The Bio Report

Incubators and accelerators come in many flavors. Mass Innovation Labs is seeking to distinguish itself with its approach to providing research scientists with infrastructure comparable to what a discovery and development team might have at a mature pharmaceutical company. We spoke to Amrit Chaudhuri, CEO of Mass Innovation Labs, about what it does to accelerate the movement of its client companies down the path to commercialization, what its track record has been, and how it differs from the competition.

Intrexon has been at the forefront of efforts to harness biotechnology to address significant issues in health, energy, food, and environmental sustainability. The company is applying synthetic biology to a wide range of applications from halting the spread of mosquito-borne disease to preventing apples from browning. We spoke to Tom Schrader, vice president of communications and strategy for Intrexon, about the company’s use of acquisitions and collaborations, the challenge the industry has faced in scaling production to commercial scale, and why synthetic biology will have implications for industries not traditionally thought of using biotechnology.

The field of behavioral economics is premised on the fact that people are irrational. By harnessing tools, such as incentives, healthcare providers and drugmakers are trying to change patient behavior as a way to improve outcomes and keep people heathy. Susan Garfield, principal in the life sciences practice of EY, discussed the opportunities for the application of behavioral economics in the healthcare realm, the role digital technologies can play in enabling this approach, and what companies are doing today to move this from academic to industry practice.

Dmitry Kaminskiy does not have a lot of kind words for aging. In fact, the general partner at Deep Knowledge Ventures and managing trustee of the Biogerontology Research Foundation has called it the “ultimate evil.” As part of his ongoing war against aging the venture capitalist is offering a $1 million prize to the first person to reach the age of 123. We spoke to Kaminskiy about the longevity industry today, how a shift in medicine from treatment to prevention will alter lifespans, and what he’s trying to accomplish with his longevity prize.

Children undergoing chemotherapy often face permanent hearing loss as a result of the toxicity of these treatments. The Children’s Cause for Cancer Advocacy is organizing a Patient Focused Drug Development meeting with the FDA in September in the hopes of getting the agency to put greater consideration into the harmful effects these drugs can have and what it means for patients to lose their hearing. We spoke to Nawal Ouzren, CEO of Sensorion, which will participate in the FDA meeting and is developing a treatment for sudden hearing loss that may be able to help these patients. We spoke to Ouzren about the problem of hearing loss for children receiving chemotherapy, why regulators and others may dismiss it as an unfortunate price to pay for a life-saving treatment, and how Sensorion’s experimental drug may help prevent these children from going deaf.

Alzheimer’s disease has been a costly and elusive area for drug developers. Despite many promising results in early-stage trials, drug companies have seen millions of dollars of R&D investment end in spectacular late-stage failures. While treatments for the disease are desperately needed, one of the barriers to success has been the availability of diagnostics that can detect the disease at early stages when therapeutic interventions may have their best chance for success. We spoke to Rachel Laing, managing partner of Bionest Partners about the problem, whether there are fundamental misunderstandings about the disease that have sent drug companies in pursuit of the wrong targets, and why diagnostics can play a critical role in reshaping the pursuit of an effective treatment for the neurodegenerative condition.

The lack of diversity in genomic data has been an issue of growing concern. It threatens to limit the benefits from the massive investment that has been made to date to transform biomedical research, drug development, and the clinical care of patients. We spoke to Jonas Korlach, chief scientific officer of Pacific Biosciences, about the problem, how it’s being addressed, and the role advancing technology can play in gleaning greater insights from the genomes that are analyzed.

Developers of cancer immunotherapies are in a race to find combinations that can distinguish their products for specific indications. Biomarkers, which have played an essential role in the development of targeted therapies, have proven a much more complex challenge in the realm of immuno-oncology. Nevertheless, biomarkers may be the key to winning the competitive battles in immuno-oncology. We spoke to Rachel Laing, managing partner of Bionest Partners, about the role for biomarkers in immuno-oncology, why immuno-oncology companies have much at stake in the hunt for biomarkers that can better select patients for their therapies, and the role biomarkers will play in the move toward real-time oncology.

As the value of the patient perspective gains greater recognition throughout the healthcare continuum, Wego Health is seeking to both tap and provide that perspective to guide a range of clients within the world of healthcare. The company has amassed a network of more than 100,000 people that includes patients, caregivers, thought leaders, and influencers. We spoke to Jack Barrette, founder and CEO of Wego, about the company, the changing role of patients, and how the patient voice is being harnessed to transform healthcare today.

It seems to be strange times when people feel the need to take to the streets to voice their support for science, but that’s what happened earlier this month as the second annual March for Science was held in Washington, D.C. and 250 other cities around the world. To mark the occasion, we spoke to Mary Woolley, CEO of Research!Amercia, about the public perception of science, the state of funding for science in the United States, and why scientist increasingly feel the need to step off the sidelines to advocate for what they do.

The global demand for meat is rising as is concerns about the health dangers, environmental toll, and animal welfare issues related to the way we produce meat today. The Good Food Institute is a nonprofit working with scientists, investors, and entrepreneurs to advance efforts to make clean meat and plant-based alternatives a commercial reality. We spoke to Liz Specht, senior scientist for The Good Food Institute, about the problems with meat production today, efforts to develop alternatives, and the role biotechnology can play in creating healthier, safer, and more humane sources of meat.

Familial hypercholesterolemia, or FH, is an inherited disorder that leads to premature cardiovascular disease. It can lead to heart attacks, strokes, and the narrowing of heart valves. In people with the condition, genetic mutations impair the ability of the liver to metabolize excess fats. While an estimated 1.3 million people in the United States have FH, only about 10 percent are diagnosed. We spoke to Katherine Wilemon, founder and CEO of the FH Foundation, about the condition, why so many people are undiagnosed, and why patients face significant barriers getting access to a new class of promising drugs to treat the condition.

While most drug developers have sought to target aberrant genes or the proteins driving diseases, Syros Pharmaceuticals has developed a proprietary platform that targets the regulatory region of DNA to not only turn genes on or off but modulate their activity as well. The company is initially focusing on cancer and monogenic diseases. We spoke to Nancy Simonian, CEO of Syros, about the company’s platform technology, the opportunities in targeting regulators of genes, and why this could represent a broad new approach to treating diseases.

A sharp spike in generic drug prices that triggered an investigation in Connecticut continues to deepen. The antitrust case that alleges price-fixing and widespread collusion between generic drug companies to divvy up markets and avoid competition has now grown to include attorneys general in 49 states seeking action against 18 companies and two executives for activity involving an expanding list of widely-used drugs. We spoke to Joseph Nielsen, assistant attorney general in the Antitrust Department of the Connecticut Office of the Attorney General, about the case, how it has evolved, and its implications for generic drugmakers, consumers, and the healthcare system.

Rural counties in the United States have seen a steady loss of hospital-based obstetric services. A new study published in JAMA that looked at nearly 5 million births in almost 1,100 rural U.S. counties found a connection between the loss of these services and eroding outcomes for newborns and their mothers. We spoke to Carrie Henning-Smith, deputy director of the University of Minnesota’s Rural Health Research Center and co-author of the JAMA study, about the findings, their implications, and what can be done to address eroding healthcare for women giving birth in rural America.

The convergence of technology and life sciences, changing consumer behavior, and increasing pricing pressures on drug and device makers are forcing these companies to rethink business models and how they derive value from their products, according to a new EY Progressions 2018 report. The report argues that life sciences companies will no longer be able to rely exclusively on product-centric innovations, which face diminishing returns as health systems wrestle with cost constraints. We spoke to Pamela Spence, EY global life sciences industry leader, about the report, what a growing trend in collaborations between technology and healthcare companies may say about where the industry is heading, and why the future of life sciences companies may be as health technology companies.

Matthew Levy worked in the biopharmaceutical industry in human resources when he was confronted with a life-changing event. A doctor told him he had advanced cancer and just 90 days to live. An aggressive treatment regimen saved him, but it also led Levy to rethink his life. Now a motivational speaker and executive coach, Levy is trying to help others who may have settled into safe and comfortable jobs but find them unfulfilling. We spoke to Levy about his experiences, how it changed him, and what others could do to make turning points in their lives without having to face death.

Despite the often remarkable advances in cancer therapies, radiation is still widely used to treat a variety of cancers. Nanobiotix believes it can make radiation therapy more effective by injecting its nanomedicines into tumors to amplify the effects of radiation without damaging healthy tissue. We spoke to Laurent Levy, CEO of Nanobiotix, about the company’s technology, how it works, and why it may be broadly applicable to a wide range of cancers.

As medical advances have helped extend lifespans, older people still experience a decline in quality of life in their later years as a result of diseases associated with aging. This can cause a loss of independence, isolation, and suffering. The Biogerontology Research Foundation, a United Kingdom-based nonprofit, is funding work to understand the molecular and cellular processes of aging and develop biotechnological interventions to halt or reverse damage from it. We spoke to Franco Cortese, deputy director of The Biogerontology Research Foundation, about a new report it’s issued that characterizes the longevity and geroscience landscape today, areas of research that hold promise, and why aging might best be thought of as a disease.

Caelum Biosciences, a Fortress Biotech company, is a clinical-stage biotech developing treatments for rare and life-threatening diseases. It’s lead therapeutic in development is a novel antibody to treat patients with amyloid light chain amyloidosis, a rare disorder of the bone marrow that causes misfolded proteins to accumulate in tissue and organs throughout the body and cause damage. We spoke to Michael Spector, president and CEO of Caelum, about the company’s business model, its lead therapeutic, and how the competitive landscape for a rare disease therapy may shape development strategies.