Episodes

Thursday Nov 16, 2017
How Faulty Thinking Can Derail Life Sciences M&A Deals
Thursday Nov 16, 2017
Thursday Nov 16, 2017
Merger and acquisitions may be a path to creating value for life science companies, but talks can breakdown because of flaws in management thinking that skew their sense of the value of their company. Oded Ben-Joseph, managing director of Outcome Capital, applied behavioral economics to the M&A front to discuss how cognitive biases can derail M&A transactions in an article in the September issue of In Vivo. We spoke to Ben-Joseph about cognitive biases, why the life sciences sector is particularly prone to the problem, and what executives can do to minimize their effects.

Thursday Nov 09, 2017
Targeting Drug-Resistant Bacteria with an Ancient Enemy
Thursday Nov 09, 2017
Thursday Nov 09, 2017
The growing problem of bacterial resistance to antibiotics represents a significant public health threat. That’s been made worse by the dearth of new therapies that have come to market. AmpliPhi Biosciences is developing bacteriophages, viruses that infect and kill bacteria, to provide a way to target drug-resistant bugs. We spoke to Paul Grint, CEO of AmpliPhi about the health need, AmpliPhi’s approach, and why harnessing these natural killers of bacteria may provide a promising source of new therapeutics.

Thursday Nov 02, 2017
A Bioelectronic Approach to Treating Autoimmune Diseases
Thursday Nov 02, 2017
Thursday Nov 02, 2017
Bioelectronic therapies are being developed to treat a number of conditions that currently can only be addressed using pharmaceutical interventions. Thync, a bioelectronics company, believes its technology that targets the cervical and thoracic spinal nerves to modulate the autonomic nervous system, can be used to treat variety of ailments including mental health, inflammatory disorders, and skin conditions. It points to a growing body of scientific literature that demonstrates the important role the nervous system plays in regulating the body’s immune response. We spoke to Thync CEO Isy Goldwasser about the technology, how it works, and why the company’s first clinical trial of it will be as a potential treatment for psoriasis.

Thursday Oct 26, 2017
Harnessing Patient Data to Improve Drug Development Efficiency
Thursday Oct 26, 2017
Thursday Oct 26, 2017
Despite the growing volume of electronic health records, they have so far left the recruitment of clinical trial patients, clinical trial designs, and site selection largely unchanged. The result is that drug companies are often designing clinical trials with gaps in information about the patient population they are serving, the medical issues these patients face, and where they can find them. This adds to the high cost and long timelines required to move an experimental therapy through clinical development. TriNetX is trying to address this problem through its health research platform that allows drug developers to analyze large amounts of patient data from healthcare organizations within its network. We spoke to Gadi Lachman, CEO of TriNetX, about its platform, how it works, and why he believes this could lead to more efficient drug development.

Thursday Oct 19, 2017
How Colorifix Is Trying to Turn the Textile Industry Green
Thursday Oct 19, 2017
Thursday Oct 19, 2017
Synthetic biology is promising to harness living organisms to replace industrial processes that rely on toxic chemicals, consume large amounts of energy and water, and leave environmental degradation in their wake. One such example of a company seeking to transform an industry in this way is Colorifix, which is developing a revolutionary dyeing process to help the textile industry dramatically reduce its environmental impact in a cost-effective way using a synthetic biology based approach. We spoke to Orr Yarkoni, founder and CEO of Colorifix, about the company, how it is using synthetic biology to change the process of dyeing materials, and why he expects it to change the environmental toll of the textile industry.

Thursday Oct 12, 2017
Targeting Patients as Sick as Dogs
Thursday Oct 12, 2017
Thursday Oct 12, 2017
Kindred Biosciences is looking to leverage the billions of dollars that others have invested in approved drugs by modifying, improving, and repurposing them for the animal market. The company believes it can formulate, develop, and win approval for these medicines for between $3 million and $5 million each in a matter of three to five years, and capture markets that range between $10 million and $100 million annually. We spoke to Richard Chin, founder and CEO of Kindred, about the business strategy, the company’s pipeline, and the opportunity created by our willingness to spend big money on our pets.

Thursday Oct 05, 2017
A Strategic Investor’s View of the Biotech Investment Landscape
Thursday Oct 05, 2017
Thursday Oct 05, 2017
When the BIO Investor Forum convenes in San Francisco October 17 and 18, a key point of discussion will be the availability of funding for emerging life sciences companies. One of the panelist addressing that issue this year will be Asish Xavier, vice president of venture investments for Johnson & Johnson Innovation’s venture arm JJDC. We spoke to Xavier about JJDC’s approach to investing as a strategic investor, the changing landscape for venture capital, and how competitive the environment is for access to compelling technologies today.

Thursday Sep 28, 2017
Bringing Gender Diversity into Biotech Boardrooms
Thursday Sep 28, 2017
Thursday Sep 28, 2017
In April 2016, the consulting firm LifeSci Advisors adopted a comprehensive action plan to advance gender diversity in the life sciences industry. It has partnered with Women in Bio and Girls Inc. of New York City to provide mentorship and advancement programs for women and girls in the STEM fields, started its own board diversity initiative, and created the LifeSci Advisory Board on Gender Diversity. We spoke to Michael Rice, LifeSci Advisors founding partner, about the state of gender diversity in biotech boardrooms, what the firm has been doing, and why it decided to focus its efforts there.

Daniel Levine
Daniel Levine is an award-winning business journalist who has reported on the life sciences, economic development, and business policy issues throughout his career. He is founder and principal of Levine Media Group, host of The Bio Report and RARECast podcasts, a senior fellow at the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest, and author of Global Genes’ annual NEXT report on emerging trends in the world of rare disease. From 2011 to 2014, he served as the lead editor and writer of Burrill & Company’s acclaimed annual book on the biotech industry. His work has appeared in numerous national publications including The New York Times, The Industry Standard, and TheStreet.com.