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Part 2 of 4.
My guest today is Mark Kotter, neurosurgeon, stem cell biologist, and CEO and Founder of bit.bio. Bit.bio is an award-winning human synthetic biology company providing human cells for research, drug discovery and cell therapy.Â
Bit.bio applies a patented safe harbor gene-targeting approach to inducibly express transcription factor combinations that reprogram human induced pluripotent stem cells into highly defined and mature human cell types.
In addition to bit.bio, Mark is also the Co-Founder of Meatable, Scientific Founder and Chairman of rejuvenation start-up clock.bio, and Co-Founder and trustee of Myelopathy.org, the first charity dedicated to a common yet often overseen condition causing a âslow motion spinal cord injury.âÂ
Mark has also been a professor and researcher at Cambridge for more than 15 years. His diverse experience as an academic and serial entrepreneur offers a wealth of insights aspiring scientist-founders can draw from.Â
Join us this week and hear about Markâs:- Transition from his PhD studies at Cambridge to the Medical University of Vienna, where he became a resident in neurosurgery and ran his own research group
- Experience at the Max Planck Institute for Experimental Medicine
- Return to Cambridge, where he combined clinical practice with research
- Shift from academia to entrepreneurship, which led to the founding of his first biotech startup
Please enjoy my conversation with Mark Kotter.
Timestamps:00:28 Intro 01:54 Markâs spinal cord injury research in Vienna, setting up a lab, and avoiding rigid hierarchy03:26 Working at the Max Planck Institute, getting noticed again at Cambridge 04:34 Going from no supervisor to teaching PhD students while running a lab 05:36 Starting a new role at Cambridge, the impact of sharing information 08:11 Two different worlds: the research world and the clinical world 09:57 The value of being exposed to and combining the newest tech and patient samples 11:37 Complexity around protocols, cell programming history, and contradictory data 14:18 The translation gap between research and the clinic 16:34 Juggling a teaching role at Cambridge while conducting research, studying in Toronto18:56 Shifting to the startup world from academia and clinical research 20:23 Starting a family business, understanding financial models and cash flow 21:58 Outro
Enriched Notes:
Topics Mentioned:Max Planck Institute for Experimental Medicine https://maxplanckneuroscience.org/institute/mpi-exp-medicine/University of Cambridge https://www.cam.ac.uk/Neurosurgery https://www.ohsu.edu/school-of-medicine/neurosurgery/what-neurosurgeryCell Programing https://youtu.be/jrVQXHmxH7Y?si=csFYmCfaqkQFm95yDifferentiation Protocols https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9405110/Direct reprogramming protocols https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8161510/Synthetic Biology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthetic_biologyOpti-ox Technology https://www.bit.bio/platformHow to Spin Out of Academia https://www.excedr.com/resources/how-to-spin-out-of-academia-and-into-a-startup
People Mentioned:Roger Pedersen https://www.linkedin.com/in/roger-pedersen-0b231115/Â Harold Weintraub https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_M._WeintraubMarius Wernig https://med.stanford.edu/profiles/marius-wernigThomas SĂŒdhof https://med.stanford.edu/sudhoflab/about-thomas-sudhof.htmlShinya Yamanaka https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinya_YamanakaThe Biotech Startups Podcast gives you a front-row seat to the business
and science of building a biotech. Hosted by Jon Chee, CEO of Excedr, the show features honest conversations with founders, execs, and investors about their work, their companies, and how they got there. From scientific breakthroughs to startup lessons, each episode explores what it really takes to grow a life science companyâfrom pre-seed to IPO.
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