Amber Salzman is the CEO of Epic Bio, a company that develops therapies to dynamically control gene expression and treat complex diseases. Dr. Salzman started her career in big pharma at GlaxoSmithKline before transitioning to the biotech industry and focusing on rare diseases. In this episode, she sits down with host Rahul Chaturverdi to discuss her learnings from moving from big pharma to biotech, how her roles differ from being a CEO vs. being a board member, her perspective on pursuing interesting technology in biotech, the work Epic Bio is doing in the genetic medicine space, and the role of patient advocacy in early stage biotechs. 

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Sean Bohen, MD, Ph.D., is the President and CEO of Olema Oncology, a company dedicated to developing targeted therapies for women with breast cancer. An oncologist by training, Dr. Bohen has a background in big pharma, having worked at Genentech and AstraZeneca before joining Olema. He talks with host Rahul Chaturverdi about the differences between working for biotech and big pharma companies, the work his team is pursuing at Olema, the opportunities and challenges within the breast cancer landscape, the ups and downs of running a biotech company and managing a team with the current market dynamics, and the importance of partnerships and how they can strength companies.

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Bill Hinshaw is the President and CEO of Axcella Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering a new approach to treat complex diseases using endogenous metabolic modulator (EMM) compositions. Bill entered biotech a little over four years ago following a long life sciences career in pharma, working for companies such as Novartis and Schering Plough. He joins host Rahul Chaturverdi for a discussion about where Axcella is from a development perspective and the therapeutic areas they’re pursuing, the company’s work to treat long Covid, the challenges of developing drugs to treat nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), and Axcella’s “combination by design” multi-targeted approach to tackle complex diseases.

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Keith Flaherty is the Director of Clinical Research at Mass General Cancer Center and a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Flaherty is a medical oncologist and has worked in the field for 20+ years, during which he has founded seven biotech companies. He joins Rahul for an in-depth conversation about his work in oncology. They cover a wide range of topics including his early decision in school to switch from neuroscience to oncology, his entrepreneurial journey and what he’s learned along the way, his perspective on the immuno-oncology landscape and opportunities that lie ahead in this field, what he values in a board and how you can be most effective as a board member, and much more.

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Dennis Zaller is the Chief Scientific Officer of ROME Therapeutics, a company developing novel therapies for cancer and autoimmune diseases by harnessing the power of the dark genome, defined as vast stretches of uncharted genetic material that have long been dismissed as “junk DNA.” Dennis joins host Rahul Chaturverdi for a conversation about ROME tx’s unique path to conquering disease and the multiple drug discovery programs they have underway. They also discuss Dennis’ transition to biotech after having worked in big pharma for 30 years, the application of data science and drug development at ROME tx, what the company’s pipeline and company building looks like over the next several years, and how the dynamic between biotech and big pharma has changed over the last 10-20 years, and where it’s headed.

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Ivan Dimov is the Co-Founder and CEO of Orca Bio, a cell therapy company focusing on next-generation precision cell therapies for blood cancer patients. Orca Bio’s cell therapies are designed to replace a patient’s cancerous blood and immune system with a healthy one, with the goal of improving survival rates and quality of life for survivors. Ivan discusses the historically limited treatment options for blood cancer patients and the resulting unmet need, how Orca Bio’s innovative technology is tackling this problem, and how he uses lessons from history to learn from failures and build success.

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Andrew Sandford and Michael Paglia are the President and COO, respectively, of ElevateBio BaseCamp, a cell and gene therapy technology company powering transformative therapies. They join us from the company’s manufacturing facilities in Waltham, Massachusetts, for a discussion about the landscape of company creation in the cell and gene therapy space and how ElevateBio is helping companies bring innovation and therapeutics to clinics and patients to help treat and cure diseases. They talk about how ElevateBio is driving next-generation technologies like gene editing and regenerative medicine that empower new therapies in the industry. They also cover what they think the next two decades in this space will look like, opportunities they feel are untapped, and the importance of having a passion for what you do and confidence in yourself.

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Josh Wolfe is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Lux Capital, a venture capital firm that invests in emerging science and technology ventures. Josh joins us for a discussion centered around investing in biotech. He discusses the arc of his career and the forces that led him to pursue a path at the intersection of science and finance. Josh also talks about the current state of biotech investing, trends he expects to see in the future, his advice to founder-led biotech companies, what he believes are the top three criteria for success for biotech companies, and his thoughts on the future of biotech. It’s an illuminating conversation you won’t want to miss.

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Amanda Wagner is the President and CEO of Immunitas and was a founding member of the company at its launch in 2019. During her time at Immunitas, she has contributed to the company’s fundraising efforts totaling nearly $100 million; led the structuring and negotiation of multiple strategic collaborations with leading academic institutions; and driven the advancement of the lead asset IMT-009, a CD161 inhibitor, and robust pipeline based on the company’s proprietary discovery engine.

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