Base to Base Biotech

This week’s podcast is sponsored by Nipro.

This week, our conversations are with Jesus Garcia, Nipro Product Manager Water Treatment, on Nipro ’s recently-launched product LiniXia, a reverse osmosis (RO) system that ensures safe and pure water for every dialysis session, and on the future of biologics manufacturing with cell-free protein synthesis with LenioBio CEO André Goerke.

Interview times:

05:16 Nipro

15:52 LenioBio

NIPRO

Nipro Medical Europe is part of Nipro Corporation Japan, a leading global healthcare company established in 1954. With over 40.000 employees worldwide, Nipro serves the Medical Device, Pharmaceutical, and Pharmaceutical Packaging industries.

Nipro Medical Europe is a global market leader offering a comprehensive portfolio of medical disposables and machines across six divisions: Renal, Hospital Products, Diabetes, Cardiopulmonary, Enzymes, and In Vitro Diagnostics.

With a worldwide footprint of manufacturing sites, sales offices, and distribution centres, NIPRO Medical Europe services the EMEA region. From hospitals to home care, Nipro provides products that improve the lives of patients and meet the needs of healthcare professionals and procurement managers alike.

Nipro recently launched LiniXia, its new Reverse Osmosis (RO) system that reliably ensures safe and pure water for every dialysis session.

With LiniXia, Nipro has added an entire range of water treatment solutions to its renal care portfolio, combining innovative RO technology with user-friendly controls, detailed logs, and remote supervision capabilities, all while ensuring up to 90% yield of high quality ultra-pure water.

Visit http://www.nipro-group.com/renal-care for more information.

Our conversation is with Jesus Garcia, Nipro Product Manager Water Treatment.

LenioBio

LenioBio GmbH is a life sciences biotech company dedicated to transforming protein production through its proprietary ALiCE technology.

By eliminating the limitations and bottlenecks of traditional cell-based systems, LenioBio empowers researchers to explore new frontiers in protein expression and accelerate the development of cutting-edge therapeutics and diagnostics.

ALiCE was launched earlier this year. It is the first eukaryotic cell-free expression platform specifically engineered for rapid antibody discovery and screening. By offering an end-to-end service covering DNA template generation, lead generation, purification and analysis, this new solution slashes production timelines from four weeks to as little as three days.

We had a conversation on ALiCE and the future of biologics manufacturing with cell-free protein synthesis with LenioBio CEO André Goerke.

To get in touch with guest suggestions, or to sponsor or advertise on the podcast, please email [email protected]

This week, we have conversations with Eduardo Bravo, CEO of Citryll, and Dermot Tierney, COO of AMPLY Discovery.

Interview times:

02:53 Citryll

21:56 AMPLY Discovery

Citryll

Citryll’s recent Series B financing of €85m at the end of last year is helping to advance its first-in-class therapy targeting neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs).

Discovered in 2004, NETs are web-like structures released by white blood cells that are now understood to be fundamental drivers of inflammation - yet they've never been successfully targeted therapeutically.

Three major strategic investors are backing this novel biological approach, suggesting potential for a new therapeutic class. Following phase 1 completion, Citryll is advancing into Phase 2a trials in both rheumatoid arthritis and hidradenitis suppurativa.

We spoke with Bravo about the implications of targeting this newly understood biological pathway and the potential market impact.

AMPLY Discovery

AMPLY Discovery is an AI company finding nature's own solutions to drug-resistant infections.

Dermot Tierney is COO of AMPLY Discovery, a Queen's University Belfast spinout that's taken a different approach to the AMR crisis. Instead of trying to design new antimicrobials from scratch, they're using AI to discover what evolution already perfected over millions of years.

The AMPLY platform connects the digital biological biome to high volume peptide, protein and RNAi extraction technology to unlock a new frontier in drug discovery.

To get in touch with guest suggestions, or to sponsor or advertise on the podcast, please email [email protected]

This week, our subjects are a silica nanoparticle gene delivery system in a conversation with Nigel Theobald, CEO of N4 Pharma, and a point-of-care diagnostics system for urinary tract infections developed by Welsh company Llusern Scientific. We spoke with the company's co-founder and CEO, Dr Emma Hayhurst.

Interview times:

03:00 N4 Pharma

24:45 Llusern Scientific

N4 Pharma

N4 Pharma is a UK biotech company developing a silica nanoparticle gene delivery system called Nuvec.

Nuvec is being used to enable advanced therapies for cancer and other diseases. N4 Pharma has developed a pre-clinical RNA therapeutic, N4 101, which is a patient-friendly orally delivered inflammation inhibitor for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) using Nuvec.

N4 Pharma announced positive results from its first in vivo study, which explored the therapeutic potential of orally administered Nuvec particles loaded with siRNA alone and combined with mRNA.

We had a conversation with Nigel Theobald, CEO of N4 Pharma, about the company and its work.

Llusern Scientific

Llusern Scientific is a treatment-directing molecular diagnostics company, developing fast, accurate, and accessible tools to guide real-time clinical decision-making at the point-of-care.

Its solution, Lodestar DX, is a portable diagnostic device that delivers lab-accurate results for urinary tract infections (UTIs) in around half an hour.

As well as providing guidance on the best treatment option based on the specific microbial infection, Lodestar DX also provides a clear ‘rule-out’ decision where antibiotics are not necessary, helping to reduce antimicrobial resistance through antibiotic stewardship.

Our guest on the podcast is Llusern Scientific co-founder and CEO, Dr Emma Hayhurst.

To get in touch with guest suggestions, or to sponsor or advertise on the podcast, please email [email protected]

This week, we have conversations with Sean MacDonald, CEO of Domain Therapeutics, Carina Kern, CEO and founder of LinkGevity, and Nadia Harhen, general manager of AI Simulation at SandboxAQ.

Interview times:

03:41 Domain Therapeutics

27:14 SandboxAQ

48:04 LinkGevity

Domain Therapeutics

Domain Therapeutics is delivering breakthrough GPCR-targeting therapies in immuno-oncology and inflammation.

Domain recently shared first-in-human results for EP4 antagonist DT-9081 (tumour-growth inhibition + clear RP2D), new pre-clinical detail on Treg-depleting anti-CCR8 mAb DT-7012, and breakthrough findings showing their PAR2 biased NAM can re-programme macrophages and restore checkpoint-blockade sensitivity.

The highly differentiated and competitive properties of DT-7012 differentiate it from other clinical anti-CCR8 candidates, positioning it as a promising therapeutic solution to overcome immune evasion mechanisms and enhance anti-tumour immune responses in solid tumours. These preclinical findings support the advancement of DT-7012 into phase I/II trials, anticipated to start in 2025.

We had a conversation with Domain’s CEO, Sean MacDonald.

SandboxAQ

SandboxAQ, which recently raised $150m from top investors including Google, NVIDIA, Ray Dalio, Eric Schmidt, and others, is pioneering the fusion of artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum (AQ) to accelerate breakthroughs in biopharma and biosimulation.

Its solutions are already being applied to accelerate drug discovery through AI-driven molecule screening; predict protein folding and interactions using quantum-inspired models; optimise clinical trial design and biomarker discovery; and secure sensitive health data and infrastructure with post-quantum cryptography.

We spoke with Nadia Harhen, general manager of AI Simulation at SandboxAQ.

LinkGevity

LinkGevity, an AI-driven drug discovery company focused on the treatment of aging and age-related diseases, recently announced its contribution to the publication of a paper in Springer Nature’s Oncogene, “Necrosis as a fundamental driver of loss of resilience and biological decline: What if we could intervene?”

The paper is a collaboration by clinicians and scientists from institutions including the Mayo Clinic, Mass General Brigham, NASA Space-Health programme, MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, University of South Wales (USW), University College London’s Medical School and the European Space Agency.

The authors explain how necrosis, a form of cell death historically viewed as an unregulated and terminal event, may be one of the most fundamental and targetable mechanisms driving human aging and age-related disease. The paper brings together evidence from cancer biology, regenerative medicine, kidney disease, and space health to make the case that necrosis is more than a biological endpoint: it may be the crux of how cells and tissues fail as people age.

To get in touch with guest suggestions, or to sponsor or advertise on the podcast, please email [email protected]

This week, we have conversations with Phil L'Huillier, CEO of Scancell, and Shai Melcer, head of Israel’s National Bio-Convergence Program.

Interview times:

03:25 Scancell

28:04 National Bio-Convergence Program

Scancell

Scancell recently announced a partnership with the UK’s NHS Cancer Vaccine Launch Pad, enabling fast-tracked access for melanoma patients.

The company’s DNA off-the-shelf cancer vaccine (iSCIB1+) is addressing a critical unmet need in advanced metastatic melanoma. It is currently in phase 2 clinical development with the next key data read outs expected in the middle of this year. Initial phase 2 clinical data showed compelling efficacy: 80% progression free survival in 25 patients at six months with 20% achieving a complete response.

iSCIB1+ activates a strong and safe lasting immune response in patients and is setting a new benchmark in the treatment of advanced melanoma. It offers faster, more cost-effective and conveniently administered therapies, bringing targeted cancer treatments within reach for more patients.

In addition, Modi-1, Scancell’s innovative peptide cancer vaccine, is another key programme. The company saw promising early results from the ModiFY phase 1/2 clinical study. The second stage of the trial is ongoing, with further data readouts expected in H2 2025.

We spoke with Scancell’s CEO, Phil L'Huillier.

Israel’s National Bio-Convergence Program

Our second conversation is with Shai Melcer, head of Israel’s National Bio-Convergence Program. Bio-convergence is an emerging cutting-edge field that combines biology with engineering, AI, nanotechnology, and advanced materials to drive innovation across healthcare, energy, agriculture, food technology, and materials science.

Melcer explains that: “Bio-convergence is the world in which biology meets other technologies from the world of engineering—both hardware and software.”

This fusion is already enabling breakthroughs such as AI-driven drug discovery, bioengineered materials, sustainable biofuels, precision agriculture, and alternative protein production.

In our chat, Melcer discusses how bio-convergence is redefining technological innovation, AI-driven drug discovery, bioengineered materials, sustainable energy, and future food systems, and more.

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

This week, we have conversations with Peter Nolan, CEO of BlackFinBio, and Kim Kraemer, CEO and founder of Waterhouse Brands.

Interview times:

01:57 BlackFinBio

19:36 Waterhouse Brands

BlackFinBio

BlackfinBio is a clinical stage gene therapy company focused on the development of treatments for rare neurological diseases.

Its pipeline comprises BFB-101, a clinical stage AP4B1 replacement adeno-associated virus (AAV) gene therapy for spastic paraplegia 47 – an ultra-rare genetic neurological disease for which no treatment currently exists.

BFB-201 is a preclinical stage gene therapy to treat several rare dopamine deficiency disorders.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently cleared its Investigational New Drug (IND) application for a phase 1/2 clinical trial of BFB-101 in children with hereditary spastic paraplegia, Type 47 (SPG47).

The trial is expected to start recruiting by the end of 2025. The FDA has granted an orphan drug designation (ODD) and rare pediatric disease designation (RPDD) to BFB-101 for the treatment of SPG47.

SPG47 is a rare, autosomal-recessive, neurological disorder characterised by progressive lower-limb spasticity, developmental delays and intellectual disability in children. It is caused by deleterious changes in the AP4B1 gene. BFB-101 has been designed specifically to address the underlying genetic cause of SPG47 by delivering a functional copy of the AP4B1 gene, with the goal of halting or reversing disease progression. Preclinical results with BFB-101 have demonstrated promising activity and safety.

We spoke with the company’s CEO, Peter Nolan.

Waterhouse Brands

Reputational pull can be a magnetic force for enduring value. Our guest, Kim Kraemer, CEO and founder of Waterhouse Brands, has built a career on helping many biotech, medtech and pharma companies define, build and operationalize their reputation for the good of investors, patients and employees.

The company’s ALIGN Methodology is a five-part strategic and creative framework that defines category positioning and high-impact brand activation initiatives to build awareness and drive audience engagement.

In our conversation we cover the dynamics of reputation, how reputational pull drives success in turbulent markets and explain how leaders can leverage reputation for strategic decision-making and team alignment.

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

This week, we have conversations with Dr Peter Tummino, president of R&D at Nimbus, and Alex Del Priore, senior vice president, manufacturing at Syngene International Limited.

Interview times:

02:00 Syngene

20:27 Nimbus Therapeutics

Nimbus Therapeutics

Nimbus Therapeutics is perhaps best known for two high-profile deals – Gilead’s $1.2bn acquisition of its NASH program and Takeda’s $4bn acquisition of its TYK2 candidate for psoriasis. NASH and TYK2 are well-known targets that many companies have tried and failed to address over the last four decades. What enables Nimbus to take on these challenging therapeutic areas and succeed?

Nimbus leverages a unique computational chemistry, physics-based drug discovery engine to rapidly assess and confirm the properties, high-res structures and MOA of molecules and proteins as well as optimal target selection and molecule design.

For example, AMPK—a target that has eluded researchers for 40 years despite its known importance in metabolic diseases—is one of the targets Nimbus has successfully approached where others have failed. Combined with the use of a range of AI and machine learning-based predictive modelling approaches, the company can identify and design molecules with optimal characteristics.

Nimbus' approach is founded on tackling the industry's most difficult challenges – targets that scientists have long identified as valuable but put aside because they seemed impossible to drug effectively.

We had a conversation with Peter Tummino, president of R&D at Nimbus, on the company, and the role of computational chemistry in drug discovery and development.

Syngene

Syngene International Limited, a global contract research, development, and manufacturing organization (CRDMO), has acquired its first biologics site in the US - fitted with multiple monoclonal antibody (mAbs) manufacturing lines.

The biologics facility, acquired by Syngene USA Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Syngene, from Emergent Manufacturing Operations Baltimore, LLC, will expand Syngene's growing global biologics footprint to better serve its customers across both human and animal health market segments. The new site will increase Syngene's total single-use bioreactor capacity to 50,000L for large molecule discovery, development, and manufacturing services. Additionally, it will provide Syngene's customers with continuity of supply from its four development and manufacturing facilities located in India and North America, offering services ranging from cell line development, process optimization and both clinical and commercial supply.

Syngene's investment in its first facility in the US marks a strategic commitment to the US market, with significant benefits for the local economy and the broader life sciences industry.

Syngene anticipates the site will see demand from innovative US mAb developers requiring direct access for 'onshore' production, as well as international innovators that want a US-based manufacturing option and complements the capabilities and capacity available across its facilities in Bengaluru. As part of the agreement, Emergent has the right to secure manufacturing capacity from the facility in the future, representing offtake potential from US-based innovators. It will also support the growing animal health segment in which a US site is often a key client requirement.

We spoke with Alex Del Priore, senior vice president, manufacturing.

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

This week, our guests are Ben Cliff, CEO of UK-based CRO, Concept Life Sciences, and Ravi Rao, chief medical officer of Sitryx.

Interview times

01:12 Sitryx

19:40 CLS

Concept Life Sciences

Concept Life Sciences (CLS), a provider of drug discovery, development, and manufacturing services to the global pharma and biotech sector, recently announced an investment into its drug discovery capabilities.

CLS is the UK’s biggest independent CRO, employing over 250 people, and with a corporate heritage spanning 25 years. Its recent strategic investment in the automation of its ADME (absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion) which supports clients with medicinal chemistry in complex R&D projects. CLS has also made investments in its peptide discovery engine. The company’s team and infrastructure cover all modalities, including small molecules, biologics, and cell and gene therapies, from concept to the clinic.

We had a conversation with the company’s CEO, Ben Cliff, about the company and how it is rapidly growing its business, through acquisition, and enhanced services, supported by its lead investor Limerston Capital.

CLS has witnessed an average of 32 months to advance a drug from concept to clinic, ahead of the industry average of 60 months. The company has helped accelerate five drugs to market, 28 candidates to the clinic, and 44 candidates to the pre-clinical stage. CLS offers a broad and deep expertise, from drug discovery through early-stage development to multi-kilogram API manufacturing for phase 1 clinical trials.

We had a conversation with Ben Cliff, CLS’ CEO.

Sitryx

Sitryx is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing novel oral therapies to restore immune balance in autoimmune and inflammatory disease.

The company has a broad pipeline of novel small molecule candidates targeting major autoimmune indications with high unmet need. Its lead candidate, SYX-5219, is a potentially first-in-class PKM2 modulator in development for atopic dermatitis as a once-daily oral therapy with future development potential across multiple autoimmune diseases.

In 2020, Sitryx formed an exclusive global licensing and research collaboration with Eli Lilly and Company, with the first program, SYX-1042 (itaconate mimetic), now in-house at Eli Lilly and Company and in clinical development, with the commencement of a phase 1 trial in January 2024.

Established in 2018 with seed funding from SV Health Investors, Sitryx has raised $85 million to date from an international syndicate of specialist investors.

Our chat was with chief medical officer at Sitryx, Ravi Rao.

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

This week, we have a conversation with Ben Zeskind, CEO and co-founder of Immuneering, and a discussion with Tasso Inc.’s co-founder and chief technology officer, Erwin Berthier.

Interview times:

01:27 Tasso

27:25 Immuneering

Immuneering

There is no cure for HIV, yet many people with the virus now live long, healthy lives – thanks to available medicines that prevent disease progression with minimal side effects, treating HIV almost like a chronic condition.

So why don’t we treat cancer the same way?

Curing cancer is seen as the gold standard in medicine, with many drugs focused on shrinking tumours as aggressively as possible – often at the expense of patient tolerability and quality of life. One widely used class of cancer drugs known as MEK inhibitors work by turning off the cancer driving MAPK pathway 24/7. But treatment also affects the healthy cells that rely on the MAPK pathway, which presents limitations in terms of tolerability and drug resistance, causing debilitating side effects like nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and rashes. This standard approach often forces patients into an impossible tradeoff: live longer or live better.

Researchers are studying a new MEK inhibitor approach that is administered in stop-and-start cycles and turns off the MAPK pathway intermittently – with clinical trial results showing this improves patient tolerability while maintaining efficacy in advanced pancreatic cancer in a first-line setting. This is the first-ever cancer drug to use this approach and could mark a broader shift in how we think about treating cancer.

We have a conversation with Ben Zeskind, CEO and co-founder of Immuneering, a company leading this therapeutic approach, to discuss its mechanism of action, the future of cancer treatment, and the potential for cancer to be treated similarly to HIV and other chronic diseases.

Tasso

Our guest is Erwin Berthier, co-founder and chief technology officer of Tasso, Inc., which is transforming blood collection to improve patient care and accelerate clinical research. Traditional methods rely on painful finger sticks and inconvenient clinic visits, often leading to poor patient retention in clinical trials.

Tasso is making clinical trials more accessible and efficient. With more than one million devices shipped, Tasso is driving breakthrough research—including partnerships with Hims and Hers Health, the Parkinson’s Foundation and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

The company recently launched the Tasso Mini and Tile-T20 to further modernise blood collection.

The Seattle-based company recently established a new joint venture company with Shin Nippon Biomedical Laboratories, Ltd. to exclusively distribute Tasso’s proprietary on-demand blood collection device in Japan.

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

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]