discuss the business model of The Foundry, Karun's early career journey that led him to medical device start-ups, his successful start-ups and the acquisition process, and much more. The Foundry is a team of entrepreneurs committed to inventing technologies and building companies that redefine the standard of care and transform patients’ lives. The Foundry’s 20+ companies have raised nearly $1 Billion from over 50 venture capitalists and corporations, creating more than $3 Billion in shareholder value. While at The Foundry, Karun and his team built a catheter-based treatment for hypertension that was later acquired by Medtronic. His more recent endeavor was leading the incubation efforts and being the CEO of Allay Therapeutics, a post-surgical pain management solution that eliminates the need for opioids. Allay Therapeutics closed a Series C round of funding for $60 million in 2021.

S1 · E3

Jan 9, 2022

39:31

Molly Gibson, Co-Founder of Generate Biomedicines, on Innovating at the Intersection of AI/ML and Biotech

In this episode, we chatted with Molly Gibson, Co-Founder of Generate Biomedicines, a biotech that uses AI/ML to generate protein medicines and recently closed a $370M Series B financing. We discussed the key trends in computationally-powered drug discovery and bioplatforms, what it takes to commercialize early-stage biotechnology, and much more. Founded in 2018 under the Flagship Pioneering ecosystem, Generate Biomedicines leverages machine intelligence to computationally generate de-novo (i.e., does-not-exist-in-nature) protein therapeutics.

S1 · E2

Dec 12, 2021

27:28

Jamil Beg, Partner at 5AM Ventures, on Building and Investing in Innovative Biotech Companies

In this episode, we sat down with Jamil Beg, Partner at 5AM Ventures, a leading venture capital firm focused on building next-generation life science companies. We discuss Jamil's career journey, the challenges in scaling early-stage biotech companies, the current life science investing landscape, and much more. Founded in 2002, 5AM has invested in 100 companies and raised over $2.0 billion since inception. Through its 4:59 Initiative, 5AM discovers, incubates, and funds breakthrough science by partnering with academics and entrepreneurs to establish proof-of-concept data that will enable a Series A financing. 5AM has offices in Boston and San Francisco.

S1 · E1

Nov 15, 2021

31:14

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