Biotechnology has always been a dynamic domain, but the world of finance that provides the fuel for the fire is just as vibrant. Trying to predict where the market for biotech investment is heading is always risky but for experts like Baker McKenzie’s Roel Meers, understanding where the market is moving is where he eats.

I spoke to Roel this week to unpack just where biotech funding stands in Q2 2025, to get a feel for the sorts of M&As, IPOs, and licensing deals we should be looking for in the second half of the year. We also talk about some alternative financing options for innovators and early-stage firms.

01:09                      Introducing Roel Meers

02:18                     Corporate finance and the life sciences

04:53                      Brussels, Europe, and beyond: Baker McKenzie’s global footprint

06:21                      Navigating life science regulations and regulators

10:33                      De-risking biotech investments in uncertain times

11:57                      How investors are minimizing risk in 2025

13:35                      Funding trends for biotechs in emerging hubs, including Benelux

15:58                      The deal types that will dominate 2025

17:35                      The therapeutic areas where deals are being done

19:16                      Trends in biotech in Europe, in North America, and in the Asia-Pacific

20:36                      Macroeconomics and biotechnology finance

22:54                      De-risking deals by lowering upfronts, increasing milestones

26:38                      What to consider when choosing alternative financing options

30:35                      When should biotechs bring in outside finance experts

33:47                      Looking beyond 2025 – what’s coming, and why

36:38                      How European biotechs can position themselves for funding success

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To dive deeper into the topic: 

• 2025 biotech funding tracker: recent highlights
• The ABC of biotech startup funding
• Top biotech grants and campaigns

Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is already changing how people research, communicate, and interact, but its biggest impacts on biotech are still to come.

Cradle is a Dutch-Swiss biotech startup founded in 2021 that has developed a web-based software platform leveraging GenAI to accelerate protein design and optimization, aiding scientists in biotechnology R&D. Cradle’s technology integrates AI with wet lab experimentation, doubling the speed of most projects compared to industry benchmarks.

In this episode I talk to Cradle co-founder Elise de Reus to discover how their software platform is putting the ‘tech’ into biotech, and learn how some of the biggest names in pharma R&D are coming to rely on Cradle to accelerate their experimentation and get therapies to patients faster. 

01:30                      A passion for biotech from a young age

03:20                     First experiences in the industry

07:23                      Cradle and its mission

09:08                     Generative AI at Cradle

10:27                      Partnering and collaborations

13:37                      Taking generative AI into the wet lab

14:43                      A techbio company, not a biotech company

17:36                      “Photoshop for proteins”

18:29                      Use case: animal free food

20:17                      Use case: medicines

23:56                      Use case: sustainable materials

25:12                      The Cradle business model

28:17                      Technical challenges

29:48                      Regulatory challenges

31:44                      Where AI will have the greatest impact

33:29                      The most exciting things to come

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To dive deeper into the topic: 

• 12 AI drug discovery companies you should know about
• How AI is shaping clinical research and trials

There are cell therapies, gene therapies, and biologics – and then there is Immusoft. 

Immusoft sits at the nexus point of some of the most innovative approaches in biopharma, and their Immune System Programming platform is unique in its capacity to address the rare disease, MPS I. 

This week we talk with Immusoft CEO Sean Ainsworth to learn more about his journey in biotechnology, the work that Immusoft is doing in B-cell reprogramming and unpack some of the positive results that the company recently shared at the WORLD Symposium.

01:08                      Early interests in biotechnology

03:21                      First experiences in biotech entrepreneurship

04:29                      Startup exits and liquidity events

07:32                      Influences and mentors

08:43                      Immusoft and its mission

09:28                      Programming B-cells

13:08                      Disease targets

14:55                      Encountering and overcoming technical challenges

15:53                      MPS I

17:38                      Differentiation for MPS I patients

19:42                      WORLD Symposium 2025

20:23                      What’s next in the clinic

21:25                      Urgency vs safety 

24:26                      At the nexus of cell therapy, gene therapy, and biologics

27:20                      Manufacturing, scaling, and funding

30:31                      Next on the horizon for Immusoft

Interested in being a sponsor of an episode of our podcast? Discover how you can get involved here! 

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To dive deeper into the topic: 

• Rare Disease Day: seven drugs awaiting approval in 2025
• 10 biotech companies making a difference in rare diseases

Flagship Pioneering doesn't go out to find the next big thing in biotech when investing their billions in fund capital - instead, they take a different route.

Flagship Pioneering has founded more than 100 companies in the life sciences worth in total an estimated $75 billion. With a proven model for biotech startup success and a culture designed to surface new and interesting ideas, Flagship offers a different approach to biotech funding that is paying off time and again.

In this episode I talk with Lovisa Afzelius, a General Partner at Flagship, uncover the ways in which Flagship is shaking up the biotech funding model, and come to understand the reasons why others will have a hard time imitating its success.

This episode is brought to you by Jubilant Biosys.

01:52                      Meet Lovisa Afzelius

03:37                      Learning lessons in big pharma

04:56                      From top pharma to startup biotech

07:23                      Two different worlds and ways of thinking

08:29                      Flagship Pioneering

13:39                      Finding the right people

18:13                      Deploying capital to create value

21:06                      Expanding into new markets

21:55                      How does the Flagship model identify disruptors so well?

24:20                      Why don’t others emulate the Flagship model?

25:36                      Building a culture of ‘yes, and…’

27:47                      Learning from the companies that don’t succeed

30:49                      Artificial intelligence and biology

35:19                      Lessons from business that never found market fit

37:29                      The future for Flagship

39:55                      The importance of diversity in biotech

Interested in being a sponsor of an episode of our podcast? Discover how you can get involved here! 

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To dive deeper into the topic:

• The ABC of biotech startup funding
• Meet the ‘biotech mafia’: how specialized biotech VC firms are dominating industry funding once again
• 2025 biotech funding tracker: recent highlights

Are TCR-NK treatments the next big thing in cell therapies for cancer patients?

As biotechs and pharma companies continue to innovate to address patient needs in oncology, T-cell receptor therapies, or TCR-Ts, are attracting significant interest and investment. There are already some promising results for TCR-Ts tackling solid tumors – but one Norwegian biotech is taking a slightly different track.

This week, we sit down with Namir Hassan, CEO of Zelluna, a company with a mission to eliminate solid cancers by pioneering the development of T cell receptor guided natural killer, or TCR-NK, cell therapies.

01:45                      Introducing Namir Hassan

03:37                      Working at Immunocore

04:40                      Lessons learned

06:56                      Joining Zelluna as CSO

08:44                      Becoming Zelluna CEO

10:20                      Taking a biotech company public

12:54                      TCR-T and TCR-NK therapies

15:30                      Targets for TCR-NK therapies

16:38                      Comparing TCR-NK to alternatives

20:16                      Early success

21:58                      An off-the-shelf-solution for cancer patients

24:16                      Manufacturing and scaling

25:13                      Partnering with top pharma, accelerating innovation

27:05                      Milestones ahead for Zelluna

28:52                      The landscape of TCR therapies in oncology

31:38                      A final word

Interested in being a sponsor of an episode of our podcast? Discover how you can get involved here! 

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To dive deeper into the topic: 

• Future of cancer treatment: what will therapy look like in 2034?
• Trends in cancer therapeutics to look forward to in 2025
• Oncology R&D trends and breakthrough innovations

AI is driving innovation across industries, including biotech, but where is its influence felt most and what opportunities for future impact are emerging?

David del Bourgo is the co-founder and CEO of WhiteLab Genomics, an innovative biotech that is leveraging the power of AI to accelerate drug discovery and development from its Paris, Boston, and Montreal bases. In this episode he explains how WhiteLab uses AI technologies to identify targets and engineer vectors, but also offers a wider view of how and where AI is impacting the biotech industry generally.

01:04               Introducing David del Bourgo

04:06               The WhiteLab Genomics mission

10:54               AI in biotech: what’s working now

14:07               AI in biotech: emerging applications

15:58               Regulating AI in biotech and in general

17:21               Acceleration and cost savings thanks to AI

19:09               AI’s impact on accuracy and precision

21:07               The trade-off with AI in biotech

22:38               Why top pharma companies aren’t building their own AI tools

24:43               AI and biomanufacturing

26:58               AI in biotech and pharma operations

28:40               The next impacts of AI in biotech

30:38               Accelerating regulatory review with AI

32:24               Emerging AI techniques in biotech

33:59               The pace of AI innovation

35:21               The next challenge for AI in biotech

36:10               A word for the AI skeptics 

Interested in being a sponsor of an episode of our podcast? Discover how you can get involved here! 

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To dive deeper into the topic: 

• 12 AI drug discovery companies you should know about
• The AI boom in cancer: Game-changer or just hype?
• Are we in an AI bubble? Biotech AI startups’ value plummet and leads to restructuration

From llamas and camels to humans worldwide. Nanobodies are enjoying success in the clinic and experts are hailing these camelid-derived biologics as one of the next big things in immunotherapy.

Kristian Reich is co-founder and CSO of MoonLake Immunotherapeutics. After a long and distinguished career as a clinician and researcher, Kristian helped to launch MoonLake in 2021 and quickly helped move their lead candidate to the clinic. Now, on the verge of Phase III trials, he joins 'Beyond Biotech' to talk nanobodies, innovation, serendipitous science, and the power that comes from never stopping to dream.

01:04               Meet Kristian Reich

05:26               Excited by the science of nanobodies

07:13               MoonLake’s mission

13:12               Milestones at MoonLake

15:24               Introduction to nanobodies

17:55               Serendipitous science

19:46               How nanobodies work

23:18               Global prevelance of immune conditions

24:31               The impact on patients

27:09               Nanobodies in the clinic

31:19               Manufacturing challenges, regulatory challenges

34:04               Working with top pharma

35:55               The future of nanobodies

37:42               The future of MoonLake

39:10               Don’t stop dreaming

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Cell therapies are at the cutting edge of personalized medicine but as demand for these therapies grows, how will the industry scale manufacturing to meet patient needs?

Fabian Gerlinghaus is co-founder and CEO of Cellares. He and his team have developed the Cell Shuttle, an advanced cell manufacturing technology that is already demonstrating the potential to 10x cell yields while halving costs for pharmaceuticals companies and innovators. Is this the future for smart cell manufacturing?

0:52     A starting point in aeronautical engineering

2:43     First steps into biotech

5:25     Co-founding Cellares

6:30     The problem that Cellares addresses

11:02   Best practice bio manufacturing

17:14   Differentiation in automation

18:15   What does success look like for Cellares

19:38   Smart factories

21:58   Inside the Cellares smart factory

26:34   Manufacturing CAR-T and stem cell therapies

27:54   Mass production vs personalized medicine

31:39   Global ambitions and regional regulators

35:07   Positioning Cellares in the market

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Spinal cord injuries impact millions of people worldwide and, unlike many chronic injuries, they usually arrive with no forewarning, impacting the young and old alike.

Brian Culley is CEO of Lineage Cell Therapeutics and his company is now in the clinic with a stem cell therapy for spinal cord injuries. Learn why stem cells could be promising for these devastating injuries and how Brian and his team plan to overcome the challenges of manufacturing at scale and succeeding in a highly regulated space.

00:57              Meet Brian Culley

02:15               Lineage Cell Therapeutics and its mission

04:56              Spinal cord injuries

06:40              Costs beyond the Individual

08:15               Current treatment options

10:48               The place for stem cell therapies

12:57                Lineage in the clinic

16:27                The DOSED program

18:37                The advantages of DOSED

20:29               Timelines for results

21:35               Scaling manufacturing

24:28               Partnering with pharma on stem cell therapies

26:38               Other applications for stem cell therapies

28:49               Mainstreaming stem cell therapies

30:52               Challenges ahead

32:43               The future for Lineage Cell Therapeutics

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Mitochondria are famously the powerhouse of the cell, but will mitochondrial therapeutics power the next big mainstream medical breakthrough?

Klaus Dugi is CEO of Vandria, a biotech that develops mitophagy inducers that rejuvenate cells to treat age-related and chronic diseases. He joins 'Beyond Biotech' to talk cell mitophagy, biotech agility, and innovation in tackling neurodegenerative disease.

00:42    Introducing Klaus Dugi

02:51    Lessons learned in top pharma

05:10    The gap that Vandria seeks to fill

06:21    Mitochondrial therapeutics

07:45    Mitophagy inducers and how they work

14:53    Comparing approaches to treating neurodegenerative diseases

17:20    Aging, longevity, and healthy life years

25:26    Challenges ahead

27:31    Performance enhancement and resilience

31:15    Towards the mainstream?

34:35    Looking forward for Vandria

36:02    Developments to watch out for in mitochondrial therapeutics

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