When it comes to contraception, most of the innovation in the last century has focused on providing contraceptive alternatives for women. The contraceptive pill was approved by the FDA in 1960, the first IUD approved in 1968, and the female condom in 1993. For men, however, there has been little advancement since the invention of the rubber condom in 1855 and the first vasectomies in humans around the turn of the 20th century.

Contraline is a biotechnology company that is aiming to change that record. They are currently heading into Phase II trials with a therapy that they claim is reliable, long lasting, easy to use, and reversible. This week, I talk with Kevin Eisenfrats, CEO of Contraline, about the challenges of bringing a new contraceptive to market, how to manage clinical trials on multiple continents, and what the world might look like if the contraceptive burden passes from women to men.

01:21                      Kevin Eisenfrats and Contraline

07:28                      Contraline’s ADAM

09:09                      How ADAM works

11:39                      Reversibility is a differentiator for ADAM

14:01                      Hormonal gels and contraception

17:14                      The phase I trial in Australia

21:47                      The implantation process

25:07                      Moving into phase II

27:04                      The male contraception market

29:30                      Fundraising for male contraception

33:06                      The gendered burden of contraception

34:54                      The future of male contraception

36:49                      The cultural and social impact of male contraception

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To dive deeper into the topic: 

• MedinCell Granted €17M to Develop Cheap Long-Acting Contraception
• Inpart Connect: Reversible Male Contraceptive
• Inpart Connect: Cyclic Peptides as Non-hormonal Male Contraceptive Agents and Methods of Use Thereof
• Inpart Connect: Noninvasive Laser Vasectomy

Raising money in the gene therapy space can be tough right now but, for the right company and with the right team, there is still cash to be found. But how do you connect with investors, how do you get your science in front of the right people, and how do you move from ‘I’m interested’ to ‘I’m signing on the dotted line’?

This week I talk with Gerard Caelles, Chief Business Office of Splice Bio, a company that just closed a $135 million series B fundraising round. I quiz him on the practical steps that biotechs need to take to move from a series A to a series B, the key members of the team that pulled the deal together, how to keep existing investors engaged while bringing new money on-board, and how it feels when it is all done. 

01:14               Meet Gerard Caelles

04:34               The Splice Bio platform

12:34               Raising $135 million in uncertain times

15:31               Laying the groundwork for a series B

18:15               Building a fundraising team

20:45               Identifying and approaching new investors

22:38               Fundraising challenges in 2025

26:37               Refining the strategy and pitch

29:00               Choosing lead investors 

31:59               Keeping existing investors on board

34:12               A look behind the scenes 

37:52               What’s next for Splice Bio

42:10               Learn more about Splice Bio

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To dive deeper into the topic: 

• Labiotech's 2025 Biotech Funding Tracker
• The ABC of biotech startup funding
• Budget blues: where are cell and gene therapies heading? 

Immunology and inflammation are hot topics in biotech and biopharma, and innovations are emerging that can change the game for patients suffering from autoimmune, gastrointestinal, and metabolic disease. For top pharma companies, identifying these innovations early is essential and, for university labs, spinouts and startups, getting their science in front of the right industry partners is key. So how does science meet industry, and how can top pharma and venture investors find the next blockbuster?

This week I sat down with Joseph Ferner of Inpart, the author of a new R&D Trends Report on Immunology and Inflammation. He explained the shape of the research landscape, the areas that are generating the most interest amongst industry and investors, and the ways in which digital platforms are helping innovative scientists connect with those who have the experience and finance to bring their technologies and therapies to market.

• Download the Immunology & Inflammation R&D Trends Report
• Create a free Inpart Connect account
• Speak with the Inpart team

02:18               The 2025 Immunology and Inflammation R&D Trends Report

08:30               Priorities and challenges in immunology and inflammation research

10:18               The impact of immune system complexity on drug development

13:12               The challenge of clinical heterogeneity

15:33               The role of organoids in immunology and inflammation R&D

17:10               Comparing organoid models to animal models

19:51               The R&D landscape in 2025

22:40               Popular modalities in immunology and inflammation research

24:45               The top innovations in the 2025 R&D Trends Report

28:56               How to score and rank innovations in a rapidly evolving market

33:22               Engagement trends between researchers and industry partners

37:09               Why companies decline to engage with academic researchers

43:36               The Inpart Connect platform and how it works

48:49               Looking forward to the next R&D Trends Report

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To dive deeper into the topic: 

• Why is the immunology and inflammation market suddenly attracting a wave of investment?

Partnering conferences are where many deals in the biotech industry get made. With investors and top pharma companies on hand to meet with founders, learn about new science, and put money on the table for promising biotech, it’s little wonder that the biggest partnering events attract hundreds of innovators and thousands of attendees.

One of the largest industry partnering events in Europe is BIOSPAIN. This year BIOSPAIN will take place in Barcelona, and the Catalan city will welcome participants from more than 40 countries for three days of exhibitions, partnering meetings, and presentations from industry leaders. Labiotech will be on the ground reporting from BIOSPAIN this year, and so we sat down with Stewart Medina fromBIOSPAIN to find out exactly what’s in store.

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To dive deeper into the topic: 

• Catalonia: A biotech hub going from strength to strength, with Barcelona at its core
• 10 biotech companies you should know about in Spain
• 20 years of BIOSPAIN – The evolution of an international biotech event

How can you guarantee that top pharma will be interested in investing in your biotech startup? How can you be sure that the target you are focused on will be attractive to industry partners? And can AI help drive this interest and deliver these partnerships?

These are questions that this week’s guest, Mati Gill, CEO of AION Labs in Israel, is perfectly positioned to answer.

AION Labs has an innovative company creation process that empowers scientists and startups to tackle high-impact pharma challenges with AI, backed by top-tier data, funding, and expertise from global pharma partners. In the middle of a transformative decade for AI-driven drug discovery, and with Israel poised to play an increasingly significant part, Mati explains how venture studios are helping to foster groundbreaking solutions for global health challenges.

01:07               Meet Mati Gill

07:19               The biotech industry in Israel

09:38               How the Israeli biotech industry is changing with AI and other technologies

13:01               The biggest challenges facing Israeli biotechs and biopharma

18:07               AION Labs and its mission

20:27               AION Building and AION Seeding

24:03               Why top pharma wants to partner with AION Labs startups

27:53               Workshopping startup ideas with top pharma companies

32:04               The future of venture studios like AION Labs

36:33               At the intersection of AI, biotech, and Israel’s innovation ecosystem

39:24               Advice for entrepreneurs and scientists

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To dive deeper into the topic: 

• AION Labs launches AI startup to improve drug trials
• The 5 hottest biotech companies making waves in Israel
• What to look for in a biotech incubator

Lonza is one of the world’s largest contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs), dedicated to serving the healthcare industry. They work alongside a broad range of customers – from emerging biotechs to top global pharmaceutical companies – to transform therapeutic discoveries into life-saving and life-enhancing treatments for their patients. 

Founded in 1897 in the Swiss Alps, Lonza has embraced innovation and kept pace with a fast-changing world for more than 125 years. They are a leader in both established and emerging technologies and today their 19,000 employees across more than 30 sites on five continents generate annual sales of more than $4.4 billion. 

We sat down with Alice Harrison, Global Technical Director (CMC and Analytics), and Megan Mason, Global Process Development Implementation Manager, to learn more about how Lonza is helping innovators large and small develop and scale their therapies and deliver better outcomes for patients worldwide.

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The information in this podcast is believed to be correct at the time of recording, and is for information only. While we make reasonable efforts to ensure that the content is accurate, we make no representations or warranties of any kind regarding its accuracy, completeness, reliability, suitability or the results to be obtained from the use of such information. Lonza disclaims any liability for the use of this information and the reliance of the information contained herein is at your own risk.  

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To dive deeper into the topic: 

• How to Set up Manufacturing for Biotech Startups
• Accelerating the path to clinical filing applications with rapid toxicology material delivery
• Large molecule manufacturing: addressing challenges with strategies for success

Parkinsons disease impacts some 10 million people worldwide and current approaches to treating the condition almost exclusively focus on addressing symptoms – there is, as of yet, no cure. One Finnish biotech, however, is not focused on alleviating symptoms but on modifying the course of the disease itself. Their hope is to be able to stop and even reverseneurodegenerative diseases like Parkinsons, and they have the backing of significant players, such as the Michael J Fox Foundation, to do just that.

This week I spoke to Antti Vuolanto, CEO of Herantis Pharma, about the work his company is doing, the science behind their approach, and the advantages and challenges of working in biotech in the Nordics.

01:10               Meet Antti Vuolanto

05:10               The biotech landscape in the Nordics

07:07               Herantis Pharma and its mission

09:38               Treating symptoms versus disease modification

13:31               Herantis in relation to other Parkinson’s disease companies

15:47               HER-096

26:24               The global burden of Parkinson’s disease and the unmet need

28:56               The role of patient and advocacy groups

30:11               The future of Parkinson’s disease treatment

31:52               How the Nordics can develop and expand their biotech sector

36:33               Stay up to date on Herantis and their work

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To dive deeper into the topic: 

• Finland: Pushing biotech forward in the land of a thousand lakes
• Parkinson’s disease: biotech’s pursuit for more therapies 
• The stem cell race for Parkinson’s disease: Recent studies show significant promise

RNAi has changed the way that rare diseases are treated - is it about to do the same for more common conditions?

Alnylam was the very first company to translate RNAi from Nobel Prize winning science into a commercially scalable platform. Founded in 2002, the company today has five different RNAi therapies on the market and a pipeline that continues to expand. While their early focus was on rare disease, today they are expanding into more common conditions, partnering with top pharma companies to bring next-generation therapies to market.

This week I sat down with Paul Nioi, Senior Vice President of Research at Alnylam. Paul has more than 20 year’s experience in biotech and biopharma, and he walked me through Alnylam’s mission and place in the biotech ecosystem, the science of RNAi, the early success treating metabolic disease, and exactly where their platform is expanding into now and in the near future. Paul explains the capacity of RNAi to address neurological and infectious disease, the value of large-scale genomic initiatives, and how he sees drug discovery evolving in the years ahead.

01:29               Meet Paul Nioi

08:56               Alnylam, its mission, and its science

14:35               Two types of partnerships: top pharma, and genomic initiatives

22:34               RNAi therapies on the market for rare disease

27:29               Expanding into more common conditions

32:17               INHBE mutations and cardiometabolic disease

35:01               Working with Roche to target hypertension

38:58               Looking forward: Alnylam’s platform in the near future

41:49               What role for national genomic initiatives?

45:16               RNAi’s place in a future of precision medicine

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To dive deeper into the topic: 

• mRNA, RNAi, circRNA, ASOs: A comparative guide to RNA therapeutics
• Six biotech companies leading the charge in hemophilia treatment
• Episode 159: Day One DNA - How and why the UK is betting on whole genome sequencing for every newborn

Nearly 1 billion people around the world suffer from mental health disorders, with the global economic cost of those disorders expected to reach $6 trillion by 2030. 

One of the most common of those mental health disorders is depressive disorder, commonly called depression, with some 280 million people suffering from either mild, moderate or severe depression.

Conventional treatments for depression such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs, can work for many people but for some suffering from treatment resistant depression, options can be limited, but some new therapies are in the clinic and might offer some hope. 

Beckley PsyTech is a UK biotech that is working with next-generation psychedelic-based compounds administered in a short clinic visit once every two months. With positive results from their recent Phase 2B study and a partnership with atai Life Sciences, Beckley believes they are on their way to redefining how depression is treated.

01:38               Meet Cosmo Feilding

03:04               Beckley PsyTech, its mission and its focus

08:36               BPL-003 and next generation psychedelics

11:16               Intranasal delivery and its advantages

14:26               Psychedelics in the clinic and Phase IIb trial results

18:32               Safety: suicide signals and adverse events

21:02               Applications for psychedelics outside of depression

24:11               The global economic costs of mental health disorders

27:40               Comparing Beckley PsyTech to Compass Pathways and GH Research

35:26               Regulatory hurdles and the stigma around psychedelics

38:14               Partnering with atai Life Sciences and the future of Beckley PsyTech

43:16               Milestones ahead for Beckley PsyTech

45:44               A future vision for patients suffering from depression

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To dive deeper into the topic: 

• New antidepressants: tackling treatment resistant depression
• Psychedelics sans side effects: neuroplastogens gain ground
• From LSD to healing minds: Where are we standing in psychedelic drug development?

The UK is preparing to change the game for healthcare - but why, how, and what will it cost?

Recently the UK government announced plans to sequence the DNA of every baby born in that country. A part of the country’s 10 Year Health Plan, the program aims to identify rare genetic diseases early, prevent harms from delayed treatment and reduce future healthcare costs for the NHS. Yet along with those potential upsides come a range of ethical and practical questions, too: who guards the sequenced data, who can access it, how can consent be informed, managed and withdrawn years later, and what is the best way to gather the genetic material required to fully sequence the DNA of 700,000 infants each year?

This week, I spoke to Neil Ward of PacBio to understand more about this program, compare it to other national genome sequencing programs in Europe and Asia, and discuss the promise of unlocking the ‘language of life’.

02:02               Meet Neil Ward

09:10               PacBio, its mission, and its current focus

17:13               The UK national newborn gene sequencing effort

21:20               Ethical and practical challenges for national newborn sequencing

24:34               Short-read versus long-read sequencing

30:48               Dried blood spots versus cord blood

35:57               Lessons for the UK from Thailand

38:58               Trends in national newborn screening programs worldwide

41:46               What parents and policymakers must know

45:20               Exciting things in the genomics space on the horizon

This episode is brought to you by MedChemExpress.

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To dive deeper into the topic: 

• The past, present, and future of genome sequencing
• The next frontier in genomic technologies for rare diseases
• Seven genome sequencing companies to look out for