This week, we have a conversation with Vidmantas Šakalys, CEO of bioprinting company Vital3D Technologies, and a chat with Oriana Papin-Zoghbi, CEO and co-founder of AOA Dx, another of the companies that attended the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting in Chicago recently.

Interview times:

01:47 Vital3D Technologies

20:46 AOA Dx

Vital3D Technologies

Lithuanian company Vital3D Technologies is developing 3D bioprinting technology aimed at bridging the organ supply-demand gap by specializing in the 3D printing of human organs.

As the company progresses on its journey towards printing organs like the kidneys, via printing human skin, Vital3D Technologies has made practical, ready-to-use applications along the way - one of them being organoid application for drug testing.

Bioprinting shows particular promise in cancer treatment by producing tumour models from patient-derived cells. With instances of cancer on the rise globally and the mean cost of cancer drug development estimated at $4.4bn per drug, bioprinting has the potential to alleviate some of the many stressors currently affecting the healthcare system.

We have a conversation with the company’s CEO, Vidmantas Šakalys.

AOA Dx

AOA Dx, an early-stage biotech company developing the first test to diagnose ovarian cancer in symptomatic women, and Sonrai Analytics recently announced a strategic partnership to accelerate the development of AOA’s multi-omic liquid biopsy test.

The partnership aims to advance the development of the diagnostic test through a multi-omic biomarker validation strategy.

AOA Dx is transforming cancer detection with its proprietary GlycoLocate platform, a first-of-its-kind, multi-omics liquid biopsy that integrates gangliosides, lipids, proteins, and clinical data using advanced machine learning.

The company’s lead test, AKRIVIS GD, is designed to diagnose ovarian cancer in symptomatic women, where no other diagnostic currently exists.

Our conversation is with Oriana Papin-Zoghbi, CEO and co-founder of AOA Dx.

To get in touch with guest suggestions, please email [email protected]

This week, we’re talking to some of the companies that attended the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting in Chicago.

We have interviews with Microbiotica, 1Cell.Ai, and Tessellate Bio.

Interview times:

01:55 Tessellate Bio

17:02 1Cell.Ai (formerlyOneCell Diagnostics)

44:04 Microbiotica

Microbiotica

Mat Robinson, SVP Research at Microbiotica, is one of our guests.

Microbiotica presented new data at AACR about the microbiome and the mechanism of action of MB097, a clinical-stage drug candidate being evaluated in combination with KEYTRUDA (pembrolizumab) in patients with advanced melanoma.

MB097 comprises nine different species of gut commensal bacteria, all linked to positive CPI response in multiple clinical studies. Microbiotica has developed in vitro human systems using primary immune cells to investigate how gut bacteria modulate the immune response to cancer.

Three of the MB097 strains induce dendritic cells to produce high levels of IL-12, which in turn stimulates Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes and NK cells with potent tumour cell killing activity.

1Cell.Ai

1Cell.Ai, formerly known as OneCell Diagnostics, an AI-powered precision oncology company, announced a new product for the US biotech and pharma market and a new partnership before the AACR meeting,

1Cell.Ai launched OncoIncytes, a multi-modal cancer diagnostic panel that integrates multiple types of data, including circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA), circulating tumour cells (CTC) at single cell resolution, RNA transcriptomics, and proteomics (150 proteins at the single cell level).

The company said the technology is transforming cancer research, drug development, patient selection, and therapy response monitoring with unprecedented granularity.

1Cell.Ai is also joining forces with BioSkryb Genomics, a pioneer in single cell multi-omics, to co-develop and commercialize next-generation single cell multi-omic solutions.

Researchers can now isolate CTCs at one in a billion, and characterize DNA, RNA, and protein targets from these individual single cells with unprecedented precision, significantly accelerating the development of advanced therapies, including antibody-drug conjugates.

On the podcast, we had a conversation with Mohan Uttarwar, CEO and co-founder of 1Cell.Ai.

Tessellate Bio

Boehringer Ingelheim and Tessellate Bio have partnered to develop first-in-class precision treatments for people with hard-to-treat cancers. The partners will focus on developing first-in-class, oral precision treatments for people living with cancer.

The collaboration aims to develop treatments targeting tumours dependent on alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT) for their growth. This feature is present in 10-15% of all cancers and is associated with poor prognosis and a lack of targeted therapies.

Tessellate Bio has developed inhibitors of an undisclosed target that plays a key role in enabling the uncontrolled growth of ALT positive cancer cells. Blocking this target has been shown to lead to increased DNA damage, replication stress and ultimately tumour cell death, specifically in ALT positive tumour cells. A benefit is that healthy cells are not affected because they have no dependency on this mechanism.

Andree Blaukat, CEO of Tessellate Bio, tells us more.

To get in touch with guest suggestions, please email [email protected]

This week on the podcast, we have a conversation with Elise de Reus, the co-founder of Cradle, a biotech startup that is revolutionising protein design, and a chat about improving hospital operations with Proximie’s CEO and founder, plastic surgeon Dr. Nadine Hachach-Haram.

Interview times:

01:55 Proximie

21:40 Cradle

Proximie

Proximie has built the only cloud OS for intelligent operating rooms. With 800 operating rooms across the US and UK utilizing Proximie, the company is rapidly growing its US footprint leveraging its connected surgical platform to drive operational efficiency.

With Proximie, medical devices and operating rooms are connected, smart, and secure. Information flows in and out of the OR in real time.

Proximie's platform, with extended AI agents, provides real-time data across the perioperative surgical pathway, including advanced scheduling modules. The company is growing and securing market share in the competitive US healthcare landscape, fuelled by strategic partnerships with medtech leaders like Olympus and Distal Motion.

Cradle

Cradle is a biotech startup that is revolutionising protein design. It leverages genAI to optimise proteins for animal-free food, better medicines, and sustainable materials.

Machine learning-generated sequences are transformed into physical proteins.

Despite being founded in 2021, Cradle, founded in 2021, closed a $73m series B last year, and already works with more than 20 biotech companies, including industry giants like Novo Nordisk, Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine, Novozymes, and Grifols.

Cradle’s AI prioritises language-based models over structure-based ones, enabling better predictions of protein function, stability, and degradation in real-world conditions.

its AI-designed protein binds to its target 8 times more tightly than a leading cancer therapeutic. It accelerates early-stage research for clinical trials by 1.5x to 12x.

To ensure accuracy, Cradle also operates a wet lab to generate real-world validation data.

To get in touch with guest suggestions, please email [email protected]

This week on the podcast, we have a conversation with Tim Tinnel, executive vice president/chief operating officer of Intelliguard, talking about – among other things – the looming Drug Supply Chain Security Act (DSCSA) deadline, and Jorge Jorge Santos da Silva, founder and CEO of MoonLake Immunotherapeutics, about its Nanobody programme.

Interview times:

01:42 MoonLake Immunotherapeutics

25:24 Intelliguard

MoonLake Immunotherapeutics

Later this year, MoonLake Immunotherapeutics will be announcing its hotly anticipated phase 3 results for its Nanobody sonelokimab for the skin condition hidradenitis suppurativa. The company is looking to sonelokimab to become the first blockbuster Nanobody on the market.

MoonLake Immunotherapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharma company unlocking the potential of sonelokimab, a novel investigational Nanobody for the treatment of inflammatory disease. Sonelokimab inhibits IL-17A and IL-17F by inhibiting the IL-17A/A, IL-17A/F, and IL-17F/F dimers that drive inflammation.

The company’s focus is on inflammatory diseases with a major unmet need, including hidradenitis suppurativa and psoriatic arthritis – conditions affecting millions of people worldwide with a large need for improved treatment options.

MoonLake was founded in 2021 and is headquartered in Zug, Switzerland.

On the podcast this week, we have a conversation with Jorge Santos da Silva, founder and CEO of MoonLake Immunotherapeutics.

Intelliguard

As the May 27 DSCSA enforcement deadline approaches, pharmaceutical manufacturers face mounting pressure to meet stringent compliance requirements. The FDA's evolving regulatory landscape presents challenges that can delay drug approvals, disrupt supply chains, and impact patient access to life-saving medications.

Intelliguard is at the forefront of helping pharmaceutical companies navigate these complexities. In-house experts specialize in DSCSA compliance, track-and-trace solutions, and regulatory risk mitigation, ensuring companies stay ahead of evolving FDA requirements.

Intelliguard is a healthcare technology company dedicated to helping hospitals and health systems focus on patient-centred care. It helps improve operational efficiency, compliance, and clinical decision-making. Its AI-powered Mira Ecosystem integrates RFID automation, real-time visibility, and predictive analytics into a single, unified platform. The company works with more than 700 hospitals across the US.

On the podcast this week, we have a conversation with Tim Tinnel, Intelliguard’s executive vice president/chief operating officer.

To get in touch with guest suggestions, please email [email protected]

This week on the podcast, we have a conversation with Steve Ruston, CEO of Persica Pharmaceuticals, about treating chronic low back pain, and with Monika Paulė, CEO and co-founder of Caszyme.

Interview time stamps:

Times: 01:40 Caszyme

16:04 Persica Pharmaceuticals

Persica Pharmaceuticals

Persica is developing a potentially transformative non-opioid treatment for chronic low back pain (cLBP) with some interesting phase 1b data.

Chronic low back pain is a problem that affects millions of people, many of whom aren’t helped by existing treatments. Persica’s drug aims to be the first approved pharmaceutical to target cLBP associated with Modic changes, which are identified via MRI scans and linked to bacterial infections in the vertebral discs.

It is a non-opioid, one-off treatment (two injections, four days apart) that addresses the underlying cause of back pain rather than the symptoms – changing the mindset from “bad back” to “bacterial infection.” Persica recently announced positive clinical data and is advancing towards registrational studies.

On the podcast this week, we have a conversation with Steve Ruston, CEO of Persica Pharmaceuticals.

Caszyme

Caszyme is a gene-editing company which combines experience and a dynamic platform to deliver world class CRISPR solutions.

It was established in 2017 by Dr. Monika Paulė, Dr. Giedrius Gasiūnas and Prof. Virginijus Šikšnys - a pioneer of CRISPR-Cas gene editing research. Over the last seven years, Caszyme has advanced its capabilities as an enabling partner in CRISPR gene editing solutions, collaborating with multiple life science organizations aiming to enter the CRISPR field or expand their gene editing capabilities.

Caszyme, nSAGE, and Vilnius University in Lithuania, have joined forces to form a consortium which will develop a new, advanced diagnostics solution. The UNCOVER project will develop a universal, CRISPR-based diagnostics platform for accurate and rapid detection of infectious diseases. This platform will be versatile, user-friendly, applicable to both human and animal health, and will be easily programable to address a wide range of pathogens and disease biomarkers.

We welcome Dr. Paulė to the podcast this week to talk about the company and the project.

To get in touch with guest suggestions, please email [email protected]

This week on the podcast, we have a conversation with Vitalant’s Kevin Land, executive medical director, Biotherapies, and VP of Clinical Services, and Becky Cap, SVP, Biotherapies; and chat with Brainomix CEO and co-founder Michalis Papadakis about making a difference in getting faster treatments for stroke victims.

Times:

01:52 Brainomix

21:44 Vitalant

Vitalant

Vitalant, which used to be known as Blood Systems Inc., is a US nonprofit organization that collects blood from volunteer donors and provides blood, blood products and services across the US.

It is the country’s largest independent, nonprofit blood services provider exclusively focused on providing blood and comprehensive transfusion medicine services. The organization has a network of about 120 donation centres and provides blood to about 900 hospitals in the US.

Its operations, including blood services, biotherapies, laboratory and clinical services, information technology, supply chain, and marketing and sales.

The Vitalant Research Institute is located in San Francisco with a second campus in Denver.

We spoke with Vitalant’s Kevin Land, executive medical director, Biotherapies, and VP of Clinical Services, and Becky Cap, SVP, Biotherapies.

Brainomix

Brainomix specializes in the creation of AI-powered software solutions to enable precision medicine for better treatment decisions in stroke and lung fibrosis.

With origins as a spinout from the University of Oxford, Brainomix is an expanding commercial-stage company with offices in the UK, Ireland and the US, and operations in more than 20 countries.

A private company, backed by leading healthtech investors, Brainomix has created award-winning imaging biomarkers and software solutions that have been clinically adopted in hundreds of hospitals worldwide. Its first product, the Brainomix 360 stroke platform, provides clinicians with a stroke imaging solution, driving increased treatment rates and improving functional independence for patients.

The company recently raised £14m in a series C funding round.

We spoke with the company’s CEO and co-founder, Michalis Papadakis.

To get in touch, including with guest suggestions, please email [email protected]

This week on the podcast, we have conversations about hiring in the lifesciences industry in 2025, and about a potential new class of synthetic therapeutics.

Interview times:

02:49 ThirdLaw Molecular

21:14 Occam Global

ThirdLaw Molecular

ThirdLaw Molecular is a biotech company that has pioneered the discovery and development of Spiroligomer molecules – a groundbreaking new platform for targeted drug discovery.

The company is designing and synthesizing libraries of billions of Spiroligomer-based molecules and is entering into research collaborations with pharmaceutical organizations to identify and optimize highly targeted drug-development candidates.

ThirdLaw Molecular was founded in 2020 by our guest on the podcast, Christian Schafmeister, professor of Chemistry at Temple University, to advance his research into synthetic alternatives to proteins, with the mission of creating a revolutionary category of molecules that transform how diseases are diagnosed and treated – more safely and effectively.

Occam Global

Bill Holodnak, founder and CEO of Occam Global, is our guest this week and talks about funding, what's driving biotech hiring in 2025, the hottest startup areas, hiring of chief business officers, what to look for in a CEO, and much more.

Occam Global provides global executive recruiting, board recruiting, and leadership advisory services. With associates in New York, San Francisco, London, and Los Angeles, Occam serves clients in Europe the US, and Asia.

To get in touch with guest suggestions, please email [email protected]

Interview timestamps:

02:20 Satellos

26:00 EVŌQ Nano

Antibiotic-resistant infections are a top 10 global health threat demanding urgent innovation.

A US-based nanotech company, EVŌQ Nano, has developed a novel nanoparticle that destroys bacteria from the inside – without triggering antimicrobial resistance (AMR).

The nanoparticle is already in development for an inhaled therapeutic for Cystic Fibrosis patients, as well as for antimicrobial medical devices and treatment of the surface of textiles. It is also being earmarked for applications in energy and agriculture.

The company’s multi-patented, high-volume laser nanofabrication process creates uniform, sub-10nm nanoparticles with distinct surface chemistry. The company said these properties represent a significant advancement in nanoscience with the potential for a wide range of applications.

We had a chance to have a wide-ranging conversation with the company’s CEO, Shaun Rothwell.

Satellos Bioscience

Satellos is a clinical-stage drug development company dedicated to developing medicines to treat degenerative muscle diseases.

It has created SAT-3247 as a first-of-its-kind, orally administered small molecule drug designed to restore skeletal muscle regeneration in degenerative or injury conditions by correcting muscle stem cell polarity.

SAT-3247 is currently in clinical development as a potential disease-modifying treatment initially for Duchenne muscular dystrphy.

Satellos is also leveraging its breakthrough research and proprietary discovery platform MyoReGenX, to identify additional degenerative muscle diseases or injury conditions where deficits in muscle regeneration occur that are amenable to therapeutic intervention for future clinical development.

We had a chat with Satellos’ chief scientific officer, Phil Lambert, about the drug, and the recently-announced results.

To get in touch with guest suggestions, please email [email protected]

Our guest, Dr. Hernan Bazan, is the CEO and co-founder of South Rampart Pharma. He is also a board-certified vascular surgeon.

Bazan is also the recipient of the 2024 NIH HEAL (Helping to End Addiction Long-term) Director's Trailblazer Award for his work in developing a non-addictive pain medication as an alternative to opioids.

At South Rampart Pharma, he is leading the development of SRP-001, a new type of pain medication that lacks the addictive potential of opioids and avoids safety and toxicity issues associated with other pain medications.

SRP-001 has already received FDA Fast Track designation and was not associated with any serious adverse events (SAEs) in a Phase 1 clinical trial. The company is currently preparing to initiate its Phase 2 trial in the second quarter of 2025.

Promise Bio

We also have a conversation with Ronel Veksler, the co-founder and CEO of Promise Bio, whose AI-driven system combines multi-omics data analysis with proprietary machine learning algorithms to identify unique biomarkers and disease pathways, enabling early, precise diagnosis and personalized treatment strategies for autoimmune conditions.

The company recently secured $8.3m in seed investment, with backing from Pfizer and AstraZeneca and has been recognized by TechCrunch as one of the most disruptive scientific startups of 2024.

Osteoboost Health Inc. just announced its sixth U.S. patent for its wearable device that uses vibration therapy to strengthen bones and help women live stronger, longer lives.

The company is tackling acritical health challenge: osteopenia, a condition affecting millions of women worldwide.

Osteoboost is the first and only FDA-cleared, non-drug prescription treatment for low bone density. Powered by NASA-inspired technology, the wearable belt targets high-risk areas like the lumbar spine and hips, using a proprietary vibration frequency to stimulate bone growth effectively.

Osteoboost’s clinical trials show up to 85% reduction in spine bone density loss and 55% reduction in hip bone density loss.

We have a conversation with CEO Laura Yecies, who has more than 30 years of experience scaling businesses. As a grandmother living with osteopenia, her journey from a successful exit to Apple to founding Osteoboost reflects her commitment to providing women with a non-invasive, science-backed alternative to medication for improving bone health.

Pheast Therapeutics

Pheast Therapeutics is a preclinical stage immuno-oncology company focused on targeting immune evasion pathways to activate the innate immune system to defy cancer.

Founded and led by scientific experts in innate immunity and cancer immunotherapy, Pheast is developing novel immunotherapies for some of the most difficult-to-treat and aggressive cancers, including ovarian cancer and triple negative breast cancer.

In late 2024, the company presented new preclinical data for PHST001, an anti-CD24 antibody drug candidate that is designed to block a key macrophage “don’t eat me” signal on cancer cells.

We spoke with CEO Roy Maute about the company and its push to beat aggressive cancers.