Beyond Biotech - the podcast from Labiotech

Welcome to a special three-part series called 'The Metabolic Moment'.

In just a few years, GLP-1 drugs have become a phenomenon. They’ve transformed how we treat diabetes and obesity, created one of the biggest markets in pharma, and sparked a cultural conversation that reaches far beyond the clinic. Now that market is shifting. Cheaper alternatives are coming, new mechanisms are entering trials, and some companies are aiming for something closer to a cure.

So what happens next for patients, for the companies leading the field, and for the startups hoping to overtake them? Across three conversations, we’ll follow the money, the science, and the people behind this metabolic moment.

In part three of our series and ahead of Diabetes Awareness Month, I spoke with Ryan Confer, President and CEO of Genprex, about the company’s move from cancer into diabetes, the realities of making gene therapies at scale, and where a potential one-time treatment could fit alongside GLP-1s.

• 02:21 Meet Ryan Confer and Genprex
• 09:49 What gene therapy can offer patients that GLP-1s cannot
• 12:36 How GPX-002 works and the type 2 diabetes data presented at ASGCT
• 17:22 Working with a CDMO to manufacture an AAV gene therapy at scale
• 20:07 Standing out from GLP-1s and stem cell approaches in diabetes
• 27:59 Diabetes Awareness Month and the prospect of a functional cure

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To dive deeper into the topic:

• The Metabolic Moment: 3 big bets to watch in metabolic disease
• Beyond GLP-1s: is there a new wave of metabolic disease treatments?
• The future of diabetes treatment: Is a cure possible?

Welcome to a special three-part series called 'The Metabolic Moment'.

In just a few years, GLP-1 drugs have become a phenomenon. They’ve transformed how we treat diabetes and obesity, created one of the biggest markets in pharma, and sparked a cultural conversation that reaches far beyond the clinic. Now that market is shifting. Cheaper alternatives are coming, new mechanisms are entering trials, and some companies are aiming for something closer to a cure.

So what happens next for patients, for the companies leading the field, and for the startups hoping to overtake them? Across three conversations, we’ll follow the money, the science, and the people behind this metabolic moment.

In part two of our series, I’m joined by Paul Little, CEO of Atrogi. We talk about what GLP-1s leave unsolved, the science behind ATR-258, and how a small company competes in a market led by giants.

• 02:24 Meet Paul Little
• 05:08 What GLP-1s leave unsolved, from muscle loss to weight rebound
• 10:29 How ATR-258 tunes beta-2 signalling to mimic exercise
• 16:11 Avoiding the cardiovascular side effects of older beta-2 agonists
• 19:03 What the new muscle power and body composition data mean
• 22:03 Phase 2 options, oral advantages and the path to partnering

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To dive deeper into the topic:

• The Metabolic Moment: 3 big bets to watch in metabolic disease
• Beyond Ozempic: the GLP-1 landscape in 2026
• What can GLP-1s do beside treat diabetes and obesity?

Welcome to a special three-part series called 'The Metabolic Moment'.

In just a few years, GLP-1 drugs have become a phenomenon. They’ve transformed how we treat diabetes and obesity, created one of the biggest markets in pharma, and sparked a cultural conversation that reaches far beyond the clinic. Now that market is shifting. Cheaper alternatives are coming, new mechanisms are entering trials, and some companies are aiming for something closer to a cure.

So what happens next for patients, for the companies leading the field, and for the startups hoping to overtake them? Across three conversations, we’ll follow the money, the science, and the people behind this metabolic moment.

In part one of our series, I’m joined by Valeriia Simanovskaia, founder and CEO of BioBrokers, an independent capital markets and strategic advisory firm for life sciences. Trained at Harvard Medical School and based in Paris, Valeriia tracks where the money in biotech is flowing.

• 02:15 Meet Valeriia and BioBrokers
• 09:07 Discontinuation rates and what they mean for GLP-1 sales
• 12:39 Generic semaglutide arrives in India and Canada
• 16:28 Why oral GLP-1s may become a separate market segment
• 22:15 Amgen’s MariTide and the case for monthly dosing
• 32:00 Why weight maintenance is the next competitive frontier

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To dive deeper into the topic:

• The Metabolic Moment: 3 big bets to watch in metabolic disease
• Beyond Ozempic: the GLP-1 landscape in 2026
• Nine biotech companies that could revolutionize obesity treatments

Saudi Arabia has spent the last four years building one of the most ambitious biotech gatherings in the region: the Riyadh Global Medical Biotechnology Summit. This September, the fourth edition brought together delegations from more than 57 countries and over 200 speakers, closing with more than 40 agreements and initiatives worth over SAR5 billion. From gene editing and genomics to AI-driven drug discovery and biomanufacturing, the Summit is positioning itself as a serious node in the global biotech map — and it's timed deliberately, arriving just weeks before BIO-Europe in Cologne.

To unpack what happened in Riyadh, what it means for Saudi Arabia's biotech ambitions, and how the Summit connects to the conversations happening at BIO-Europe, I'm joined by Abdulaziz Aldayel, a nanomedicine researcher at the King Abdullah International Medical Research Center.

• 01:20 – Meet Abdulaziz Aldayel
• 07:21 – What RGMBS has set out to achieve since 2021
• 11:44 – RGMBS dealmaking jumps to $1.3 billion
• 21:17 – How RGMBS and BIO-Europe complement each other
• 28:14 – What to expect at the next RGMBS

This episode is presented with the support of RGMBS. Interested in being a sponsor of an episode of our podcast? Discover how you can get involved here!

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To dive deeper into the topic:

• Genomes to bioreactors: Saudi Arabia’s gene editing oncology push
• Saudi Arabia: is the country set to become a global biotech hub?
• Saudi Arabia to inject $3B into vaccines and medicines industry

AI has been one of the biggest buzzwords in biotech for years now — but for all the technological progress, actual R&D productivity gains have been hard to find, and the cost of developing a new drug keeps climbing. My guest today believes that's because AI alone was never going to be the answer.

Valo, a biotech founded by Flagship Pioneering, is betting on a different approach: combining AI, predictive chemistry, and — crucially — real-world human data from the very start of drug discovery, using access to more than 17 million longitudinal patient records, some spanning 20 years. That approach has already attracted major partners, including a Parkinson's collaboration with EMD Serono worth up to $3 billion and a cardiometabolic disease partnership with Novo.

Joining me to talk about it is Valo's CEO, Brian Alexander — a former practicing radiation oncologist whose years treating patients with aggressive brain tumors helped shape his mission to reimagine how we discover medicines. Brian, welcome to the show.

• 01:30 — Meet Brian Alexander
• 04:17 — How treating brain tumor patients shaped his mission
• 09:58 — Valo's two-platform approach to drug discovery
• 16:23 — What 20-year patient records reveal about disease
• 22:23 — Why Valo positions itself as pharma's R&D engine
• 32:43 — How this approach could raise clinical success rates

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To dive deeper into the topic:

• Episode 198: The problem at the heart of drug discovery: Lexogen & Ochre Bio on the power of AI on human data
• How human-first datasets are reshaping AI drug discovery
• Webinar: How AI has changed drug discovery & development, and what’s coming next

By 2050, nearly half the world's population is expected to be myopic, with around a billion people projected to progress to high myopia — a leading cause of irreversible vision loss later in life. Children face a narrow window in which to intervene, while the eye is still growing, before those structural changes become permanent. Yet despite the scale of the problem, there is still no FDA-approved drug that slows myopia progression in children, a gap underscored just last month when the FDA declined to approve an atropine eye drop for the same use.

My guest today is Thomas Ruggia, President and CEO of Theialife, a late-stage biotech developing an oral therapy for pediatric myopia derived from a natural caffeine metabolite. Tom joins Theialife after 25 years in ophthalmology leadership, including roles at Johnson & Johnson, Alcon, Novartis, and most recently as CEO of Samsara Vision. We'll talk mechanism, evidence, and the road to Phase 3.

01:49 Meet Thomas Ruggia

06:50 How progressive myopia develops in children and why it's misunderstood

15:55 ND10's mechanism of action

19:51 20 years of Danish compassionate-use data vs. a randomised trial

26:44 Why no FDA-approved pharmacologic therapy exists yet

37:57 Theialife's pipeline beyond myopia

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To dive deeper into the topic:

• Innovation in ophthalmology: How biotechs are reshaping the treatment of eye diseases
• Can gene therapy treat vision loss?
• Europe’s Ophthalmology Scene Stays Hot for Biotech Funding

Summer is a busy time for everyone, guests and listeners alike, so today we're taking stock. This is our Summer Recap — a clips episode pulling together the best moments from conversations you might have missed over the past few months.

We'll hear from Randy Teel of Arvinas and Per Lundin of Evox on two very different ways of getting drugs to the brain, and Laurent Lévy of Nanobiotix on outsmarting the liver altogether. We'll meet the founders behind these companies, including Andy Parker of Step Pharma and Gene Mack of Gain Therapeutics, and the unlikely paths that got them there. We'll dig into the science of nonsense mutations with Nerissa Kreher of Alltrna, circular RNA with Lu Gao of Therorna, and a cancer target hiding in human genetics. And we'll close with what these leaders think success actually looks like, years from now.

So sit back, and let's revisit some of our favourite moments from the summer.

• 02:32 Solving the delivery problem
• 08:39 Founder journeys
• 15:13 Platform science
• 24:41 Business, money, and geopolitics
• 32:28 Looking ahead

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To dive deeper into the topic:

• Episode 204: The first PROTAC is here. What comes next in protein degradation?
• Episode 205: Turning cancer cell dependencies into targeted therapies
• Episode 208: Gain Therapeutics: a first-in-class, disease-modifying therapy for Parkinson's
• Episode 209: Why Western pharma is sleeping on China's circular RNA revolution
• Episode 211: Beyond biology: Nanobiotix's physics-first approach to cancer
• Episode 213: How Evox Therapeutics is targeting CNS diseases with exosomes
• Episode 214: Rewriting the rules of genetic medicine with tRNA therapeutics

Most genetic medicines are built to treat one gene, one mutation, one disease at a time. That's true even for the newest modalities — gene therapy, gene editing, mRNA — each still has to be engineered disease by disease. Alltrna is testing a different idea: that the real target isn't the gene, but the process of translation itself, where genetic instructions become protein. The company's lead approach focuses on nonsense mutations, a shared error responsible for roughly a tenth of all genetic disease diagnoses, and asks whether a single engineered molecule could address it across many conditions at once.

My guest today is Dr. Nerissa Kreher, Chief Medical Officer of Alltrna. Nerissa brings two decades of rare disease drug development experience, including CMO roles at Entrada Therapeutics, Tiburio Therapeutics, and AVROBIO, to the task of turning that platform thesis into an actual clinical program. We'll talk translation, trial design, and what it takes to bring the first engineered tRNA therapy into the clinic.

• 02:45 Meet Nerissa Kreher and Alltrna's tRNA platform
• 07:29 Gene-by-gene versus mutation-by-mutation drug development
• 12:08 What nonsense mutations are and why they matter
• 15:55 Phase 1 trial approval in Australia
• 19:49 What basket trials are and FDA receptiveness
• 27:27 Where Alltrna could be in five years

Interested in being a sponsor of an episode of our podcast? Discover how you can get involved here!

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To dive deeper into the topic:

• Beyond Biotech - Episode 66: treating rare diseases with tRNA
• Will tRNA therapy be the next big thing in genetic disease treatment?
• Pharma giants pull back on AAV research: what’s next for the gene therapy space?

Gene therapy has largely stayed out of the brain, and the blood-brain barrier has been the reason why — it protects the brain from harm, but it also blocks most advanced medicines from ever reaching it. That's now beginning to change. The recent FDA approval of a brain-penetrant enzyme therapy for Hunter syndrome showed that biologics can cross that barrier and work. The next question is whether gene editing can do the same.

My guest today is Dr. Per Lundin, Co-Founder and CEO of Evox Therapeutics, a UK biotech using engineered exosomes to deliver genetic medicines directly into the brain. Evox is now extending that platform from RNA and biologics into gene editing, targeting the genetic drivers of diseases like Huntington's and ALS, where treatment options remain extremely limited. Per also brings a background as a European Patent Attorney and repeat biotech founder. We'll talk delivery, pipeline, and what a commercially scalable genetic medicine for the brain might actually look like.

• 02:45 Per Lundin's background and Evox's platform
• 09:38 Denali's Hunter syndrome approval and its significance
• 14:58 Targeting MSH3 to treat Huntington's disease
• 20:03 What commercially scalable genetic medicine requires
• 22:13 Evox's dominant IP position in exosome delivery
• 27:34 What success could mean for patients in ten years

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To dive deeper into the topic:

• Evox and Lilly Partner to Develop Neuro RNA Drugs in Deal Worth €1.1B
• Six exosome therapy companies driving development in the field
• Extracellular vesicles: a growing pipeline still searching for validation

Today we’re thrilled to bring you a special episode highlighting one of Europe’s premier biotechnology events: BIOSPAIN 2026.

Joining us is Stuart Medina of Asebio, who will take us inside this landmark gathering. For the first time and in response to strong sector demand and growing interest, BIOSPAIN moves to an annual format. Hosted this year in vibrant Bilbao in Spain’s dynamic Basque Country, the event runs from 29 September to 1 October at the Bilbao Exhibition Centre.

In this episode we explore the BIOSPAIN program, the partnering opportunities on offer, the new Talent Day on the final day, and all the practical and logistical details for attendees.

• 04:02 Why BIOSPAIN is moving to an annual format
• 05:17 Bilbao and the Basque country
• 09:44 BIOSPAIN 2026: four program tracks
• 13:47 One-on-one partnering
• 16:10 International participation and a growing Latin American presence
• 22:27 Talent Day: BIOSPAIN's dedicated biotech job fair
• 27:48 Ticket options, exhibiting, and sponsorship opportunities

This episode is presented with the support of Asebio and BIOSPAIN. Interested in being a sponsor of an episode of our podcast? Discover how you can get involved here!

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To dive deeper into the topic:

• Pharma in Spain: why global investors and innovators are moving in
• Practical partnering at BIOSPAIN: on the ground with biotech innovators ready to take the next step
• Episode 165 - BIOSPAIN 2025: Why 1000 companies from more than 40 countries will gather in Barcelona this year

What if the key to beating cancer wasn't a new drug, but a new way of thinking about matter itself? That's the question Laurent Lévy asked when he co-founded Nanobiotix over twenty years ago — and it's a question that is now producing some genuinely compelling answers in the clinic.

Nanobiotix is a Paris-based biotech pioneering what they call physics-based nanomedicine. Their lead asset is a radioenhancer made of hafnium oxide nanoparticles, designed to be injected directly into a tumor and amplify the destructive power of radiotherapy from within — without increasing damage to surrounding healthy tissue. It is currently in Phase 3 trials in head and neck cancer.

But that's only half the story. The company's Nanoprimer platform is now emerging as a potential new engine for growth — with the promise of making an entirely new class of genetic medicines work better.

• 02:47 Meet Laurent Lévy
• 06:04 What physics offers that biology cannot
• 11:12 How JNJ-1900 (NBTXR3) works
• 15:14 The immune effect
• 18:16 Pipeline milestones ahead
• 20:56 The Curadigm Nanoprimer platform
• 25:32 The oversubscribed €85 million raise

Interested in being a sponsor of an episode of our podcast? Discover how you can get involved here!

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To dive deeper into the topic:

• Radiotherapy-Enhancing Cancer Nanomedicine Secures Good Phase II/III Results
• Get to know 15 of the best biotech companies in Paris
• Eight nanotechnology companies to watch out for

Cancer is still the leading cause of death by disease in children and young people — yet in the last twenty years, only a handful of drugs have been approved specifically to treat it. Most paediatric cancer treatments are simply adult drugs, repurposed, often at real long-term cost to the children who survive. Today's guest is working to change that, and much more besides.

Tony Hickson is Chief Business Officer for Cancer Research Horizons, Cancer Research UK's innovation engine, responsible for turning early-stage science into new treatments, diagnostics, and start-up companies. Tony's career spans big pharma, university tech transfer, and now the translational front line of cancer research, and he's helped build dozens of spinouts along the way. We'll talk about why charity and pharma need each other more than ever, and about C-Further, a bold new push to finally build medicines made for children, not borrowed from adults.

• 01:25 Meet Tony Hickson
• 05:21 What sets Cancer Research Horizons apart from tech transfer offices
• 12:17 Myrix Bio's exit to Novartis, a standout story
• 15:54 Can patient benefit and commercial success align
• 28:53 Inside C-Further's first two therapeutic programs
• 41:19 How researchers and partners can get involved

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To dive deeper into the topic:

• Episode 32: Cancer Research Horizons, Enterome, OncoHost, TrakCel, Turbine
• Cancer Research UK Deploys €700M to Foster Oncology Startups
• Cancer vaccines: 11 biotechs to keep an eye out for

RNA therapeutics has had its defining moments. Antisense oligonucleotides. siRNA. And then, of course, mRNA — which went from a niche academic curiosity to the backbone of a global vaccine program in a matter of months. The next chapter may be circular RNA.

CircRNA is more stable than linear mRNA, longer-lasting in the body, and potentially re-dosable. And one company has quietly built what may be the most advanced independent circRNA platform in the world — and with barely a single line of English-language press coverage, until now.

My guest today is Dr. Lu Gao, CEO of Therorna Inc., a clinical-stage biotech headquartered in Beijing and Shanghai. The company recently presented three posters at ASGCT in Boston, and their lead program has just entered a first-in-human trial. We're going to talk about the science, the clinical strategy, and why Western pharma hasn't paid enough attention to what's being built in China.

• 01:33 Meet Lu Gao and Therorna
• 09:29 How Therorna's approach differs
• 15:42 How TI-0032 reprograms T cells in the body
• 21:22 Off-the-shelf and re-dosable: what it means for patients
• 24:38 Why no Chinese biotech has landed a major in vivo deal
• 31:27 What a successful US IND clearance would mean

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To dive deeper into the topic:

• The therapeutic potential of circular RNA: Could it soon trump mRNA technology?
• mRNA, RNAi, circRNA, ASOs: A comparative guide to RNA therapeutics
• Therorna funding to accelerate circRNA-based platform

Today we welcome Gene Mack, President and CEO of Gain Therapeutics.

With over 25 years of experience spanning biochemistry, Wall Street analysis, and biotech leadership, Gene brings deep expertise in capital markets, strategy, and drug development. He joined Gain in 2024 and stepped into the CEO role in early 2025.

Gain Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotech pioneering next-generation allosteric small molecule therapies. Using its proprietary Magellan platform, which combines 3D structural biology and physics-based modeling, the company is unlocking novel treatments for challenging disorders. Their lead candidate is advancing toward Phase 2 as a potential first-in-class disease-modifying therapy for Parkinson’s disease, with promising Phase 1b data showing biomarker improvements and functional benefits.

In this episode, we’ll explore Gene’s journey, Gain’s innovative strategy, the Parkinson’s landscape, and the future of AI in biotech.

· 01:28 Meet Gene Mack

· 11:15 GAIN's mission: disease modification over symptom relief

· 17:07 Why existing Parkinson's therapies fall short

· 22:39 Origins and evolution of the Magellan platform

· 26:16 How AI changes drug discovery beyond just speed

· 28:13 Phase 1b study design and open-label extension results

· 32:09 Partnership strategy and path to Phase 2

· 35:29 Advice for leaders in neurodegeneration

Interested in being a sponsor of an episode of our podcast? Discover how you can get involved here!

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To dive deeper into the topic:

• Promising biotechs in Maryland right now
• Beyond amyloid and dopamine: emerging technologies reshaping neurology
• Neurological diseases R&D trends and breakthrough innovations

Epidermolysis bullosa, or EB, is one of those diseases that stops you in your tracks the moment you understand it. Skin so fragile that the gentlest touch can cause blisters and open wounds. No cure. And for most of its history, very little serious drug development attention.

That's where today's guest comes in.

Martin Steiner is Managing Director of DEBRA Research, a non-profit organization with a single-minded mission: to make EB curable. But DEBRA Research isn't a lab. It doesn't run clinical trials or make drugs. What it does is something arguably harder: it builds the ecosystem that makes drug development possible. Funding research, investing in biotech companies, building shared infrastructure, and connecting the right people at the right time.

And the results are starting to show. They have a growing portfolio of investments, dedicated clinical trial infrastructure, and a seat at the table in deals that are moving the needle for patients who have waited long enough.

· 01:46 Meet Martin Steiner

· 03:32 What is DEBRA Research

· 04:55 What it means to live with EB

· 07:43 DEBRA Research's role in the drug development ecosystem

· 12:03 Why DEBRA Research invests in infrastructure

· 20:26 Why DEBRA Research makes equity investments in biotech

· 24:50 The Replay and LEO Pharma deal: how it came together

· 30:33 Obstacles to enabling collaboration in rare disease

· 34:50 Gene therapy and read-through molecules as therapeutic approaches

· 37:36 Is the DEBRA Research model replicable for other rare diseases

Interested in being a sponsor of an episode of our podcast? Discover how you can get involved here!

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To dive deeper into the topic:

• Gene therapy for skin diseases: A field still finding its footing
• Six exosome therapy companies driving development in the field
• Extracellular vesicles: a growing pipeline still searching for validation

The life sciences industry has always had one great meeting place, a few days in November where the deals get done, the partnerships form, and the direction of the industry quietly shifts. For more than three decades, that place has been BIO-Europe.

But this year, something is changing.

BIO-Europe has always been the destination for BD professionals and dealmakers. In 2026, it's expanding — broadening its scope to become what the organisers are calling the epicenter of biotech, with new content tracks covering regulatory strategy, clinical development, and manufacturing, new registration options, and a deliberate push to bring the entire biopharma C-suite into the BIO-Europe room.

· 01:39 BIO-Europe's 32nd edition: what has kept it relevant

· 05:28 The "epicenter of biotech"

· 11:06 From three content tracks to seven

· 13:31 Three new tracks: regulatory, clinical, and biomanufacturing

· 15:45 The new content-only registration pass

· 18:12 Why Cologne and what the city offers the event

· 19:48 The social program at BIO-Europe

· 24:54 Where to register and find more information

This episode is presented with the support of the EBD Group. Interested in being a sponsor of an episode of our podcast? Discover how you can get involved here!

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To dive deeper into the topic:

• How to succeed at BIO-Europe: DISCO Pharma takes us behind the scenes
• Meet Fusix Biotech: 2025 BIO-Europe Startup Spotlight champion revolutionizing oncology
• Lisbon is calling: the BIO-Europe Startup Spotlight returns in March 2026

Today I’m delighted to welcome Andy Parker, CEO of Step Pharma.

With over 25 years of experience across AstraZeneca, Shire, Zealand Pharma, and
venture capital, Andy has led Step Pharma since 2019. The company is pioneering
a targeted approach to cancer and blood disorders by inhibiting the enzyme
CTPS1. Their lead candidate, dencatistat, blocks this pathway that certain
cancer cells and activated immune cells rely on, while sparing healthy cells
that use the related CTPS2 enzyme.

In this episode, we’ll dive into the science behind this mechanism, explore Step
Pharma’s expanding pipeline from lymphomas and solid tumours to essential
thrombocythaemia, and discuss their recent €38 million Series C financing.
We’ll also look ahead to the future of precision oncology.

• 01:17 Meet Andy Parker
• 06:12 The biotech ecosystem around Geneva
• 07:51 The CTPS1 enzyme and why cancer cells depend on it
• 14:08 Pipeline-in-a-product strategy across three indications
• 20:14 The series C: €38 million raise
• 25:41 Partnering with big pharma: possibilities and limits
• 28:11 The future of precision oncology and metabolic targeting

Interested in being a sponsor of an episode of our podcast? Discover how you can get involved here!

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To dive deeper into the topic:

• Step Pharma and Concr to partner on cancer treatment
• Step Pharma moves into oncology clinical trials
• Step Pharma announces promising pre-clinical cancer data

Today I'm sitting down with Randy Teel, Ph.D., President and CEO of Arvinas, a clinical-stage biotech based in New Haven, Connecticut, that is doing something genuinely new in medicine.

Arvinas is pioneering a technology called PROTAC protein degradation. It's a platform that doesn't just block disease-causing proteins, but eliminates them entirely using the body's own disposal system to do it. It's a fundamental shift in how we think about drug design, and it's now reached a historic milestone: the first PROTAC ever to succeed in a Phase 3 clinical trial, with a regulatory filing now in front of the FDA.

• 01:19 Meet Randy Teel
• 03:41 Stepping into the CEO role in February 2026
• 13:17 What is a PROTAC and how it works
• 17:37 Vepdegestrant and the first PROTAC approval
• 23:43 Balancing partnerships versus keeping control of assets
• 31:57 Key milestones to watch in the next 12–18 months

Interested in being a sponsor of an episode of our podcast? Discover how you can get involved here!

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To dive deeper into the topic:

• From undruggable to oral therapy: The rise of STAT6 degraders
• Big Pharma Strikes Megadeals In Targeted Protein Degradation
• This Biotech Destroys Cancer Proteins by Introducing Them to ‘Executioner’ Proteins

Today we welcome Brandy Wilkinson, CEO of GemPharmatech, and Rikki Feng, the company’s Neuroscience Pipeline Leader.

Our discussion focuses on a persistent challenge in drug development: neurology’s stubbornly high clinical failure rates. GemPharmatech is tackling this head-on with proprietary models for Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and blood-brain barrier transport that better mirror human disease biology.

We explore why mouse models matter more in neurology than in other fields, the design principles behind these next-generation tools, and how smarter preclinical partnerships can help therapeutic developers de-risk programs earlier.

• 00:00 Welcome Brandy Wilkinson and Rikki Feng
• 03:17 GemPharmatech's mission
• 06:26 Why mouse models matter in neurology
• 11:11 Common translation gaps in neurology
• 18:09 Designing proprietary neurological disease models
• 25:45 Building stronger CRO strategic partnerships
• 33:58 An optimistic future of neuroscience research

This episode was produced with the support of GemPharmatech. Interested in being a sponsor of an episode of our podcast? Discover how you can get involved here!

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To dive deeper into the topic:

• Neurological diseases R&D trends and breakthrough innovations
• Brain Awareness Week: could ongoing R&D spur neuroscience breakthroughs?
• 11 neuroscience biotech companies you should know about

This week we preview the BIO International Convention, starting next week in San Diego. This is the key partnering event of the year where biotechs connect with pharmaceutical companies and investors in partnering meetings, all to advance and fund innovative therapies.

My guest is Werner Lanthaler, Founder and CEO of WLAN Holding. Werner spent 15 years as CEO of Evotec SE, scaling the company from 200 employees and €40 million revenue to over 5,000 staff and €800 million. He previously served as CFO of Intercell AG, overseeing its IPO and vaccine launch and today he leads investments and advisory in high-tech life sciences.

Werner explains why partnering events like BIO are critical to advancing science in biopharma. He shares practical advice on how biotechs can prepare before the event, succeed on site, and follow up to turn meetings into partnerships. He offers clear, actionable strategies to optimize your BIO experience.

• 01:36 Meet Werner Lanthaler
• 06:48 The power of partnering
• 08:55 Uncovering unexpected value
• 13:43 Irreplaceable in-person trust
• 17:06 Smart pre-event planning
• 21:00 Strategic targeting
• 24:02 Relationship-first meetings
• 30:18 The importance of prompt, persistent follow-up

Interested in being a sponsor of an episode of our podcast? Discover how you can get involved here!

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To dive deeper into the topic:

• Special Episode: The 2025 BIO International Convention
• The ABC of biotech partnerships
• How to optimize your biotech company for partnering, licensing, and business success