The Bio Report

21:48

How the Pandemic Transformed a Small Diagnostics Company

The Bio Report ·

2021/01/21

For more than 15 years, Longhorn Vaccines & Diagnostics has been designing and developing products for potential pandemics in developing economies. The recent COVID-19 pandemic, though, put the scalability of the company’s technology to the test as it landed big contracts in the United States for COVID-19 testing. We spoke to Jeff Fischer, president of Longhorn, about the benefits of the company’s technology for gathering and transporting diagnostic samples, how it’s used partnerships to scales it

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26:42

Eliminating Security, Privacy, and Regulatory Burdens...

The Bio Report ·

2021/01/14

There are many reasons why the sharing of medical data that could be used to gain new insight into diseases can be hampered. Privacy concern, regulatory burdens, and the need to manage security risks are among the significant impediments. Syntegra believes it can solve these problems through its artificial intelligence technology that creates synthetic datasets designed to mirror the statistical properties of real datasets while removing all links to the original patients behind the data. We spoke

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35:51

Using Computational Discovery to Build Better...

The Bio Report ·

2021/01/07

While checkpoint inhibitors represent a class of promising new therapies to treat cancer, the efficacy of these immunotherapies have been limited because of the ability of cancers to develop resistance. In part, that’s because of the multiple mechanisms cancers have to evade the immune system. Compugen is using a computational discovery platform to identify proteins and pathways that drive immune resistance mechanisms to checkpoint inhibitors. We spoke to Anat Cohen-Dayag, CEO of Compugen, about the

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31:24

The Year in Biotech and What’s Ahead in 2021

The Bio Report ·

2020/12/31

The raging pandemic defined 2020, but it was a big year for biotech as the industry saw soaring stocks, record investment, and an impressive number of new drug approvals despite disruptions from COVID-19. We continue our annual tradition of sitting down with Adam Feuerstein, senior writer for Stat and the publication’s national biotech columnist, to discuss the year that was in biotech, the trends that drove the numbers, and what’s ahead in 2021.

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33:25

Bringing Precision Cancer Care to Dogs

The Bio Report ·

2020/12/24

The case for precision medicine to treat cancer has been clear. Understanding the molecular underpinnings of a patient’s cancer can allow doctors to use targeted therapies that can best address their particular tumor type. The people behind One Health believe it should be no different for dogs. The company, which bills itself as the world’s first canine cancer care organization, is seeking to bring precision cancer care to our four-legged friends. We spoke to Christina Lopes, founder and CEO of One

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24:56

As COVID-19 Vaccines Ship, One Company Brings...

The Bio Report ·

2020/12/17

As potential vaccines for COVID-19 approached approval, the focus has been on the safety and efficacy of candidates. Now that vaccines have been approved, attention has been shifting to the complex logistical challenges of manufacturing, distributing, and delivering vaccines to patients. The process has opened up visibility into many aspects of the supply chain that are usual taken for granted. One of those aspects are the vials used to store that vaccines and the threat that a shortage of glass

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18:50

Advancing an Antibody to Prevent and Treat Cytokine...

The Bio Report ·

2020/12/10

There are many approved or experimental therapies in development for a range of indications that, because of their mechanisms of action, have been pursued as potential therapies to treat patients with COVID-19. One of the most advanced candidates in this category is lenzilumab, an experimental monoclonal antibody that’s in development for certain cancers and other conditions. The antibody has the potential to neutralize a cytokine known as GM-CSF, which can trigger a severe immune reaction and cause

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25:47

Using AI Created Digital Twins to Accelerate Clinical...

The Bio Report ·

2020/12/03

One of the challenges of conducting clinical trials is finding enough patient to include in a control arm of a study. This can slow the pace of drug development and increase its costs. Unlearn.AI is seeking to change that by using its artificial intelligence platform to create digital twins of trial participants that can serve as control arms in studies. We spoke to Charles Fisher, founder and CEO of Unlearn, about the concept of digital twins, the potential to accelerate clinical trials with their

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26:59

Modulating RNA to Quell Disease

The Bio Report ·

2020/11/26

Traditional efforts to treat autoimmune conditions have focused on inhibiting proteins involved in the immune response. Abivax is developing therapies that modulate RNA to enhance the body’s natural machinery to disrupt the production of cytokines, the proteins that signal the immune system to mount an attack in the first place. The company’s approach to modulating RNA may not only have utility in autoimmune conditions like inflammatory bowel disease, but in other indications including infectious

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30:22

A Quest to Extend Life through Early Disease Detection

The Bio Report ·

2020/11/19

Jo Bhakdi wants to build a future where people are protected against most diseases through early detection. His company Quantgene, which marries artificial intelligence with the ability to detect cell-free DNA in the blood with great sensitivity, believes it can help extend the lives of its customers by ten years within ten years. Quantgene is offering both its Serenity subscription service to consumers, as well as other offerings to therapeutic developers to support R&D using its technology. We

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36:28

Modulating a Gatekeeper of Cellular Metabolism to...

The Bio Report ·

2020/11/12

A gatekeeper of cellular metabolism known as mTORC1 underlies a wide range of age-related diseases. Navitor Pharmaceuticals is developing therapies that can modulate the mTORC1 complex and allow for a new approach to treating a wide range of diseases including autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease and major depressive disorders. We spoke to Tom Hughes, president and CEO of Navitor, about mTORC1, the company’s platform technology, and why it has implications for a wide range of seemingly

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24:08

Finding the Best Cell for the Job

The Bio Report ·

2020/11/05

Whether it is cells engineered to provide therapeutic benefits or biomanufacturing processes to replace energy-intensive and toxic chemical byproducts of industrial manufacturing, getting the right cell for the job is essential. Berkeley Lights has developed platform technologies that allow researchers to rapidly screen large numbers of cells and analyze them to identify the best cells for their purposes. We spoke to Eric Hobbs, CEO of Berkeley Lights, about the company’s platform technology, how it

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34:54

Transforming Clinical Trials with Digital Technology

The Bio Report ·

2020/10/29

Glen de Vries in his new book "The Patient Equation" says that despite the digital revolution in the way we can capture and analyze data, not much has changed for decades in the how clinical trials are conducted. We spoke to de Vries, co-founder and co-CEO of the clinical trials data platform Medidata, about how clinical trials need to evolve, how technology can be used to improve patient access, and how it can capture new types of data to better answer questions about the safety and efficacy of

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32:21

Designing Immunotherapies that Can Overcome...

The Bio Report ·

2020/10/22

While immunotherapies carry great promise for improving outcomes for people with cancer, the ability of cancers to evade the immune system and develop resistance limits their benefits as monotherapies. BioEclipse Therapeutics is developing therapies that marry activated immune cells with oncolytic viruses. Together, they provide a synergistic effect that attacks cancers while providing protection against relapse and recurrence. We spoke to Pamela Contag, co-founder and CEO of BioEclipse, about the

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33:23

Extending Precision Medicine Beyond Cancer

The Bio Report ·

2020/10/15

While the potential for precision medicine has excited drug developers and clinicians with the promise of delivering more meaningful therapies to patients, the advent of these medicines has largely come in the area of cancer. As the understanding of the biology of other diseases is better understood, efforts to develop precision medicines are advancing into new areas. We spoke to Rachel Laing, managing director of the life sciences consulting firm Bionest, about the state of precision medicine, what

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26:02

Growing Biologics

The Bio Report ·

2020/10/08

Zea Biosciences is not a typical contract manufacturing organization. The company uses plants to grow recombinant proteins for biologic therapies. To produce a consistent and predictable product, Zea uses a data-intensive approach and grows plants in clean rooms. The end result is a high-scalable platform that is cost-efficient. We spoke to Jim Wilson, CEO of Zea Biosciences, about the company’s approach to producing biologics in plants, why it is a data-intensive process, and the advantages it

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27:01

An Experimental COVID-19 Vaccine Begins Human...

The Bio Report ·

2020/10/01

United Biomedical has long been in the business of producing animal vaccines, but in recent years it has turned its attention to developing vaccines for chronic human diseases including neurological diseases, diabetes, and other targets. More recently it has used its vaccine platform to develop a multitope peptide COVID-19 vaccine and spun it out into a division dubbed COVAXX. We spoke to COVAXX co-founder and CEO Mei Mei Hu and COVAXX co-founder and Chairman Peter Diamandis, about the company’s

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22:33

Speeding the Delivery of CAR-T Therapies While...

The Bio Report ·

2020/09/24

CAR-T therapies are an area of great promise for improving outcomes for cancer patients, but the process of preparing cells taken from a patient and genetically modifying them is time consuming and costly. Exuma Biotech believes it can address the cost and time involved in the preparation of these products with its rapid, point-of-care platform technology. We spoke to Greg Frost, chairman and CEO Exuma Biotech, about CAR-T therapies, how its technology works, and how it is working to cut the cost,

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19:35

Transforming Infused Biologics into Injectables

The Bio Report ·

2020/09/17

The administration of biologics can be challenging because of the sheer volume of product needed to deliver a dose to a patient. It is for this reason that many of these therapies must be infused into a patient, a process that is disruptive, costly, and can take several hours. Halozyme’s Enhanze drug delivery technology has been used by a number of biologics producers to take a therapy that would otherwise need to be infused to allow it to be administered with a subcutaneous injection. We spoke to

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21:51

A Novel Approach to NASH That May Have Benefits for...

The Bio Report ·

2020/09/10

NASH, a form of fatty liver disease, causes progressive damage and can lead to inflammation, fibrosis, and the development of cancer. It has become an increasing health concern as the Western diet has spread throughout the globe. Today it is estimated that as much as 5 percent of the world’s population has NASH with a greater percent of people with the condition in the United States. There is no simple blood test to diagnose NASH, which means it often progresses to a fibrotic stage before it is

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