The Bio Report

An Effort to Develop Safer and More Effective Immunotherapies

Bing Wang trained as an electrical engineer, but his experience as a cancer survivor led him into the world of healthcare investment banking and then to his current role as CEO of the cancer therapeutics company Refuge Biotechnologies. Refuge is leveraging CRISPR technology, but rather than editing genes, the company is using it as a way to activate or inhibit specific genes by harnessing it for its targeting mechanism. We spoke to Wang about his own journey from patient to CEO, the company’s technology, and why he believes this will lead to safer and more effective cancer therapies.

The Year in Biotech and What to Watch in 2019

As the year draws to a close, we continue what’s become an annual tradition and look back on the year in biotech and ahead to the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference and beyond with Adam Feuerstein, senior biotech writer for STAT News. Adam tries to make sense of a puzzling year for biotech that seemed full of contradictions, offers some thoughts on the highs and lows of the past 12 months, and discusses what he’ll be watching for during the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference.

Why One Investor Is Betting on Platform Technologies to Change the World

The ability to manipulate and understand biology at the molecular level coupled with powerful computing capabilities is opening up new possibilities to harness technology to improve human health. The OS Fund is focused on investing in entrepreneurs developing platform technologies that have the ability to address global problems. We spoke to Bryan Johnson, co-founder of the OS Fund, about his investment vision, what it takes to attract his eye, and how he sees these platform technologies reshaping the world healthcare and beyond.

Price Transparency and a Healthcare Policy Analyst’s Brush with the Healthcare System

Paul Keckley is a long-time healthcare policy analyst whose both worked within hospital systems and advised major healthcare organizations, but when he recently collapsed on a golf course due to severe dehydration, he was given an up-close and personal view of the murky world of hospital billing. We spoke to Keckley about his experience, the challenges of deciphering hospital bills, and why he thinks it will be market forces, rather than price transparency, that rein in healthcare costs.

How a Leading Health Sciences University is Working to Address Homelessness

Matt State is known for his work trying to understand the biology underlying psychiatric illnesses, but as the chairman of the University of California, San Francisco’s Department of Psychiatry, part of his job has been to help address the city’s homelessness crisis. Homelessness is a complex issue, but the role mental health plays in the problem is often overlooked. With about 10,000 people who are homeless in San Francisco, more than a third of these people have a psychiatric or substance abuse problem. We spoke to State about the connection between homelessness and mental health issues, UCSF’s efforts in this area, and how it fits with the mission of a leading public institution.

Gecko Looks to Broad Applications in Tissue Reconstruction

Gecko Biomedical’s first product Setalum is a sealant that prevents bleeding after the use of sutures to repair blood vessels, but the polymers underlying the product represent a platform technology that can be used to develop a broad array of tissue reconstruction offerings addressing bone, nerve, ophthalmic, and urological applications. We spoke to Christophe Bancel, CEO of Gecko, about the company’s platform technology, its versatility, and how the company is looking to partnering to expand its reach.

The Search for Mediators of Aging

In 1988, researchers showed that they could extend the lifespan of worms by manipulating the genetics of these model organisms. The implications that the normal aging process could be altered ignited scientific research into the emerging area of geroscience. As the Buck Institute for Research on Aging readies to mark the anniversary of this landmark research with a day-long celebration, we spoke to Gordon Lithgow, chief academic officer of the Buck. Lithgow discussed how the field has advanced from that key discovery, our understanding of aging today, and what progress has been made to identify compounds that could extend healthy years of life.

Using Drug Delivery Technology to Improve ADHD Therapies

People with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder who use stimulants to treat the condition often face afternoon crashes and require the use of booster doses. Cingulate Therapeutics is using its proprietary drug delivery technology to target this $14 billion market with timed released formulations of commonly used ADHD drugs it is developing. We spoke to Shane Schaffer, CEO of Cingulate, about ADHD, the company drug delivery technology, and its clinical path forward.