Hopkins Biotech Podcast

Roivant Pharma is reinventing the discovery, development, and commercialization of new medicines. Mayukh Sukhatme, M.D. was recently appointed to Roivant's board of directors and has served as Roivant’s President and Chief Investment Officer since January 2021. He is responsible for identifying, performing diligence on, devising development strategies for, and transacting on new therapeutic programs for the company. He also informs Roivant’s view of its existing biopharmaceutical subsidiary companies for capital allocation decisions across the Roivant portfolio. Mayukh joined Roivant in 2015 and previously served as President of Roivant Pharma and as Chief Business Officer. Programs that he has in-licensed or acquired for Roivant have produced all 10 of Roivant’s positive Phase 3 studies and have garnered 6 FDA approvals. Before joining Roivant, Mayukh was a healthcare-focused analyst and portfolio manager for several large institutional investment firms, including both public markets and venture capital firms. He earned his M.D. from Harvard Medical School and his B.S. in Biology and B.S. in Literature from MIT. Hosted by Joe Varriale.

Dr. Ignacio Guerrero-Ros is an immunologist turned scientific communicator and biotech media innovator. Currently, he is an Assistant Vice President at Russo Partners, providing public and investor relations services to clients in the healthcare and technology industries. Originally from Spain, Ignacio earned his PhD in Immunology from Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Ignacio embraces the Hopkins Biotech Podcast's mission of the pursuit of alternative careers for PhD holders. In this episode, we discuss his ideas for how to find success beyond grad school and how he found a passion for science communication. Hosted by Joe Varriale.

Carina Clingman, Ph.D., is the Founder and CEO of Recruitomics Consulting, a niche talent acquisition and talent strategy firm specializing in biotech startups. She recently founded The Collaboratory Career Hub to help biotech job seekers find confidence and success in their job search. If you're exploring careers in biotech, join the free Collaboratory Slack Community to work directly with Carina and her team. In this episode, we discuss the state of the biotech job market and offer advice to job seekers and those considering careers in the biotech industry. Hosted by Joe Varriale.

About this episode: David Dornan is the Chief Scientific Officer of Elevation Oncology, a clinical-stage biotech company developing targeted cancer therapeutics, with a focus on antibody drug conjugates. David brings to Elevation over two decades of industry and academic oncology drug discovery and development experience. His research spans multiple therapeutic modalities targeting cancer susceptibilities and modulating the immune system to translate into meaningful therapeutic interventions for patients. As Chief Scientific Officer, he is responsible for scientific strategy and building of the company’s portfolio in targeted immunotherapies. Before leading these efforts at Elevation Oncology, David was the CSO at Bolt Biotherapeutics. Prior to this, he was the head of Oncology Research at Gilead. David began his career at Genentech, where he spent 10 years serving in positions of increasing responsibility and played key roles in target discovery and validation, as well as translational research programs. David received his Ph.D. from the University of Dundee in Molecular Oncology and Biochemistry and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Genentech. In this episode, we discuss Elevation’s ongoing clinical development of antibody-drug conjugate molecules to treat cancer and David’s wealth of experience in biotech and pharma. Hosted by Joe Varriale.

Emily Gransky is the Vice President of Recruiting at RA Ventures (RAVen). RAVen is the early-stage venture arm of the multi-stage investment firm RA Capital. In this role, Emily works closely with senior leaders, venture partners, and managing directors within the Venture Team at RA Capital and within RAVen. Her primary responsibility is leading and executing full-cycle recruiting across all newcos and portfolio companies. Prior to RAVen, Emily worked as Director, Talent Acquisition, at Generation Bio, leading hiring across all functions and building out systems to support that growth. Prior to this, she served as Director, Talent Acquisition and Operations at Flagship Pioneering, a role in which she built talent systems to support the growth of 30+ pre-series B biotech startup companies. Prior to Flagship, Emily held roles as Associate Director, Head of Global Talent Acquisition at bluebird bio. While in these roles, Emily helped Bluebird grow from 300 to 1000 employees. Emily received her BS in Chemical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in NY. In this episode, we discuss crucial factors that drive the hiring process for start-up biotech companies, and how to stand out as a candidate while recruiting in this competitive environment. Hosted by Joe Varriale.

Dr. Isaac Klein is the Chief Scientific Officer at Dewpoint Therapeutics. Dewpoint Therapeutics is leveraging condensate biology to impact a wide range of therapeutic targets across diverse disease areas. Armed with significant funding from venture capital and several big pharma partnerships, Dewpoint is poised to lead the generation of medicines targeting biomolecular condensates. Prior to joining Dewpoint, Isaac was on the faculty at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School, as well as a scientist at the Whitehead Institute of MIT. He holds a Ph.D. in Biology from The Rockefeller University and an MD from Weill Cornell Medical College. He trained in Internal Medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital of Harvard Medical School and in Medical Oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Massachusetts General Hospital. In 2022, Isaac was named one of Endpoints News 20 under 40 in Biopharma. Hosted by Joe Varriale.

Dr. Adam Jenkins is the Regional Site Director for the Massachusetts sites of Biolabs. BioLabs is an international, membership-based network of shared lab and office facilities located in key biotech innovation clusters. Since 2009, over 230 companies have launched from Biolabs facilities, and those member companies have collectively raised more than 1 billion dollars in private financing. With a growing number of sites across the globe, Biolabs is enabling company formation and promoting the biotech revolution. Prior to joining Biolabs in 2022, Adam worked at Biogen for seven years in various data science roles and eventually held the title of Associate Director of Corporate Strategy and Partnerships for Insights and Analytics. Adam holds a Ph.D. in Genomics from Boston College. In this episode, we discuss Biolabs’ unique business model that facilitates biotech company founding, the influence of biotech hubs, and the future of data science in biotech. Hosted by Joe Varriale.

In this episode, we talk with our panel about updates their company gave at the recent JP Morgan Healthcare Conference that took place earlier this year. This once-yearly conference is the epicenter for biotech deal-making and groundbreaking data releases. Dr. Robert Ross is the Chief Executive Officer of Surface Oncology. Surface Oncology’s mission is to deliver transformative outcomes for people with cancer by breaking through the frontiers of immuno-oncology research. Before becoming CEO, Rob served as Chief Medical Officer at Surface. Prior to joining Surface, he led several programs in hematology and oncology at Bluebird Bio, including the anti-BCMA CAR T cell therapy program. Rob received his MD from Columbia University and has received extensive training in hematology and oncology at top institutions including the University of California San Francisco, Dana Farber, and Mass General Hospital. Dr. Paul Lammers is the Chief Executive Officer of Triumvira Immunologics. Triumvira is leveraging its proprietary T-cell antigen coupling technology to enhance engineered cell therapy to target solid tumors. Paul has a rich background in biotech management, having served as President & CEO at Mirna Therapeutics and Chief Medical Officer and Head of US Product Development for EMD Serono. Paul received his MD from Radboud University in the Netherlands. Hosted by Joe Varriale.

Brian Culley is the CEO of Lineage Cell Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotech company whose mission is to pioneer a new branch of medicine based on transplanting specific cell types to patients with serious medical conditions. Lineage currently has several programs undergoing clinical and preclinical investigation for indications in ophthalmology, neurology, and oncology. Prior to joining Lineage in 2018, Brian held a number of senior leadership and executive roles at various biotech companies, including Artemis Therapeutics and Mast Therapeutics. Brian has more than 25 years of business and scientific experience in the life sciences industry and started at the bench, working in drug development research at Neurocrine Biosciences. He received a B.S. in biology from Boston College, a master's in biochemistry and molecular biology from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and an M.B.A. from The Johnson School of Business at Cornell University. In this episode, we discuss Brian’s path to biotech senior leadership, Lineage’s proprietary platform technology, and bringing partnered programs to the clinic. Hosted by Joe Varriale. This episode was recorded on September 27th, 2022.

In this episode, we talk with our panel about updates their company gave at the recent JP Morgan Healthcare Conference that took place earlier this year. This once-yearly conference is the epicenter for biotech deal-making and groundbreaking data releases. Alejandro Dorenbaum is the Chief Medical Officer of Reneo Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage company developing drugs for rare mitochondrial disorders. Their lead clinical candidate REN-001 is currently being investigated in the treatment of primary mitochondrial myopathies (PMM) and long-chain fatty acid oxidation disorders (LC-FAOD). Alejandro is a seasoned biotech executive, having served as Chief Medical Officer at Allakos and Lumena Pharmaceuticals, which was acquired by Shire. Prior to those roles, he held senior positions at Genentech and Biomarin. Amy Grover is Senior Director of Patient Advocacy at Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, a commercial-stage rare disease drug development company with an approved product for the treatment of Lambert-Eaton myasthenic syndrome (LEMS). Amy works to ensure that the patient's voice is heard and well-represented. She is a seasoned patient advocate, having served as director of operations and senior manager of patient engagement at Global Genes, a rare disease patient advocacy organization that supports the 7,000 plus rare diseases. Amy led multiple efforts during her tenure at Global Genes, including patient meetups and education, advocacy outreach, communication activities, and overall operations and financial management. Before joining Global Genes, she worked in both the commercial and health insurance industries. Hosted by Joe Varriale.

Adrian is an advisor for several biotech companies in Argentina. Before joining CITES, a venture builder from Argentina, he worked as an advisor for RedCrow VC in San Francisco, and has more than 10 years working in the pharmaceutical industry in companies like Novartis and Merck KGaA. In this episode, we discuss his path from academia to big pharma companies and how he made it to the world of Venture Capital and Venture Building. He also shared his thoughts about the role of big pharma in ecosystems like Latin America and the importance of collaboration between local and international institutions. Finally, Adrian told us how he started his own newsletter in LinkedIn called “BioBusiness” where a growing community of entrepreneurs from all over the world are engaging in meaningful discussions around a variety of topics like the future of Biotech and Healthcare, deep analysis into investment strategies acquisition and exit, strategic partnerships, and more. Hosted by Gustavo Carrizo

Cyclacel Pharmaceuticals is a clinical-stage, biopharmaceutical company, developing innovative cancer medicines based on cell cycle, transcriptional regulation, and mitosis biology with a focus on oncology and hematology indications. Their lead drug candidate, fadraciclib is a dual CDK2/9 inhibitor currently undergoing investigation of dose escalation in a Phase 1/2 trial. Spiro Rombotis is the founding CEO of Cyclacel. Prior to joining Cyclacel, Spiro served in a number of management positions at public and private biotechs including Centocor, Bristol Myers Squibb, and the Liposome Company. He earned his MBA at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Business. In this episode, we discuss cell cycle dysregulation in cancer, precision targeting of proteins in the drug design process, and unique clinical trial design. Hosted by Joe Varriale.

Radamés Cordero is the CEO of Melatech and an associate scientist and junior faculty in the department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health where he studies the biology of fungal melanin. As a spin-off of his research, Melatech is a biotech company dedicated to the production of melanin at industrial scales and the research and development of melanin-based technologies for a variety of commercial applications like shielding and harvesting radiation on earth and space. In this episode, we discuss how he co-founded Melatech and became a CEO while running an academic lab. We also discussed what makes melanin so special, the manufacturing challenges and melanin’s multiple applications. Finally, he shared his perspective as a scientist coming from Latin America and his dream to make Melatech a place and resource that creates opportunities for young scientists interested in biotech from anywhere in the world! Hosted by Gustavo Carrizo

Ratio Therapeutics is a Boston-based pharmaceutical company with the mission to accelerate the development of best-in-class targeted radiotherapeutics for the treatment of cancers. By employing a suite of innovative technologies the company is developing innovative and proprietary Pharmacokinetics (PK) Modulation technology for the construction of improved therapeutic agents and transforming oncology treatment paradigms. Dr. Jack Hoppin is the co-founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer of Ratio Tx. Prior to joining Ratio Tx Jack was the President of Konica-Minolta Precision Medicine and Co-founded InviCRO LLC and Emit Imaging. Jack is a leader in the molecular imaging research and drug development community and brings more than 15 years of experience in the design, development, and commercialization of pre-clinical instrumentation, analytical software, and imaging-based assays. Dr. John Babich is the co-founder, President, and Chief Scientific Officer of Ratio Tx. Prior to Ratio Tx he co-founded Molecular Insight Pharmaceuticals, Inc (NASDAQ: MIPI) where he served as the CEO and chairman of the board, and Noria Therapeutics- a radiotherapy company developing targeted therapeutic and imaging radiopharmaceuticals (alpha-emitting) for use in oncology- acquired by Bayer. In this episode, we discuss the growing field of targeted radiotherapeutics, company founding from the perspective of serial founders, and strategic partnerships in drug development. Hosted by Joe Varriale

Dr. Anupam Chakravarty is a researcher whose research interests have straddled the disciplines of biochemistry and genomics with a keen focus on the biology of cancer. Currently, he is a senior scientist developing liquid biopsy assays and products in the precision oncology space at Guardant Health. Prior to joining Guardant Health, he ran his own lab as an Assistant Professor at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor. He obtained his Ph.D. from Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York City and was a Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation fellow at Stanford University. Anupam is motivated by a strong sense of community building and being deeply invested in the graduate education landscape. He is building and managing a global community of graduate students - GradGrid on Linkedin. He lives in the Bay area with his wife and a cat, enjoys the outdoors, and has a strong academic interest in learning about the world through the lens of postage stamps. In this episode, we discuss the nuances of leaving a professorship to pursue industry research, the landscape of careers in graduate education, and the benefits of being a part of the GradGrid community. Hosted by Joe Varriale.

Dr. Tony Russo Ph.D. is the Chairman, CEO, and founder of Russo Partners, a leading public and investor relations firm. He has been a member of the healthcare and technology PR and IR community for more than three decades. As a founder of Noonan/Russo in 1988, he and his colleagues have helped build signature healthcare brands worldwide. A frequent speaker at industry conferences, Tony has published articles and chapters in numerous scientific magazines, medical journals and books. He holds an M.A. from Columbia University and a Ph.D. from Claremont Graduate University. In this episode, we discuss the formation of the modern biotech industry, the changing landscape we know now, and how communications and investor relations are key to the maintenance of companies of all sizes. Hosted by Joe Varriale.

Dr. Robert Hollingsworth is the current Chief Scientific Officer of Shoreline Biosciences, a biopharmaceutical company developing next-generation cellular immunotherapies based on induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs)- utilizing its proprietary platforms. Dr. Hollingsworth joins Shoreline from Pfizer, where he served as Chief Scientific Officer and Vice President of Cancer Vaccines and Immunotherapeutics. Prior to Pfizer, he was Senior Director of Oncology Research at MedImmune where he led and advanced a large portfolio of more than twenty programs, including CAR-T programs, and contributed to the approval of durvalumab. Before that, he held several R&D positions at GSK, Pharmacia, and Upjohn. In this episode, we discuss Robert’s long career in biopharma, the platform technology being developed at Shoreline, and the role of strategic partnerships in early-stage development. Hosted by Gustavo Carrizo and Joe Varriale.

Dr. Shelley Ackerman is an Associate Director & Program Team Lead at Bolt Biotherapeutics. Bolt is a clinical-stage biotechnology company pioneering a new class of immuno-oncology agents that combine the targeting precision of antibodies with the power of both the innate and adaptive immune systems. Bolt Biotherapeutics’ proprietary Boltbody™ Immune-stimulating Antibody Conjugates (ISACs) are designed to target tumor cells for elimination by the immune system. BDC-1001 is a HER2-targeting Boltbody ISAC in an ongoing Phase 1/2 clinical trial enrolling patients with HER2-expressing solid tumors. Shelley was a Ph.D. student in the lab of Dr. Edgar Engleman at Stanford, directly involved with the development of the technology that led to the foundation of Bolt. Dr. Ackerman finished her degree prior to joining the company. She has received recognition for her achievements, having been named to MIT Technology Reviews 35 Innovators under 35 and STAT News’ Wundekind list. Shelley did her undergraduate work at MIT. In this episode, we discuss Bolt’s proprietary drug development platform, technology commercialization in graduate school, and finding creative inspiration in the realm of science. Hosted by Joe Varriale.

Dr. James Coates is currently the Principal for Health & Human Performance at Decisive Point, an East coast venture capital firm that invests in and supports startups with deep tech and government use cases. James holds a Ph.D. in Cancer Drug Discovery and MSc in Radiation Biology and Oncology, both from the University of Oxford, and he conducted technical diligence for Bain Capital Life Sciences prior to joining Decisive Point. In this episode, we discuss his career path and transition from academia to private equity. We also highlight the unique advantages of non-dilutive funding sources, which may be unfamiliar to new startup founders. Additionally, James shares his perspective on working with various accelerator programs and his advice for young founders looking to connect with investment firms. Hosted by Joe Varriale and Jenna Glatzer.

Dr. Phil Kantoff is the CEO and Co-Founder of Convergent Therapeutics, a clinical-stage pharmaceutical company focused on developing next-generation radiopharmaceutical therapies for prostate and other cancers. The company's proprietary technology involves dual-targeted radionuclide therapy developed by Dr. Neil Bander, Professor of Urologic Oncology at Weill Cornell Medicine. Prior to founding the company, Dr. Kantoff spent six years as Chairman of the Department of Medicine at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, caring for cancer patients and developing improved cancer testing and cancer therapies. He is the Emeritus Jerome and Nancy Kohlberg Chair in Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and he was the Chief of the Solid Tumor Oncology Division and Director of the Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology, at Dana Farber Cancer Institute. In this episode, we discuss Phil’s transition out of academic medicine, the field of radiopharmaceuticals, Convergent’s approach to drug development, and specific business considerations for a unique class of molecules. Hosted by Joe Varriale.