Pathfinders in Biopharma

Paris Panayiotopoulos, Senior Managing Director at Blackstone Life Sciences, shares how the firm’s broad life sciences strategy has been advancing innovation across the life sciences ecosystem in three key ways: late-stage product financing (Collaboration) and new company creation (Ownership), and non-dilutive financing (Credit and Royalties). He explains how Blackstone is bridging the innovation funding gap through high-conviction partnerships with larger BioPharma and MedTech companies, and targeted investment in late-stage trials.

Compass Pathways CEO Kabir Nath believes psilocybin-based therapy could be transformational for patients with treatment-resistant depression—and his company is already preparing to deliver it at scale. Speaking at RBC Capital Markets’ Global Healthcare Conference, Nath shares his vision for Compass and the future of psilocybin therapy for treatment-resistant depression.

Every year, flu vaccine manufacturers have to guess what strains to target next season, with varying success. Cidara Therapeutics believes it may have a better alternative. President and CEO Jeff Stein explains how Cidara's laser-like focus on developing CD388, a single-dose antiviral targeting all flu strains, has brought the 40-person company on the verge of a public health breakthrough.

Cidara announces positive topline results from its phase 2b NAVIGATE trial evaluating CD388

President and CEO Jeff Stein Bio

Pravin Dugel, CEO of Ocular Therapeutix provides insights into existing treatments and future product candidates for retinal diseases, underlining the unique challenges, opportunities and innovations in this evolving landscape.

www.ocutx.com

Pravin U. Dugel, MD Biography

A surgeon in burns reconstruction, Matt Klein swapped the operating room for the equally high-pressure environment of drug development. In this episode of Pathfinders in Biopharma, he sets out the vision for the company he now leads, PTC Therapeutics – a pioneer in the field of RNA therapies, now powering towards profitability with treatment candidates for a host of rare diseases.

Scott Neidhold, Director in RBC’s Life Sciences Investment Banking Practice, sits down with Kristen Fortney, CEO and Co-Founder of BioAge, for a deep dive into how her company is turning cutting-edge aging science into real therapeutic breakthroughs — and what it means for the future of biopharma.

Universal wisdom had it that a Republican sweep in the U.S. election would favor biotech. Appointments to the new administration’s healthcare leadership make that far less certain. What effect will this and other factors have on the industry in 2025, and where are the breakthroughs likely to be found? Brian Abrahams, Head of Global Healthcare Research at RBC Capital Markets, looks ahead with in this episode of Pathfinders in Biotech.

Innovation is surging in the U.S biotechnology sector, so why are investors still fearful about committing? Noël Brown, Head of U.S. Biotechnology Investment Banking at RBC Capital Markets, is joined by fund founders Craig Gordon, MD, CEO and CIO at GordonMD® Global Investments LP and Srini Akkaraju, MD, PhD, Managing Partner at Samsara BioCapital, to analyze the prospects for a full return of capital to the sector.

Former biotech investor, Brad Loncar has pivoted his career from investing to reporting on the industry. Instead of serving the biotech bubble, he hopes to reach a wide audience with interest in science. Loncar explains why he switched careers and sets out his ambitions for his channel, Biotech TV.

The hardest parts of drug discovery will be vastly simplified if the mysteries of molecules and proteins can be cracked. That may be beyond human capabilities – but AI is working hard on it. In this episode of RBC’s Pathfinders in Biopharma, Noël Brown is joined by Clarissa Desjardins, CEO of Congruence, and Laksh Aithani, CEO and Co-founder of Charm Therapeutics, to discuss how far the tech can take us.