The Emerging Biotech Leader

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“I will always have deep empathy for patients and want to do the best that I can, but I feel very satisfied that I'm driving development of OHB 607, which has the potential to change the trajectory. So, I don't have to sit and remind myself why I'm doing that–there are patients on the other end.” Victoria Niklas

How can you break into biotech from academia without guilt, fear, or self-doubt? After listening to our guest, Victoria Niklas, in Episode 23 of the Emerging Biotech Leader, you may just have the answer to that question. Victoria is the Chief Medical Officer at Oak Hill Bio. As you’ll soon learn, she has been in pharma and biotech just shy of 10 years–7 to be exact. Prior to this time, Victoria was an academic neonatologist and translational scientist beginning at UCLA, rising through the ranks at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, and finally returning to UCLA before taking her first industry role with Prolacta Bioscience as their first Chief Medical and Scientific Officer.

In addition to our new guest and a new topic–we have a new guest host: SSI President Adam Schwartz, who is joined by Ramin.

True to form, both get Victoria to open up and share more on the uncertainty and upside in pursuing a new path, especially in making the transition from academia to pharma to biotech.

As a preview of what’s to come, Victoria shares more on:

The skills she leveraged to make this career jump
How to keep an open mind and disregard stigmas about one sector vs. the other
Her experience in establishing a licensing agreement, along with the regulatory components of that
The role of the CMO
Embracing lifelong learning

No matter your career crossroads–big Pharma to biotech, academia to biotech, bedside medicine to biotech, we know you’ll find this interview invaluable.

From One Sector To The Other - In Pursuit of Impact

While it’s still evolving some seven years in, Victoria’s pharma career includes a background in research spanning various roles, including time at Takeda. “My experience in research helped me develop a strong foundation and understanding of the scientific and medical aspects of drug development, which has been invaluable in my current role at Oak Hill Bio.”

Her first stepping stone into this world from academia came by way of a professional connection–just as she felt a nudge to pursue a new path. “I began to feel as if I wanted a bigger stage with which to have an impact, you know, particularly in the care of extremely premature newborns where drug development in that area doesn't rival that of other areas. In thinking about how to do that, I was very fortunate. I was approached by the CEO at Prolacta Bioscience, who said, ‘You know, we'd love to have you come and join us as our first chief medical and scientific officer.’ So I took that opportunity and never looked back.”

From Prolacta, she was then recruited to go work at Takeda to lead a drug pipeline focused on extremely premature newborns. Then, the work at Takeda led to Oak Hill Bio–a byproduct of them choosing to out-license that program. This next role, however, did require a different approach–she didn’t just apply and interview. Listen for specifics on how this all came together during the podcast.

On The Transferable Skills Required To Make A Move

As we’ve discussed in previous episodes of The Emerging Biotech Leader, transferable skills go a long way when making a career pivot.

Chris Morabito covers this topic in Episode 15 of The Emerging Biotech Leader.

The key skills that helped Victoria transition from academia to biotech included multitasking, leadership, and guarded optimism. Most likely a new term for you, here’s how she defined that for Adam and Ramin: “So I think it’s being optimistic, but, you know, not necessarily guarded–but just realistically optimistic, always.”

A final transferable skill she mentioned is thriving and surviving on very little sleep. We hope you appreciate her honesty there.

On Disregarding Stigmas and Preconceived Notions

Adam was curious to uncover how Victoria overcame questions and skepticism about her new pursuits.

“Victoria, you mentioned some of your colleagues in academia sort of “warning you” as you were thinking about taking that step into pharma. And it's obviously something that many medical professionals and scientists go through when they're in academia, and then they're thinking about whether or not it's a good step for them. What are some of the things that colleagues of yours were warning you about? And were they true?”

Victoria did shed light on the misconceptions about "selling out" or abandoning patients, emphasizing how many in her same shoes venture into the industry driven by a genuine desire to make a difference and keep the patient at the heart of drug development. She covers more specifics of the “sell out” and skepticism on her motives and commitment–be sure to listen for those details.

As a solution to break this stigma down, Victoria highlights the importance of increasing education and understanding within the medical community–to bridge the gap between academia and pharma.

For those currently in medical school, contemplating which path to take, or even making the leap from another sector to biotech, Victoria shares more about why this should change, even starting at the academic level.

“There's no class in medical school where you go to learn the pharmaceutical drug development process. So, it is a gap. But appreciation for what the pharmaceutical industry and biotech are doing to expand drug development, I think that sentiment people completely understand and get. So much of it, I think, is just not being aware of the nuances of it. Number one. Number two the expense of it. And number three, how long it takes, especially to have a robust process to prove efficacy with an appropriate safety profile.”

On Managing Out Licensing–What Was Required To Make This Happen?

If you’re a loyal listener of this show, you know that Ramin has a remarkable way of asking questions that provide teachable moments for the biotech community. This was the basis for his inquiry around the licensing agreement between Takeda and Oak Hill–and how Victoria played a part in moving that forward.

“What was your negotiating strategy? What regulatory aspects did you have to consider in that whole process? Basically, how did you make that happen?”

We won’t make you wait to get Victoria’s answer. Here’s what she said.

“One was shoring up the team because I think given the nature of the population and the incredible connections that people on our team at Takeda had developed, you know, we had to take the view that it's not over. Ok? This doesn't mean these patients will never receive this drug in the longer term. So, shoring everybody up and keeping people laser-focused on that.

“And the second thing was helping develop the message. From Takeda's perspective, I was sitting there as the representative, as the one who was going to develop interest among the external parties. So, how do you message that? That was a process with lots and lots of hours on Zoom calls.

“All of the out-licensing was done in a separate group at Takeda and so the next time I picked it back up was when I was now sitting in the Oak Hill Bio seat. I didn't have a lot of input into the out-licensing other than to say, ‘Here's why this is absolutely critical to continue development. Here's what you need to understand about these incredibly fragile newborns and why this drug is going to be transformational.’”

Adam wanted to hear more about her specific pivot story from big pharma to biotech–while working on the same program. Tune in to hear Victoria’s perspective on what that’s been like.

On The Role of The CMO At A Biotech

As the conversation switched gears, the role of the CMO started to emerge as the next talking point. Because it’s multifaceted, Victoria emphasized the importance of CMOs learning quickly, seeking mentorship, and being adaptable to change.

She also provided invaluable advice to aspiring CMOs on learning from mistakes and continually honing their communication skills to meet the expectations of diverse stakeholders. One way she learned how to fulfill this quickly was through mimicry, observation, and being receptive to radical candor.

“I watch CMOs at some of these investor conferences and look to see, what is their body language? How are they phrasing things? What are they doing? Grabbing conversations when I can. I have some close colleagues that have been very successful in drug development and just try to extract nuggets of what they've done and how they behave and how they prioritize. But everything in the end has to fit with who I am. There's no book, but there are resources–you can speak to somebody who does pitches and they can listen to you pitch and tell you everything you do wrong. You might take that and actually consider that success, right? Why? Because if they tell you you're doing everything right, then there's something wrong with that consultant–then you haven't found the right expert yet.”

On Embracing Lifelong Learning Regardless of Career Transitions

While Victoria’s “hands-on-learning approach” has proven successful, she strongly encouraged other aspiring CMOs to share in her passion for lifelong learning. It's a necessity to stay at the forefront of new opportunities in any career, particularly in the biotech industry.

When Ramin and Adam asked about mentorship, sponsorship, and what else played a part in her newfound confidence and title, Victoria answered that it helps to reflect on your motivations and be willing to adapt and learn–each day presents something new.

She also highlighted the importance of evaluating the risks presented by a potential career transition and being honest with oneself throughout the process. Here’s her final answer for evaluating whether to stay with what’s familiar or to go into the unknown.

“You know, opportunity… opportunity is risk. And if that is not a good balance for you, you’re going to know it very quickly. If opportunity is driving the energy that you have to do it even more, then you know that it's definitely a path to go with.”

Subscribe for more episodes, and as always, we’ll be back again soon!

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“There are clear distinctions, as we've talked about, between device and pharma from a medical affairs perspective. I think they each require this special touch and strategic medical affairs plan, but I think what we're also converging on is that they’re almost more similar than we think.’” Leah Damesek, Vice President of Medical Affairs, SSI Strategy.

Disruption. It’s a word that many associate with dramatic or abrupt change. But in order to disrupt something in biotech, particularly shifting a standard of care from one type of treatment to a new protocol using a medical device, there has to be collective, cohesive, methodical buy-in. In Episode 19 of the Emerging Biotech Leader, our interview with Shon Chakrabarti of Inari Medical echoed how disrupting a care pathway has many moving parts.

Now, in Episode 20, Kim Kushner, Ramin Farhood, and a new voice from the SSI team, Leah Damesek, Vice President of Medical Affairs Strategy, continue exploring what it takes to bring disruptive devices to market. Listen in to observe a few overarching themes that emerge and guide the conversation.

Leah and Ramin share their thoughts and experience on changing a care paradigm to meet an unmet need
All three discuss the actions required when disrupting a care pathway change the physician base
And lastly, Kim, Ramin, and Leah circle back on the use of real-world evidence in changing physician behavior

The trio keep no secrets–the medical device industry is more advanced, compared to pharma, when it comes to strategically utilizing real-world evidence. And as you’ll hear, this is brought up not to poke holes but to provoke thought and understanding for anyone looking to shift from one sector or the other.

Throughout this episode, Kim, Ramin, and Leah also discern additional differences and similarities between device and pharma. What’s vital to both–no matter which side of the industry you find yourself on–is that the main goal never deviates from this credo: do right by the patients.

On that note, enjoy these highlights, and as always, we encourage you to listen to the full episode, too.

On Bringing The Medical Community Along

Right at the top of the interview, Kim asked Leah about the challenges with conversations–from a medical affairs lens–when meeting with the physician community.

Many of these physicians have been treating their patients in a specific way for decades. To that point, Leah shared, “Bringing the medical community along to make a change in their practice that has been so instilled in them for so many years and through so many different variations of guidelines is a really big change. Something that I think about a lot as we're working with our clients is helping all sides of the care continuum and the caregiver team move with the industry change. So, it's not just about bringing new physicians and new specialties on board, but also what's in it for the existing specialists that are treating these patients?”

What else does driving disruption and adoption entail?

Learning that some patients are more receptive to new technologies while others are slower to adopt or change
How to get physician buy-in so that none feel displaced by these new care paradigms
The concepts of patient segmentation, deploying centers of excellence, and understanding the role of all inputs involved to drive change: patients, physicians, nurses, and real-world data

Leah highlights the importance of helping physicians feel like valued participants on the cutting edge of care for new devices or drugs, as opposed to pushing them to the sidelines. Ramin agreed and added this reminder from Episode 19: “It's really, really important early on that you have the customers (doctors) involved and that they get the right training to feel comfortable using the device and they feel comfortable that they can also make the patient feel comfortable with what they're doing.”

As they navigate a new normal, Doctors must understand device use, who it’s best for, what updates and advancements are coming, post-approval, and more considerations for full adoption. Building on that, Kim points out that a new ecosystem gets created when a treatment pathway is disrupted by a new device or drug.

“It's more than just training the physician who's going to be the user, but it's also training the physician who now has to be a referer, and historically was the person to treat that patient. If we can't actually get the patient to the appropriate, in this circumstance, Interventionalists, where, you know, they've been typically treated in their home cardiology office, that's a really different care pathway for a patient.”

Working In Harmony: More Than A Pipe Dream

With disruption overhauling the “old way of doing things,” how do you mitigate friction to ensure the current physician, new physician, and patient are all aligned?

Ramin describes this unit as a “triangle.” While the talk track and training for both physicians is mostly procedural and straightforward, driving patient confidence and adoption is where there is more variability.

“Maybe you've been on a particular drug for many years, and now maybe it's not working right? Or maybe the side effect profile is not good anymore. So, you have to have that conversation with the patient so that they feel comfortable to be referred and have some type of procedure. Even if it’s not a full-blown operation, it still becomes really scary for them.”

As a best practice, Ramin shares a few things to remember. Nurses need to be included in this training/adoption loop as they spend a significant amount of time with patients as well.

Also, enabling and training both physician groups–former and newer–with aligned messaging is vital. And this all has to be done in harmony, which really falls on the founding team to ensure and plan for from day 1.

On Setting Up A Center of Excellence

While Kim was hearing these points come up, she requested a few tangible examples of what success looks like when Centers of Excellence are executed flawlessly. “In particular, I'd love to hear what you've seen be successful in setting up those models and what some of the barriers to success have been for industry.”

Leah jumped right in to answer with a success example first: the early adopter approach.

“The successful factor was the early adopter model. What I've seen in setting up that Center of Excellence is that no one wants to feel like they're not on the cutting edge of research. I'm actually thinking about this in a gene therapy context, going from potentially a surgical intervention to moving towards a one-time treatment that

would no longer need potentially any intervention from a surgeon. And so thinking about what, ‘What's in it for the surgeons?’ How can you be an early adopter? How do you want to think about how you're giving a certain device to a patient now, and you're moving towards a different type of surgery, right? That's one way to think about it.”

As for barriers, Leah points out that those can arise from low data volume or if a treatment, even though minimally invasive, is not reversible.

For Ramin, success all starts with the proper training. “Practice makes perfect, and training is a must with devices. I use training deliberately because it's slightly different from education, right? Education with pharma and with drugs is really important. But in the devices, not only you are educating, but also physicians need to have hands-on experience to feel comfortable with the procedure. And they have to do enough of it to feel comfortable to also start referring or talking about or being an advocate for that particular procedure. That doesn't necessarily happen once or twice, or three times. Physicians need to have enough experience with that.”

Listen in for more of Ramin’s thoughts on the frequency of training, conducting training, and the modalities that training can be delivered.

As one last best practice on this topic, Kim drives home that training also reinforces the tangible benefits of this entirely new approach altogether. You’ll hear her share specifics from Episode 19 around physicians seeing the removal of a clot vs. not being able to tangibly, visibly see the equivalent impact of an anticoagulant.

The Effectiveness of Evidence

As their conversation transitioned, the topic of evidence took center stage.

At first, evidence is heavily focused on demonstrating safety and efficacy. But here’s one of those distinctions between pharma and med device where strategy and data use comes into play courtesy of Kim.

“The burden post-market is significantly higher than traditional pharma in a lot of ways. There's a lot of post-market surveillance from safety and effectiveness that we're consistently doing a lot of organizations around having product-related registries and other kinds of formats. But especially in recent years, I'd say the last one to three years, we've seen pharma move more towards this model of trying to increase real-world evidence. What are some perspectives we can learn from the medical device industry–who has been working more in the post-market space relative to real-world evidence and data generation–and what we can apply more broadly across the industry?”

Ramin points out that two to three clinical trials are a starting point, not a place to stop. In other words, evidence-based medicine is a welcomed disruption, too.

“If you think about it, and I think Shon also alluded to this too, it's difficult to conduct a double-blind study with a device, right? It's going to be challenging to do a head-to-head type of study. It's extremely expensive, right? In pharma, once you have the drug approved, at least there is some level of comfort and confidence that it works and it's safe. But with devices, that's just the beginning. That's why you see a lot of medical device companies doing tremendous amounts of work to generate additional data and gathering additional information that is useful for the practitioners.”

Don’t gloss over what Ramin shares about the correlation between incremental improvements and generating better data specific to med device–listen in for how initial use may vary after 6 months of data collection and analysis.

Using Ramin’s points as a springboard for this topic, Leah adds a new vocabulary term and tactic into the mix: lifecycle management.

“The device industry is so much faster at lifecycle management–indication, expansions, and new potential labels because of real-world evidence. We've worked with clients and project teams where they're actively exploring 5-10 different label expansions or new indications for a product that's already on the market. And they're able to do that because they have a team of trusted physicians that they work with who are actively innovating and exploring new ways to potentially use their device, on or off label.”

The main takeaway here is that pharma can leverage this very approach to “continuously be iterating and making our products or our drugs more useful.”

As an add-on, Kim points out one final distinction between med device and pharma to keep in mind with regard to evidence generation. “In traditional pharmaceuticals, you're thinking about the decision maker being the physician and the user being the patient, and they're almost two separate parts of the equation. Whereas in device, it is the same equation, and you have to be a lot more integrated in the care pathway and the decision-making and in the data generation efforts that enable folks to make the right decisions for their patients at a given point in time.”

As the interview started to wind down, Kim and Leah did share their final thoughts on what’s required to go from pharma to device or vice versa. Once you hear it, let us know your thoughts and advice if you’ve navigated this career change as well.

Thank you for listening! Subscribe for more episodes, and feel free to leave us a Podcast review.

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“My primary advice is to get comfortable with discomfort right away and open your mind to how your particular skill set can benefit patients on this tremendously big scale.’” Shon Chakrabarti MD MPH, Vice President, and General Manager Chronic Venous Therapies, Inari Medical.

Episode 19 of the Emerging Biotech Leader commemorates a milestone. This interview features one of our first guests with a background in medical devices.

Unlike previous episodes, our guest also works outside of rare disease and targets a wider population of patients with unmet needs. And now for the big reveal on who this guest is: Shon Chakrabarti MD MPH, Vice President, and General Manager Chronic Venous Therapies, Inari Medical. Shon is an Interventional Cardiologist by training, bringing his education, experience, and expertise to Inari–they design tools to treat both Pulmonary Embolism (PE) and Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT), focusing on the critical vessels of venous disease.

Kim hosts this episode solo which gives her and Shon ample time to cover a lot of ground, particularly:

His career transition from bedside physician to physician leader working across medical affairs, product development, GTM, and more at Inari
How past experience in treating patients helps Shon understand and approach changing the care pathway
The impact of evidence-based medicine on physician adoption and
The most surprising areas he has learned on the job

Whether you work in medical devices yourself or are considering a change from clinical practice to industry, this episode will help you understand how to think about a career pivot, what it takes to bring a medical device to market, and why it’s so critical to “listen to the evidence and the effects that your medical device has in the real world.”

We cover a few highlights here, but of course, the full interview contains so much more. Listen along and let us know, do you read these recaps before or after each episode? We’re open to gathering some data of our own.

Nothing Changes if Nothing Changes: From Practice to Product

Treating patients one-on-one and providing bedside care seems like the complete opposite of working in the medical device space, but Shon threads his two roles, that of Physician and Physician Leader now in industry, together under the theme of change.

In fact, Inari isn’t the first medical device company Shon has worked for. While the devices may be different, and the disease states may be different, the idea in this sector of biotech is to help patients fully address their issues through advancements and innovations that demonstrate improved efficacy.

On this topic, Kim wanted to know Shon’s POV from the clinician side, specifically going against the “status quo” of current treatment modalities and what shift is required to, as she put it, “think about trying a new technology in a patient, whether it's a person in a study or speaking to other physicians about why they should adopt something that that is new?”

Shon cites three things that will help change occur.

Focus on the big, unmet needs
Provide tangible, visible evidence of the effect that the device is having on the patient
Show concrete data

Shon also shares that physicians do start to see the unmet need early on in various ways. “In your day-to-day practice, and in the cath lab and in the O.R., it's intuitive. You know when you're using something that hasn't been updated in 30 years where patient outcomes have been the same, and it isn't keeping up with other disease states.”

Listen in for more details and context as to how Shon has observed his three bullet points transforming physician adoption and patient outcomes in the cardiovascular field.

On Medical Affairs for Med Device

The role and significance of Medical Affairs continues to be an important theme for biotechs, and it’s especially important for medical devices. As Kim touched on with Shon, “You're in the position where you're not just speaking about the modality and the science and educating on why this therapy is better than this one, but you're also hands-on training on the device itself.”

Listen to episode 13: “Making A Mark In Medical Affairs”

Given Shon’s expertise in this and navigating the patient-physician-payer matrix, Kim was curious to hear more. “You're educating different segments in the medical community as well as the different sub-specialties that have trained in different ways over these decades, I would love your thoughts on all of this from a medical affairs perspective.”

Shon’s answer was perfect for the entire biotech industry: “One thing about medical affairs leaders–a good medical affairs leader is critical to the success of a device or pharma company. So there's a really important role there. It's not something that you dabble in or dip your toe in the water on. It's something you dive into.”

Once again, this is where Shon’s prior experience treating patients comes into play.

“There's a certain perspective you get from taking direct care of patients. It's hard to describe, but it sort of involves this deep empathy and understanding of needs from a patient perspective. It also involves familiarity with health care delivery and the nuances of that and patient journeys, and to almost compare, it's like seeing a language you can functionally survive in an environment where you don't speak the language, but there's a lot lost in terms of context, and I think it's very much similar. So my experiences impact things like design considerations, they impact go to market strategies, they impact clinical research plans. There is really nothing that isn't touched by having been on that side of patient care.”

Learning On The Job: The Real-World Residency

After a significant amount of time in med school and providing patient care, Kim was curious, where else did Shon learn GTM, product development, and even marketing for med devices?

He shared that he’s learned on the job. Here’s why that's been an advantage. Compared to peers who went a more traditional path for biotech, i.e. business school, Shon hasn’t just worked on one case study or one aspect of biotech. The same learner's mindset and drive that got him through rigorous med school training at Harvard is still alive and well.

“I feel like I'm almost in another training program, another residency here in these early years. I learn every day! And the interactions of interfacing with upstream marketing or reporting on strategy or interfacing with the business development team and M&A team about other technologies that are out there–I love it. I think it's a ton of fun probably because it's all new learning for me. So I think I chose to join companies that were not necessarily in the startup phase but a little more mature in terms of the teams they've developed. And that was probably good luck. But it resulted in an environment where I could safely insert myself into projects and learn from really great leaders around me: commercial leaders, marketing leaders, business and strategy leaders.”

The main takeaway here is to follow that calling if you’re being pulled towards industry. Throughout this interview, Shon does clarify how there is still an impact on patients–this time, via scale vs. those face-to-face, daily interactions. Be forewarned; there is an identity shift that you undergo. Listen for his cocktail party story specifically.

One final word of encouragement Shon has for those contemplating the leap who are nervous about a lack of biz school background: “You can't read a manual on something like Investor Relations, and you can't read a manual on things like go-to-market strategies in the med device world. You really have to experience it. You really need to get in the weeds, you know, work with the regulatory team, figure out all the variables and pathways from an idea, from a prototype to actually going to market in patients successfully.”

Of course, this agile, flexible mindset is very different from the more methodical, linear approach to practicing medicine, but it is possible to embrace and adapt, as Shon demonstrates.

Circling Back To The Data

As their conversation carried on, Kim brought up the concept of making it to the point of a successful launch, something that isn’t always guaranteed in biotech or Big Pharma, for that matter. In med device, however, the odds are more favorable regarding commercial success with launches.

Kim was curious, what are the learnings from med device, which, as she described, is “further along on that front than traditional pharma and biotech?”

Shon brought it back to the data. No matter how great the idea is, no matter how promising the concept, you have to stay objective.

“At some point, you need to listen to the evidence and the effects that device has in the real world. Look at postmarket data and postmarket surveillance. What that does is it allows a medical leader to understand the real-world impact of their device that's distinct from pre-market performance. Right? You'll understand that preclinical data and even clinical data in the early phases in the device world, which can be variable, are often best-case scenarios. They're often very controlled, highly trained users–controlled and trained environments. It's important to see how your device is in the real world, in the hands of the everyman. And that's where I think this market data can be really helpful.”

Shon digs into more specifics about FDA warning letters, product registries, and even leveraging social media for more insights. He also strongly expresses that “doing the bare minimum” for data collection is not enough.

“I don't think I'd want to be part of an organization that didn't do a lot more than the bare minimum to prove out their technology and how it benefits patients.”

Another case Shon makes for thinking bigger in terms of patient impact and avoiding the “bare minimum” has to do with future expansion. This isn’t just about making a small change; this is about a seismic shift in changing the standard of care.

“That's where being really aggressive in terms of your clinical affairs strategy can be beneficial. Look–you've got to be smart about it. You have to create a clinical affairs strategy that isn't bulky as an owner, isn't going to take a ton of time, and isn’t going to suck up all of your resources, right? Because you need to survive as a company. But again, get smart people in the room, collaborate with the medical leadership that you're working with. Design smart, lean studies that help you generate the

evidence you need to not only show that the device is safe and effective, but that it is superior to other technology or other modes of providing this care to this disease state and then, see change occur.”

As the interview began to close, Kim asked one final question specific to career path advice for others who aspire to move from physician to physician leader in biotech. Shon provided a few approaches and ideas.

Want to know his answers? Hit that play button and listen in.

Would you like to be a guest on the Emerging Biotech Leader? Contact us here.

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“A lot of the work is in asking ‘how do we distill this down into the simplest, most digestible narrative that feels obvious when you hear it back?’” Kim Kushner, Chief Business Officer, SSI Strategy.

Episode 18 of the Emerging Biotech Leader welcomes a new voice to the show: Kate Goldstein, Senior Vice President of SSI. Fresh off the heels of Episode 17, Kate, Kim, and Ramin continue to unpack more value from Luminopia’s founding story and subsequent growth.

If you haven’t had a chance to listen to that yet, here’s the link.

One of the most powerful components of a biotech is its value story. But getting clear on that isn’t always easy. In this new era of biotechs and clinical development, the value story and narrative isn’t just for investors: it's for other stakeholders like physicians and patients, too. As stakeholders get involved earlier in the process to increase patient-centricity, they want to understand the value as well. In fact, it's almost table stakes.

This begs the question, how do you approach this when bringing a novel modality to market? How does an unmet need influence the value story? How were Scott and his team able to get theirs so clear? What does patient centricity have to do with product market fit? These are a few clues as to what you’ll be hearing during this episode.

Listen along to pick up more highlights, approaches, and thoughts.

Uncovering The Obvious Is Not That Obvious

Kim kicked off the interview with a question for Kate first. How was Luminopia able to be so clear with its value story compared to other biotechs with traditional modalities?

Was it Scott, their CEO + Co-Founder’s ability to tell a captivating story?
Was it the fact they were disrupting a space overdue for innovation?
Was it the focus on the patient, front and center?

Kate quickly weighed in: the story resonated with more than one audience. “I think one of the ways that we're really going to get truly novel modalities to market for the first time is by telling the story that the entire stakeholder community, you know, the regulators, payers, the patients, the physicians can all buy into and all get behind when there's something new.”

Kate and Ramin agreed that most biotech founders have the semblances of a story–as Kate described it, “The bones are there. But the full story still needs to be flushed out.”

As an add-on to this, Kim shared that the value story does often get flushed out by Medical Affairs or even HEOR, but that doesn’t have to be the only way to craft it. She also distinguished that the value story and the founding story are not the same.

“Scott and his team have done a fantastic job at simplifying this down into a really digestible soundbite, if you will, for why this–Luminopia–matters, why people should pay attention, and telling the story of the product market fit that has gotten them where they are today, which is really based on this unmet medical need or this patient-centric view. That is a goal for a lot of organizations. But the value story is rarely in the founding story of where the organization came from.”

If you’d like another real-world example of a biotech value story done right, listen to what Kate shares about Zolgensma, which in her words, also helped “catapult gene therapy as a whole.”

Incorporating The Voice of The Patient Sooner Than Later

As an add-on to that example, Ramin brought up another point that’s becoming more and more common. The story of the patients is now front and center. Traditionally in biotech, companies work backward. Product approval was the first goal. Then came connecting with thought leaders and the pathways for reimbursement. This was some 20-40 years ago. But now, the primary goal is what Scott and Luminopia demonstrate: start with the patient first.

Ramin added why this new approach is vital for biotech founders to embrace.

“The agencies are very interested in this, and they engage with the patients. They engage with patient advocacy groups to have a better understanding of their perspective. What do they think? What is their voice? And it's not unheard of that the agencies reach out to them and have a conversation with them and get their input.”

Across the board, Kim, Ramin, and Kate all agreed that it's paramount to think about what patients will experience and go through. Some biotechs even have a CPO: Chief Patient Officer.

This quote from Ramin drove this point home. “It makes a huge difference if you start thinking about that early on, even as early as your pre-preclinical studies, the animal studies. Maybe your entire focus is not on the patient yet, but at least you want to start thinking about ‘if things will work out, what would be the meaning and impact for the patients?’”

Putting themselves in the patient seat, a powerful exercise took place. Each was challenged to recall mid-interview the last “delightful” experience they personally had in healthcare. Their answers and the stats they shared about clinical trial costs and dropout rates will surprise you. Listen in for those details.

Other Ways To Learn What “Good” Looks Like

If the value story is so critical and yet equally as challenging to clarify–where else can biotech founders look to pick up ideas? Kim says there’s a lot to be learned from Europe.

“Value in Europe is not just ‘dollar for dollar value,’ but if you're showing similar outcomes, which ones are going to have a better outcome for the patient? Which ones do patients prefer?”

Bringing this full circle, Luminopia also provides ideas as well. They were creative in their story due to the lack of innovation and being one of the first FDA-approved virtual reality modalities.

The word “creative” inspired Kate to share another paradigm shift she has witnessed firsthand. “We're now in a position to start implementing really core patient impact initiatives early on in the development cycle, and that really shows how the industry has shifted over the last decade or so.”

Adding to why Luminiopia’s value story was so different stemmed from their diverse industry backgrounds. Ramin pointed out how their unique, non-traditional backgrounds, aka non-medical, actually thwarted them from the default habit of talking about “bringing another pharmaceutical to market” and instead served as a catalyst for them to be inherently patient-centric.

Kate pointed out that this theme of innovation and embracing new ways to achieve better outcomes has been a core theme of the podcast.

“What we seem to get to every time, no matter the discipline or the modality, is that there needs to be a sense of creativity and a lack of feeling hindered by whatever the precedent before you was.”

Those words serve as a rallying cry to help emerging biotech founders from all professional backgrounds–research, pharma, and tech–

think about various aspects of biotech management that are outdated and ripe for change.

To close out the show, Kim posed this question to Ramin and Kate, but we’ll share it with you, too: “What would we do if we could really think about the patient first? And how would we innovate if we weren't limited by the questions that were typically operating under, you know, the prior experiences that we've all had?”

We welcome your answers in the comments below.

Want to pick up more ideas specific to innovation? Check out this Episode on DIgital Lead biotech strategies.

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What does it take to launch a new class of medicine?

When launching a new therapeutic, many unknowns exist, but some principles remain constant. By looking to past experiences and staying lean, emerging biotechs can derisk their organizations while hitting milestones by taking an agile team-building approach.

Today’s guest is Adriana Valenciano, Senior Vice President at SSI Strategy. She is working closely with Oz from Empyrean to bring a new class of medicine to the neuro-psych market. Co-hosts Kim Kushner and Ramin Farhood discuss with Adriana some of the intricacies of getting a new class of medicine to the market, the intersection of neurology and neurosciences, and the importance of the agility and flexibility needed in the early stages of biotech startups.

Here are a few of the highlights from this episode:

Creativity and past experiences are crucial to launching new classes of medicine

Emerging biotech companies, especially ones pursuing new classes of medicine, are navigating the unknown. It can feel like there is nowhere to turn for direction. The good news is that experience is a great teacher. Even experience that isn’t directly related to the current situation.

Oz, the CEO of Empyrean, had a diverse background in Big Pharma and within start-ups. He leaned on his past experiences to know where to focus his attention to bring the most impact to his current venture early on.

Similarly, Kim, Adriana, and Ramin speak about how every new field they’ve worked in gives opportunity to be creative and try new things. Still, certain principles and frameworks remain the same across types of medicine and levels of innovation.

Even though there are similarities, it takes creativity to engage with regulatory bodies, tell the value story to engage early payers, and translate the clinical value to physicians and, ultimately, patients.

Whenever a team brings a new therapeutic to the market, there are things to hold to and things to let go of. That’s why it’s essential to have a team with diverse backgrounds and perspectives. These differing points of view provide a vital lens to look through when making decisions about what needs to be pulled from past experiences and where the team needs to pivot to new ways of approaching the science or the organizational process.

Because the intersection of creativity and experience is critical, it’s important to think through early-stage organizational structure and resource allocation. You have to layer in the challenges of identifying what team makes sense for you at that time and the pressure you're facing to meet milestones and deliver on commitments.

Agile and flexible team building

In Oz’s interview, he said leaders are for seasons, and teams are for seasons. It will not work if you try to build out your early-stage team with the same organizational style as a Big Pharma company. This is also true of the types of people that you hire. If you focus on hiring people from large orgs that manage functions, they won’t necessarily be the right phenotype for building a department from scratch.

Early biotechs need to balance the needs of the internal organization, the company culture, and the funding runway. It’s easy to over-hire early on, and when things shift in the market or a key milestone takes longer than expected, it can derail or even completely crash the company.

One way to de-risk is to determine the key differentiating factors for your therapeutic. Focus your full-time hires on those areas and find external partners to augment their work.

If the main differentiator is the science, like at Empyrean, bring scientific or medically focused full-time employees. If your differentiating factor is in manufacturing, focus there.

Ask yourself, what solutions do I need vs. who should I hire? Asking this question enables you to think more flexibly and with agility. Instead of trying to hire unicorns, hire the solutions you need.

Begin with the end in mind. What do we need to accomplish to reach a milestone on time, who do we need internally to make that happen, and how can we augment our team with the right external resources to make that happen?

Whatever route you choose, don’t go it alone. Seek out partners, mentors, and peers that can help you make better, more informed decisions.

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What if there were a way to genetically engineer fungi species and transform them into human therapeutics to help with neurological disorders?

Today’s guest, Dr. Usman (Oz) Azam, just launched a biotech, Empyrean Neurosciences, that is genetically modifying fungi to create therapeutics.

Biotech is hard enough as it is, but what does it take to pioneer an entirely new class of medicine as a biotech startup? Oz shares his experience and his strategies at Empyrean to navigate the intersection of neurological disease and mental health.

Here are a few of the highlights from this episode:

Innovation in biotech

Oz’s diverse background lent to his current success. He started out in big pharma companies like Pfizer and J&J, followed by a stint running his own company and back to big pharma at Novartis. After his time at Novartis, Oz jumped back into the entrepreneurial biotech space again, building Tmunity from scratch.

Curiosity is vital to success in early-stage biotechs. It’s also important to evaluate your personal risk/benefit meter if you want to bring new innovations to the market. The career path you take will impact your potential to succeed.

It’s beneficial to pursue roles at companies that drive innovation forward, even within Big Pharma.

Empyrean: a new class of medicine

Oz’s new company, Empyrean, is building an entirely new class of medicine in neuroscience. Their focus is on genetically engineering small molecules from different species of fungi in plants to create human therapeutics, which nobody has done before.

Empyrean is poised to bring a much-needed revolution in neuroscience, specifically for neuropsychiatry and neurology and potentially other therapeutic disease areas as well.

Now a preclinical company, Oz has a vision to introduce the world’s first botanical, that is a genetically engineered mushroom containing psilocybin to treat patients suffering from disorders like major depressive disorder.

Bringing a novel drug to the market, especially with current macro-economic headwinds, takes a high level of nimbleness and agility as a company. That’s why Empyrean is using an agile model to scale in a greenfield therapeutic space.

Agile organizational development

Choosing where to focus is important for any biotech. Is it a platform focus or a therapeutic focus? According to Oz, it’s key to balance both simultaneously. He feels that after developing the platform, it’s important to double down on the therapeutic early on. Once you establish a leading candidate and prove it out, you can begin to think about future therapeutic possibilities.

When your team is small, the leader must have a keen understanding of where to focus resources. Endless paths exist. It’s essential to find that one thread that will tell a compelling story. Nail that story, and you can get funding to explore other pathways.

Sequencing Resources

In large organizations, the growth algorithms are relatively fixed. You get X number of people in each department as you reach new phases of development. If you are in an intrapreneurial role within Big Pharma, you may have a bit more leeway, but you still work within the organization's firewall.

A startup is a different animal altogether. The leaders do a little bit of everything in the early stages. As funds come in, resource allocation is key.

Just as there are leaders for seasons, there are company models for seasons. Empyrean is a nine-person company. They have to maximize their resources at this critical stage. That’s why they engage strategic partners like SSI Strategy.

Hybrid Team

Oz has taken a hybrid team approach. One of the big mistakes you see in early-stage biotechs is overbuilding the team. If anything goes wrong or you don’t meet milestones, you may be forced to restructure. The timing of hiring is essential to early success.

As you scale, there are natural inflection points where you need to build your team but you don’t want to make the mistake of hiring too early.

What do you do if you don’t have the internal resources to meet current needs? Oz says to create an augmented team of A players.

You must figure out which roles are absolutely essential to have as internal hires. Empyrean is prioritizing wet lab genetic engineers as internal hires, because the genetic engineering is their differentiating attribute. Then it’s a matter of determining how to strategically outsource other roles that are not core to the business model.

Empyrean is partnering with SSI Strategy, so they can remain agile in these early stages. This way, they maximize the funding runway while still getting things done on time. If there are any hiccups along the way, they simply flex down their SSI team and flex back up as funding allows.

This is true for legal and finance as well. They are bringing in virtual, augmented support in different areas of the business to stay lean.

There comes a point where it makes sense to hire an FTE to manage different aspects of the business, but hiring those roles too early can sink an early-stage company.

Culture and Mentorship

One key learning Oz had early on was that just because someone has a specific role at a Big Pharma company, that doesn’t mean they will be successful at building out that role within a startup. The skillsets for managing and the skillsets for building are completely different.

It takes a specific phenotype to thrive in a biotech startup environment. Curiosity is vital. You must be curious enough to dig and dig and dig until you get a breakthrough. It also takes resilience and tenacity. Bringing new therapeutics to market is a grueling path, and it takes a certain type of person to see it through.

You have to find people you can trust. Is this someone you can depend on for the long haul, or will they skip around when the going gets tough?

Working with people that are fun to be around is also important, too. When you get into the trenches with someone, make sure you like to be around them.

If it’s clear that someone isn’t working out, do them a favor by letting them go early. They won’t be happy long term in a role where they won’t succeed.

Build an executive leadership network

A lot of times, the asset is fixed to a degree. The difference between failure and success is the organizational leader. Everyone needs 2-3 people they can go to outside their team for advice and support.

The CEO is the loneliest job in the world, according to Oz. It’s important to find and get hooked up with good leaders. See what they’ve done to succeed so you can emulate their success and learn from their mistakes.

It takes time and intention to build relationships with other senior leaders and CEOs, but it’s vital to success. Go to conferences and events and network, participate in industry groups. You never know who you will meet. And don’t forget about your best bosses as well.

Mentorship is key, and it doesn’t have to be solely focused in the biotech industry.

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Securing funding as an early-stage biotech is no easy feat. There are a few key strategies that help differentiate a funding thesis. What separates burgeoning initiatives from those that fail?

Join today’s guest, co-founder, and CEO of SSI Strategy, Doug Locke, whose experience in entrepreneurship, investing, and advising biotechs and startup companies shares key differentiators.

The Medical Office

While building the investor thesis, the Medical Office should be at the forefront of organizations’ minds. It’s often not given enough attention. How much attention should the medical office get early on? As it stands, the Medical Office can be under-structured due to resource scarcity or not having the right players involved.

The Medical Office is a value driver, It helps different audiences (investors, the medical community, and even the patient community) understand the validity of the science. But when and how should organizations build out the medical office?

It’s important to take your time filling critical roles, like the Chief Medical Officer. Also, finding solutions outside of full time employees, like advisory board members, advisors, and outside support organizations, helps alleviate early pressure. It’s about maintaining flexibility in the early stages and figuring out what is right for the organization in the beginning.

Platform vs. Asset Play

When pitching to investors, there are two main paths to take. Proving the platform or developing the asset. The Medical Office is used to drive the value of either path. But it’s vital to have a cohesive story to share with investors about which direction the biotech takes. One of the biggest mistakes early biotechs make is to try to prove too many things early on and, by doing so, dilute the story they tell to investors and board members.

Messaging for the Investor Thesis

As far as messaging, ambiguity can be created when going back and forth between proving the platform or substantiation of the asset. It’s better to be incredibly clear with the value proposition, use the Medical Office to drive the value of the platform orientation or the asset orientation, and then engage the investor community.

De-Risking Early Decisions

Intentionally, thinking through the platform from a safety, efficacy, and payload perspective, and utilizing the various resource programs at their disposal, helps to de-risk during the early stages of a biotech startup. Smaller teams work to the organization’s advantage. By keeping the team lean and pulling in outside resources, the biotech can withstand the ups and downs of funding without having to let go of key players

Gaining objective perspectives to see flaws is invaluable for any startup, and biotech is no exception. Taking the time to find and listen to differing perspectives helps differentiate biotechs that last from those that are here today and gone tomorrow.

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When most people think about the path to becoming a CEO, they conjure up a straight climb up the corporate ladder, rung by rung. But that’s not the only way. In fact, a few detours along the way can provide you with valuable tools that broaden your perspective and launch you into executive roles at a young age.

This was the case for Niren Shah, CEO of Cove Therapeutics. A biotech company focused on developing gene therapies for the eye and muscles with established proof-of-concept in other tissues. Shah earned his PharmD, started in academic research, later became a Medical Science Liaison (MSL) at Novartis, earned an MBA, and even did a stint as a restaurant owner before ending up at Cove. This diverse range of experience has prepared him well for the role of CEO.

In this episode, Ramin Farhood, Vice President of Medical Affairs at SSI Strategy, and Kim Kushner, Senior Vice President at SSI Strategy, talked with Niren about his journey, lessons learned along the way, and where his company is headed.

The Takeaway:

Look for unmet needs and create a technology with a Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
Develop a scalable, highly efficient manufacturing process
Be strategic about building your team and leveraging partnerships

Diving Deeper:

Niren’s Journey to CEO. It’s not every day that someone goes from an MSL to CEO within a decade post-graduation. This journey includes not being afraid of taking risks, creating opportunities to learn, and Niren deliberately surrounding himself with successful CEOs and Founders to gain first-hand experience. His resume includes three opportunities as an MSL, Director of Communications, Executive Management, and finally CEO, Co-Founder, and President of Cove Therapeutics. Throw in owning two restaurants and earning an MBA, Niren’s career trajectory is inspiring, and there are practical takeaways sprinkled in his answers.

Stepping into the CEO role. The variety of experiences that Niren has pointed directly to carving his own path through the various organizations he’s been able to join. One of the most influential experiences was learning about risk while owning not one but two restaurants.

Niren has made investments in many biotech and tech companies, which opened the door for him to operate as an advisor and be on the board of several companies. He attributes much of his learning to these activities compared to what he learned in many of his previous roles.

He also cites that surrounding himself with other CEOs and Founders and seeing what worked and what didn’t was invaluable hands-on training. All of the experiences collectively serve him in one way or the other, but ultimately, he says: “I don’t know if you’re ever truly ready.” After listening to his path, though, it’s easy to conclude that there is plenty of confidence to be had with Niren at the helm.

Building the medical office and securing an excellent CMO. When thinking of building staff for the medical office, a key differentiator is having a CMO who has deep knowledge of the niche. In this case, gene therapy experience. Other focuses include development and translational activities, leaning on experiences from KOLs, and leveraging outsourced firms (such as SSI Strategy). Stacking the office with people who are knowledgeable from a clinical perspective, as well as a molecular biology perspective.

Cove Therapeutics is a unique and differentiated technology company with the potential for large cost savings. Cove’s manufacturing system is simple, rapid, efficient, and reproducible. Their secret sauce allows them to develop and test samples side by side within weeks, which allows for de-risking because of the number of samples.

The Investor Space.

“Different investors have different appetites.” At the onset, Niren and his team looked for investors who had deep knowledge in the gene therapy field for seed-round investments and who wanted to dig in alongside their team. What Cove is looking for as they continue are people who understand where they are as a company, as a team, and the specifics of what they’re working on. Each franchise focuses on a different niche and, consequently, will interest different investors. Their main priority and Cove’s mission is to focus on patients and continue to be their advocates–a focus that translates to the investor side.

Key Tips for Aspiring CEOs

Focus on development and how you can get your product into the clinic
Hire a staff you can count on, and count on your staff–especially a CMO with experience in the field
Leverage outsourced firms
Staff your board with people who understand your technology
Manage relationships with Key Opinion Leaders
Develop multiple paths to success but focus on a few high priorities

Memorable Quote:

“Seek opportunity, and you will find it.”

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At biotech companies, things often evolve at light speed, and the natural tendency of a Chief Medical Officer (CMO) can be to try and manage every detail. But it’s a superhuman task, especially when powerful egos are in play.

This episode of The Emerging Biotech Leader features:

Dr. Ramin Farhood, Vice President of Medical Affairs, SSI Strategy
Kim Kushner, Senior VP, SSI Strategy
Dr. Benit Maru, Senior Vice President, Medical, SSI Strategy

The team recaps Episode 1’s conversation with Dr. Suku Nagendran – President of R&D and Chief Medical Officer (CMO) at Jaguar Gene Therapy, and former CMO at Avexis, a gene therapy start-up that delivered a life-saving drug for infants suffering from Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 1 and achieved unicorn status – about the challenges and rewards of being a CMO.

Anyone in a leadership position or who aspires to leadership will benefit from listening to the conversation.

The Takeaway:

You can’t know everything, so surround yourself with a team that can help you achieve the end goal.
Courage counts. A CMO must take charge, speak their mind, and challenge others. And be able to take the hits.
Understand the dynamics of your leadership team. People on your team don’t always know each other: their backgrounds and strengths/weaknesses. This is especially true for start-ups that are rapidly growing and evolving.
Do the right thing for your patients and your company.

Diving deeper:

A good CMO at a biotech company is like the conductor of a large orchestra; they must coordinate each section’s part in the symphony, as well as play to the

audience. The conductor can’t play every instrument, and as CMO, you need the self-awareness that you can’t do it all, so surround yourself with people with expertise in areas you don’t have. Strong leadership requires confidence, emotional maturity, and faith in the team around you.

To make the most of your resources, be resourceful. You can outsource specialized expertise to fill stopgap needs rather than onboarding new hires. Especially early on in the development process.

But perhaps the best quote is from Dr. Nagendran: ”I’m a nobody who became a somebody because of all the people around me.”

Challenges for CMOs

It’s tough to admit you need help when trying to step up and take charge. This can be more difficult for younger “up-and-comers” than more experienced CMOs.
Development timelines are truncated and complex; sometimes, expediency wins out.
Investors are looking for ROI, and startups can’t afford to fail, so a CMO must construct a rationale that speaks to the CEO, board, and investors.
You don’t always have time to consider the implications of your decisions, so you will make mistakes. But it’s better to make a few small mistakes than one big one.

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Being Chief Medical Officer at an emerging biotech company can feel like draining the ocean with a dixie cup. No CMO can fulfill the duties of the medical office alone. Building a solid team is critical.

In this episode, SSI Strategy’s hosts Dr. Ramin Farhood, Vice President of Medical Affairs, and Kim Kushner, Senior VP, spoke with Dr. Suku Nagendran, President of R&D and Chief Medical Officer (CMO) at Jaguar Gene Therapy. They discuss the challenges and rewards of being a CMO.

Dr. Negendran was formerly the CMO at Avexis. A gene therapy start-up that achieved unicorn status and delivered a life-saving drug for babies suffering from Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 1. He shares insights from his time at Avexis that emerging CMOs can learn from as they navigate the complexities of the current biotech startup climate.

The Takeaway:

Always keep the mission in mind. You’re trying to help patients. Stray from that, and you could hurt patients and your company.
You can’t know everything, so you need your team's knowledge, openness, and honesty to develop the right solutions for your patients.
Regardless of your company’s share price, you must do the right thing. Speak your mind, and challenge others. Courage counts.
Trust in partnerships. Outside partners can act as an “angel on your shoulder” to identify gaps.

Diving deeper:

Dr. Nagendran learned from years of experience at a large corporation that a good CMO must juggle multiple job functions, manage multiple stakeholder concerns, and deliver fast results. The same lessons apply at start-ups like Jaguar and Avexis, but you have to accomplish it with fewer resources. In either case, the most efficient way to get all this done is to build a well-coordinated team around you.

The CMO role is no job for shrinking violets. You need confidence in yourself and the people around you. If you don’t have internal resources, look outside your organization.

For example, clinical development plans for gene therapies typically take about a year to complete. While at Avexis, Dr. Nagendran worked with SSI Strategy, and together, they completed the clinical development plan in 10 days.

That’s the power of finding the right partners within and outside the organization.

Pro tips for Chief Medical Officers

Find your “true North” – be true to yourself, your patients, and your mission.
Remember to be humble; You can’t do it all yourself.
Don’t be shy about asking for help.
Work on self-awareness, know your strong points, and build a network and team to fill the gaps.
Take calculated risks.
Leave time for yourself and your family—a burnt-out CMO is ineffective.
Learn how to manage the dynamics of your leadership team and their diverse backgrounds and personalities.
Manage disagreement, listen, make adjustments, and then make your decision.

Memorable quote:

“I’m a nobody who became a somebody because of all the people around me.”

INTERESTING LINKS

jaguargenetherapy.com

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Biotech—it's complicated.

A successful product launch requires grit, determination, and clear direction.

But let’s be real, the path to launch isn’t a straight one.

There are curves, hard turns, and dead ends.

Here’s the good news, you don’t have to navigate the complexities alone.

Welcome to The Emerging Biotech Leader, where we help biotech leaders maximize the value of their therapeutics from clinical development to product launch.

We’re your hosts, Kim Kushner and Ramin Farhood.

And we're here to help you navigate the pitfalls of the biotech industry and illuminate a path forward.

Here’s what you can expect from the show:

Monthly interviews with biotech leaders who are in the trenches and pioneers who have successfully navigated the phases of product development.

You’ll also get deep-dive conversations with experts from our team about specific challenges that today’s biotech companies face.

Make sure to hit the subscribe button, so you don’t miss the conversations.

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