Medigene CEO, Dolores Schendel, takes us from her Midwestern roots to the helm of Bavaria’s Medigene AG. Along the way, she explains how her training at the hands of immunotherapy pioneers led to her recent move to deploy a novel molecular switch which protects and energizes Medigene’s TCR-T cells in their attack on solid tumors. (Plus, hear her talk about winning the prestigious Bavarian Order of Merit! For what, you ask? Well – give a listen…)

Dr. Coffey explains how a phenomenon first observed over a 100 years ago – that a systemic infection can cure cancer – became the blanket term for a treatment modality bearing his company’s name. From being a lab rat studying reovirus one day, to a company co-founder the next, Coffey’s rise through the corporate ranks (he started out as VP of Product Development), and his pursuit of the scientific secrets that revealed the true activity of his lead asset (hint: lysing tumor cells ain’t it) set Oncolytics on the path to achieving medicine’s ultimate goal: teaching a patient’s immune system to kill cancer. 

Topics on the show include:

•Why a scientist might need an MBA

•The MOA of reovirus

•Intratumoral vs. systemic administration of virus 

•Wild type vs. engineered virus from a regulatory perspective

•Clinical programs for Pelareorep (reovirus)

•The bacchanalia that is the Calgary Stampede…

BiomX co-founder, Jonathan Solomon, gained his early scientific training in physics, and electrical engineering during a ten-year stint in an Israeli army special forces unit – which he can’t really talk about. But what he can talk about is how – with his taste for adventure, a Harvard MBA, and a famous Israeli scientist for a mother – he became the Chief Executive Officer of Biomx, a publicly held company that is harnessing naturally occurring phage to kill pathogenic bacteria in a broad variety of disease settings.

Topics on the show include:

Dr. Caligiuri describes his journey from being a liberal arts major at a college in upstate New York, to being a Stanford trained MD, to his current position as President of City of Hope National Medical Center. Along the way Caligiuri shares his thoughts on training to be a hematologist in the late ‘80s – at a time when there were no curative therapies, and such a calling was daunting at best – to his finding a cherished mentor that put him on the road to becoming one of the top NK cell experts in the world.