Invent: Life Sciences

Calling all Invent: Life Sciences Subscribers! While you wait for more episodes, make sure to subscribe to our sister podcast, Invent: Health, which has just begun its second season. Listen to the trailer here now!

Invent: Health sees host Matt Parker explore the fascinating future of Health technologies. From new closed-loop systems for diabetes to sensing innovations in cardiac health, Matt will be taking a look behind the scenes of these technologies and meeting the people working to transform our collective health.

Listen and subscribe from anywhere you get your podcasts, just search 'Invent: Health'.

You can also follow the Invent: Health series from our Transistor page and listen to the recent episode on the future of epilepsy treatment: inventhealth.transistor.fm

The Technology Partnership is where scientists & engineers develop new products & technologies that bring innovation & value to clients.
Find out more about our work here: www.ttp.com

The pandemic drastically altered the landscape for investment flowing into the Life Sciences. Not only was there more money going in, but the market needs changed too, with an unprecedented focus on scaling sectors like testing and vaccines. But what did this mean for sectors which were not on the Covid front line? What happened to the trends that were in train before the pandemic hit? And what have we learnt from this experience that we can deploy in the face of the next global challenge? In this episode of Invent: Life Sciences, we look at the past, present and future of investing in the sector, to explore the profound effects that the pandemic has had on it as a whole - and find that, when we pull together, amazing things can happen.

Find out more on this week's episode of Invent: Life Sciences from TTP.

This Week's Guests

Dr. Gonzalo Garcia
Gonzalo Garcia is a Biotech investor, company builder and partner at Syncona limited. Syncona are a company who found, build and fund early stage companies to turn science into transformational treatments, in fields ranging from cell and gene, to biologics and small molecule. Prior to this, Gonzalo completed a PhD in Protein Biophysics from the University of Cambridge, an EMBO Short Term Fellowship in Cell Biology at Harvard Medical School, and was a project leader at Boston Consulting Group. His work at Syncona includes his role as Chief of Staff and Board observer at Resolution Therapeutics.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gonzaloagarciag/?originalSubdomain=uk

Dr. Jason Mellad
Jason Mellad is the CEO and co-founder of Start Codon. After a phd in medicine from the University of Cambridge, Jason worked in various directing roles for a number of exciting Life Sciences companies, like Cambridge Epigenetics, before founding Start Codon in late 2018. Start Codon are a venture capital investor and venture builder who support aspiring entrepreneurs in development and commercialisation of their businesses. They look for the most disruptive innovations in the life sciences space, and have already seen dozens of successful start ups come through their programme to bring their ideas to the world.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-mellad-54890622/

The Technology Partnership is where scientists & engineers develop new products & technologies that bring innovation & value to clients.
Find out more about our work here: https://www.ttp.com/

In the past decade, two events have sent shockwaves through the diagnostics industry: Theranos and Covid. The first, is a parable against faking it in an industry which rightly prizes accuracy and safety. The second was an almost insatiable demand for diagnostic testing kits, where the speed of information took second place to accuracy. Was Elizabeth Holmes onto something when she founded Theranos? What if her devices had been able to live up to the hype? And what reputation does self-testing now have in the diagnostics industry? In this episode of Invent Life Sciences, we take a look at the Theranos story and the Covid pandemic and see what lessons can be learned from each.

Find out more on this week's episode of Invent: Life Sciences from TTP.

This Week's Guests

Professor Tony Cass

Tony is a professor of chemical biology at Imperial College London, an institution he has been a part of for the best part of three decades. Alongside his fellowship of the Royal Society of Chemistry, Tony pioneered the use of synthetic electron transfer mediators for enzyme biosensors, and his work in this area led to the development of the first electronic blood glucose measuring system. 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonycass/?originalSubdomain=uk

Dr. Giles Sanders
Giles is the head of In Vitro diagnostics at TTP and has been with us for two decades. During that time he has been influential in the development of numerous diagnostics systems that have been successfully placed on the market. He works across all aspects of In Vitro diagnostics, from automated central lab, to point of care and home use devices. 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gilessanders/?originalSubdomain=uk

The Technology Partnership is where scientists & engineers develop new products & technologies that bring innovation & value to clients.
Find out more about our work here: https://www.ttp.com/

Following our first episode of two focusing on cell and gene therapies, outlining the promise and practicalities of delivering curative therapies for chronic diseases, we now focus on cell therapies - so called ‘living drugs’ that are both as powerful as they are complex. Despite the impressive trials and life-changing impacts at the individual level, it’s still not possible to manufacture cell therapies at scales that could benefit a wider range of patients. So what are the differences between cell therapies and conventional medicines that make them so difficult to manufacture? Can we redeploy hardware and learnings from other industries or are custom solutions needed? And does the ‘where’ we manufacture these therapies matter more than the ‘how’? As we discover in this episode, efforts to address these questions and provide scalable manufacturing solutions could unleash a new wave of pharmaceutical innovation that promises to revolutionise the way we develop medicines.

Find out more on this week's episode of Invent: Life Sciences from TTP.

This Week's Guests

Dr. Edwin Stone

Ed is our head of cell and gene at TTP. After a PHD specialising in Vehicle Dynamics from the University of Cambridge, Ed started working at TTP some 18 years ago, most of which has been spent specialising in cell and gene. He’s been focusing on the manufacturing realm of cell and gene for the past seven years. His work spans everything from commercial strategy through to technology development and on to production.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/edwin-stone-98560212/

Mike Lehmicke
Mike is the Senior Director of Science and Industry Affairs at the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine, and has over 20 years of R&D experience in biomaterials, medical devices, and regenerative medicine. His work focuses on cell based tissue engineering, bioceramics and medicines which have the ability to help repair or replace damaged human cells or tissues.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-lehmicke-76b45435/

Dr. Félix A. Montero-Julian
Félix is a Scientific Director of the Healthcare Business of bioMérieux. With over 25 years of experience in industrial and clinical diagnostics, Félix is extensively involved in the implementation and acceptance of rapid and alternative microbiological methods, with an array of technical experience across the cell and gene therapy manufacturing process.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/f%C3%A9lix-a-montero-julian-phd-0a3a501b/

The Technology Partnership is where scientists & engineers develop new products & technologies that bring innovation & value to clients.
Find out more about our work here: https://www.ttp.com/

With therapies like cell and gene - amongst some of the most significant innovations in modern medicine - the idea of delivering cures for conditions from cancer to diabetes is now within the realm of scientific possibility. But will it be possible to provide the benefits of advanced therapies to all? Should we expect our healthcare systems to foot the bill? And can we re-imagine the development ecosystem to truly realise the potential of cell and gene therapies? In this first of two episodes about curing diseases and cell & gene therapies, we outline why we would want to treat diseases in this way, the main economic barriers to achieving it, and where these exciting new therapies are going next.

Find out more on this week's episode of Invent: Life Sciences from TTP.

This Week's Guests

Dr. Dan Strange
Dan is a technologist and engineering leader with a background in tissue biomechanics, regenerative medicine, and mechanical engineering. He's been at TTP for the past decade, driving forward large development programs from start to finish, as well as being a huge advocate for cell and gene therapies.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/drdanstrange/

Professor Jacob Petersen
Jacob is the head of cell therapy research & development at Novo Nordisk and an adjunct professor in biomedicine at Copenhagen University Medical Faculty. With over 20 years in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology spaces, Jacob has worked in R&D for everything from diabetes to cardiovascular disease, and through his current head of cell therapy R&D role, he is involved in the creation of new treatments in this space from start to finish. 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacob-petersen-820529/

Dr. Kath Mackay
Kath is the director of Life Sciences for Bruntwood SciTech, a company that provides companies with the infrastructure around Cell and Gene. Previously on the executive management team at Innovate UK, Kath has a track record which proves her passion for growing the UK’s life sciences sector, and in her new role is responsible for developing Bruntwood SciTech’s life sciences vision, strategy and services in their campuses, which includes Alderley Park, Birmingham Health Innovation Campus, Citylabs, Manchester and Melbourn Science Park.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/drkathmackay/

The Technology Partnership is where scientists & engineers develop new products & technologies that bring innovation & value to clients.
Find out more about our work here: https://www.ttp.com/

From cosmetics to medicines, animal testing is still widely mandated by regulators. Up to now, there have been few other ways to gather information about the potential human response to drug candidates. But are animal models still the most effective way to test drugs before we use them in humans? Or are these in vivo models outdated, ready to be replaced by innovative new in vitro models of drug development? In this episode of TTP Invent: Life Sciences, we take a look at some of the fascinating alternatives to animal testing in drug development, before assessing what new realms of medicine these new methods could soon open up - from replicating your organs on a chip, to regenerating entire tissues.

Find out more on this week's episode of Invent: Life Sciences from TTP.

This Week's Guests

Professor Molly Stevens FRS FRENG

Molly is Professor of Biomedical Materials and Regenerative Medicine in the Departments of Materials and Bioengineering at Imperial College London. Following a postdoc working on tissue engineering methods with Bob Langer at MIT, Molly set up her own group at Imperial in 2004. The Stevens Group is a multidisciplinary research group using innovative bioengineering approaches to address key problems in regenerative medicine and biosensing.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/molly-stevens-81742822/

Dr. Lorna Ewart
Lorna is the CSO at Emulate, a company that creates advanced in vitro models for understanding how diseases, medicines, chemicals, and foods affect human health. Lorna is passionate about the pursuit of drug discovery and development. After working in the Microphysiological Systems Centre of Excellence within AstraZeneca, and beginning her own firm Veroli Consulting, Lorna is now renowned for her expertise in Organ-Chips and Organoids.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lornaewart/

Professor Maria Kavallaris

Maria is best known for her pioneering work in children's cancer. Last year she and collaborator Justin Gooding were awarded the Australian Museum Eureka Prizes for their contribution to a 3D bioprinting technology that promises to revolutionise cancer research, and her work on tumour cells, drug resistance, nanotechnologies and bioprinting have produced countless new discoveries to the field.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariakavallaris/

The Technology Partnership is where scientists & engineers develop new products & technologies that bring innovation & value to clients.
Find out more about our work here: https://www.ttp.com/

The hunt to discover new pharmaceuticals in areas of high unmet need can be complex, time-consuming, and costly. For every life saving therapy that hits the market, thousands and even millions of candidate drugs are rejected. A new technology could be changing the way we home in on the most effective therapy: AI. The use of AI in drug discovery - whether through mining research or in highlighting new experimental insight - is one of the most exciting new sectors in the field. But how does it really work? What are the conditions needed to implement it? Is it really anything more than just a useful tool? In this episode of Invent: Life Sciences from TTP, we take a look at this fascinating new frontier for drug discovery.

Find out more on this week's episode of Invent: Life Sciences from TTP.

This Week's Guests

Dr. Sarah Morrow
Sarah is a Life Sciences Consultant at TTP, joining in 2020 after getting her PhD specialising in Organic Chemistry from the University of Oxford. Sarah brings a chemist’s perspective on the challenges encountered within drug discovery, as well as focusing on the technology - both hardware and software - that could enable and accelerate the field.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-morrow-841719146/

Aaron Morris
Aaron Morris is the CEO and co-founder of PostEra, a company building an end-to-end medicinal chemistry platform to advance drug discovery, using machine learning and AI to do so. After seeing the limiting nature of drug discovery on bio tech companies and pharma, Aaron set up PostEra to come in at this early stage and work alongside them to reduce these issues, and to serve the world's ever expanding community of drug hunters.
https://postera.ai/

Dr. Andreas Bender
Andreas Bender is a Professor of Life Sciences informatics interested in developing new life science data analysis methods for their application in drug discovery. After over a decade at Cambridge University working in molecular informatics, Andreas is now the CSO at Terra Lumina, a company building the world’s largest dataset of natural compounds, using AI that unlocks the connection between nature’s small molecules and the human body.
https://terralumina.bio/

The Technology Partnership is where scientists & engineers develop new products & technologies that bring innovation & value to clients.
Find out more about our work here: https://www.ttp.com/

What is the potential of synthetic biology? A chance to create life-changing therapies by speaking cells’ very own language? Or could rogue researchers use it to turn our own biology against us?

Since synthetic biology emerged as a field, the aspirations for its benefits have been as speculative as the concerns about its misuse, making one of the most fascinating and divisive fields in life sciences. But what are its real applications today? And where is it going next? In this episode of Invent: Life Sciences we break down the history of this field, focusing in how breakthroughs in our understanding of DNA allowed it to flourish, before assessing whether its applications today will live up to its incredible potential.

Find out more on this week's episode of Invent: Life Sciences from TTP.

This Week's Guests

Dr. Michael Chen
Michael is the CEO and founder of synthetic biology startup Nuclera. With a PHD in Chemistry from the University of Cambridge, Michael has ten years experience in scientific research, from nucleic acid chemistry to protein expression and crystallography, resulting in twelve published papers. Nuclera is the outcome of this work - it’s a company whose fundamental goal is to make biology accessible, through their groundbreaking desktop bioprinter, which combines eProtein synthesis and eDrop digital microfluidics, to enable protein printing within 24 hours.
https://www.nuclera.com/

Dr. Gary M. Skinner
Gary is a consultant in applied biophysics at TTP, and his research focuses on various fields within the syn bio space. In his career, Gary has worked everywhere from York to Arizona to the Netherlands on projects as far afield as using optical tweezers to observe initiation of transcription of DNA, to applying super-resolution imaging technology to DNA sequencing.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/gmskinnerbioscience/

Professor Tom Ellis

Tom is a Professor of Synthetic Genome Engineering at Imperial College London. He currently leads a research team in synthetic genome engineering and synthetic biology in the Department of Bioengineering. His research, for which he has one multiple awards, focuses on developing the foundational tools for accelerating, automating and scaling design-led synthetic genomics and synthetic biology.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomellisphd/

The Technology Partnership is where scientists & engineers develop new products & technologies that bring innovation & value to clients.
Find out more about our work here: https://www.ttp.com/

When the first human genome was sequenced, the whole project was estimated to have cost some 3 billion dollars and took over 13 years. Now, with massively parallel Next Generation Sequencing it is possible to sequence the human genome in less than 24 hours at a cost of under $1,000. With a rapid decline in sequencing costs, both the number of applications and the amount of data produced have boomed, driving a revolution in medicine. However, with the advent of new enabling technologies, what is next? What are the new and exciting technologies in the sequencing space which will be truly disruptive in the future? And what technical innovation is required to bring these technologies to the mainstream user or even the clinic?

In this episode of Invent: Life Sciences, we explore the race to innovate in the sequencing arena, what’s happened so far, and what’s going to happen next.

Find out more on this week's episode of Invent: Life Sciences from TTP.

This Week's Guests

Dr. Geoff Smith
Geoff is a next generation sequencing pioneer who has built and led many of the teams that invented and developed the entire NGS workflow - from sample prep, to the core sequencing technology, to new instrument systems. Previously Ilumina's global head of ​​technology development, he is now an independent board member of various exciting start ups.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/geoff-smith-328b5b9/

Dr. Lauren Laing
Lauren leads the 'Omics Team at TTP – a team addressing current needs in DNA and RNA sequencing and also looking to develop tools for future multi- proteo- and other ‘omic workflows. Prior to this Lauren has worked in developing new sequencing technologies, novel chemistries, approaches to automating sample preparation, and research applying sequencing in single cell and epigenetic applications.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/epigenomicslvl/  

Dr. James Hadfield
James is the Senior Director of Oncology Translational Medicine at AstraZeneca and author of the CoreGenomics blog, enseqlopedia. A life-sciences researcher and senior operational manager with over 20 years’ experience in Genomics technologies, James is a thought leader in genomics with a broad network across academia and industry.
http://enseqlopedia.com/coregenomics

The Technology Partnership is where scientists & engineers develop new products & technologies that bring innovation & value to clients.
Find out more about our work here: https://www.ttp.com/

Following our thrilling first series of Invent all about health technology, the team at TTP are back with a new series all about the Life Sciences, to explore the impact of biology and technology on the life sciences sector.

Life sciences are often referred to as the Fourth Industrial Revolution, deploying biology and technology in real-world applications to transform medicine, diagnostics, and ultimately our ability to engineer the building blocks of life itself. From delivering cures using cell therapies to harnessing the genetic code, from learning from the Theranos scandal to understanding disruption in drug discovery, Invent: Life Sciences will take a deep dive into the most exciting developments in the field.

The new series begins May 31st - see you then!