Personalized Medicine Podcast

In this episode we are returning to a very exciting topic of immunooncology and we will talk in detail about novel approaches to treat cancer, based on CAR-T cell technology.

Please welcome Dr. Eric von Hofe, the Senior Advisor and former President of Affyimmune Therapeutics. Eric's story is a showcase of a remarkable career in the biotech industry. Eric studied Biology at UC Berkeley and received his PhD from the University of Southern California. HEric continued his career in cancer research doing two PostDocs at ETH Zurich and Harvard and then taking a position of Assistant Professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. In 1992 Eric made a transition to the biopharmaceutical industry leading the development of antisense oligonucleotide therapies at Hybridon. Eric subsequently led multidisciplinary drug development programs at Millennium Pharmaceuticals as a Director of Drug Discovery Research. Eric has been fundamental for two prominent immuno-oncology companies: Antigen Express, a company focusing on peptide-based cancer vaccines; and Affyimmune Therapeutics, a biotech startup developing novel approaches for CAR-T cell based therapies. With about 50 articles in peer-reviewed journals and four patents Eric is a true expert in the field of oncology

Together with Eric we discussed:

Differences between career in academia and industry

Evolution of therapeutic landscape in oncology over the last 30 years

Role of immunology in development of novel cancer therapies

CAR-T cells and their role in combating cancer

Affinity tuning of CAR-T cells as mechanism to decrease off-target effect

Cancer vaccines: peptide vs mRNA

The future of immunooncology

Get in touch with Eric:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericvonhofe/

Email: [email protected]

Web: https://affyimmune.com/

Make sure to download the full show notes with our guest's bio, links to their most notable work, and our recommendations for further reads on the topic of the episode at pmedcast.com

Welcome to the next episode of the Personalized Medicine Podcast. On this show we typically talk about science and technology driving the progress in personalized medicine. But the policy side of things and patient access are equally important.

We are happy to welcome on our podcast Christopher Wells, the Vice President of Public Affairs at the Personalized Medicine Coalition. Chris has recently published an article in STAT in which he eloquently described why we cannot narrow down personalized medicine just to cancer and need to look at it through a larger lens. And this is what we have discussed with Chris in this interview.

Tune in to this episode to learn more about:

Personalized Medicine beyond #genomics and #cancer

What is the Personalized Medicine Coalition and what are its goals?

Difficulties and success stories of bringing healthcare stakeholders together

The role of government in driving personalized medicine agenda

Role of physician education in implementation of personalized medicine approaches

Generation of reliable clinical data to support personalized medicine implementation

Challenge of equal patient access to personalized therapies

The outlook on the future of personalized medicine

Get in touch with Chris:

LinkedIn: Christopher Wells, M.P.A.

Twitter: @permedcoalition

Web: https://www.personalizedmedicinecoalition.org/

Make sure to download the full show notes with our guest's bio, links to their most notable work, and our recommendations for further reads on the topic of the episode at pmedcast.com

Welcome to Season 3 of the Personalized Medicine Podcast! We hope you all head a good start in 2022 and are ready to dive deep into the world of personalized medicine with us again.

In this first episode of Season 3, we address a very important and, frankly speaking, underappreciated topic of sepsis, commonly known as bacterial blood poisoning. Did you know that last year, sepsis killed more people than 5 most common types of cancer combined?

For this episode, our host Oleksandr Yagensky sat down with the co-founder and CEO of Noscendo, Dr. Philip Stevens. Philip and his team are developing diagnostic workflows based on detection of bacterial and fungal cell-free DNA from blood to detect infections.

Listen to this episode to learn more about:

◦ The founding story of Noscendo

◦ Building a successful diagnostics startup in Europe

◦ Generation of clinical evidence for early stage startups

◦ Misconceptions about sepsis and sepsis diagnostics

◦ How NGS can help detect sepsis early

◦ Role of DNA sequencing in determining antibiotic resistance

◦ Philip's advice to aspiring life science entrepreneurs

Get in touch with Philip:

◦ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philip-stevens-4ab68213b/

◦ Twitter: https://twitter.com/noscendo

◦ Web: https://noscendo.com/

Make sure to download the full show notes with our guest's bio, links to their most notable work, and our recommendations for further reads on the topic of the episode at pmedcast.com

Welcome to the final episode of 2021! This one was long in the making. We are happy to present the crossover episode between the Genetics Podcast and the Personalized Medicine Podcast. In this episode our host Oleksandr (Sasha) Yagensky wraps up 2021 with one and only Patrick Short, the CEO of Sano Genetics and host of the Genetics Podcast. Listen to Patrick and Sasha as they share their 2021 highlights from the world of Personalized Medicine.

Together with Patrick we focused on 6 highlights in 2021:

◦ Large scale liquid biopsy trial for presymptomatic cancer detection

◦ Whole genome sequencing making its entry into newborn screening programs for rare diseases

◦ Advances in application of autologous iPSCs for treatment of Parkinson's disease

◦ Progress in one-time treatments to reverse genetic disorders

◦ Launch of the first FDA approved diagnostic test based on glycoprotein biomarkers for cancer detection

◦ Rise of AI in drug discovery & development

Listen and let us know if you agree with our list? Which important 2021 event did we miss? Let us know on our Twitter or LinkedIn channels.

Make sure to check the Genetics Podcast. Patrick is a fantastic host and puts together great interviews with the thought-leaders in the fields of personalized medicine, rare diseases and genetics research.

Download the full show notes with our guest's bio, links to their most notable work, and our recommendations for further reads on the topic of the episode at pmedcast.com

In this episode of the Personalized Medicine Podcast we are returning to the topic of aging. It is our pleasure to introduce to you the co-founder & CEO of Rejuvenate Bio, Daniel Oliver. Dan studied Mechanical Engineering & Business at Caltech and obtained an MBA from Harvard Business School. After completing his studies, Dan has co-founded several successful companies in very diverse industries. With Rejuvenate Bio Dan and his co-founder Noah Davidsohn are developing new gene therapies to address aging and age-related diseases.

In our conversation with Dan we discussed:

◦ The founding story of Rejuvenate Bio

◦ Role of serendipity in founding successful start-ups

◦ George Church and his support in starting Rejuvenate Bio

◦ Gene therapy as a new way to reverse aging

◦ Epigenetic approach to aging

◦ Tackling aging in dogs

◦ Dan's view on the future of aging research

◦ Bias towards action as an important trait of successful startup founders

Get in touch with Dan:

◦ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielcoliver/

◦ Twitter: @DanielCOliver

◦ Web: https://www.rejuvenatebio.com/

Make sure to download the full show notes with our guest's bio, links to their most notable work, and our recommendations for further reads on the topic of the episode at pmedcast.com

This is officially one of the most fun episodes of the Personalized Medicine Podcast. This time we sat down not just with one, but with two amazing guests. Please welcome the co-founders of Ochre Bio, Jack O'Meara and Quin Wills. Together we talked about livers, drug development for metabolic diseases and biotech entrepreneurship. This episode is full of funny anecdotes, contrarian ideas and inspirational thoughts. Give it a listen!

Together with Jack and Quin we discussed:

◦ Mission of Ochre Bio

◦ Taking a biotech startup off the ground

◦ Differences in building a biotech companies in the US vs Europe

◦ Deep phenomics and its application in decoding liver disorders

◦ In silico models of human diseases

◦ What do we mean when we talk about personalized medicine

◦ How to handle career & professional advice

Get in touch with Jack and Quin:

◦ Twitter: @Jack_O_Meara, @OchreBio, @dnatieclub

◦ LinkedIn: Jack O'Meara, Quin Wills

◦ Website (Ochre Bio): https://www.ochre-bio.com/

Make sure to download the full show notes with our guest's bio, links to their most notable work, and our recommendations for further reads on the topic of the episode at pmedcast.com

In this episode we are focusing on cancer, oncolytic viruses and how investor mindset helps building successful biotech companies. Our guest today is Arthur Kuan, the CEO of CG Oncology. Arthur is a molecular biologist by training. After completing his undergraduate training, Arthur started his career as a venture investor working at several prominent Shanghai-based funds focusing on the Healthcare industry. In 2016, Arthur became the CEO of CG Oncology, one of the portfolio companies of Ally Bridge, the investment fund he was working at the time. In this interview, Arhtur shares his story of becoming a CEO and explains the challenges of bringing a promising scientific idea into clinics.

Together with Arthur we discussed:

◦ Arthur's journey from investor to CEO

◦ The place of oncolytic viruses on the map of cancer therapeutics

◦ Combinational therapies for cancer

◦ Partnerships between emerging biotech startups and large pharma

◦ Differences in the mindset between investors and founders

◦ What it takes to lead a successful biotech company today

◦ Arthur's vision for the future of personalized cancer treatment

Get in touch with Arthur:

◦ Twitter: https://twitter.com/cgoncology, https://twitter.com/KuanArthur

◦ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arthurkuan/

◦ Web (CG Oncology): https://www.cgoncology.com/

Make sure to download the full show notes with our guest's bio, links to their most notable work, and our recommendations for further reads on the topic of the episode at pmedcast.com

In this episode of the Personalized Medicine Podcast we talk about precision oncology with a scientist and serial entrepreneur, Dr. Gang Song. Gang completed his PhD degree in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University and then moved to Harvard where he did a PostDoc at the lab of Tim Springer where he was studying structure and function of cell adhesion molecules. Gang has extensive experience in the life science industry working at various positions at IQuum, which was acquired by Roche, Genzyme Genetics and LabCorp. In 2014, Gang founded Pillar Biosciences, a precision medicine company developing genomics tests for various types of cancer. Gang also co-founded another venture, AffyImmune Therapeutics which is focusing on developing novel cell therapies for cancer based on CAR-T technologies.

Together with Gang we discussed:

◦ His career from PhD in China to founding multiple successful biotech companies in the US

◦ Mentorship lessons from Professor Tim Springer

◦ Founding story of Pillar Biosciences

◦ Novel NGS approaches for early cancer detection

◦ Differences in business models pursued by diagnostics companies in oncology

◦ Next generation of CAR-T cell therapeutics

◦ Future of precision oncology

◦ Gang's advice to aspiring biotech entrepreneurs

Get in touch with Gang:

◦ LinkedIn: Gang Song, Pillar Biosciences, Affyimmune

◦ Twitter: @pillar_bio, @affyimmune

◦ Web: https://affyimmune.com/, https://pillar-biosciences.com/

Make sure to download the full show notes with our guest's bio, links to their most notable work, and our recommendations for further reads on the topic of the episode at pmedcast.com

On this episode we take a look at the role induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSCs) are playing in drug discovery and development for neurodegenerative diseases. Our host Oleksandr sat down with Professor Evangelos Kiskinis, who is leading his own research group at the Northwestern University in Chicago. Evangelos and his team are leading the way on the development of novel cell-based models for ALS, epilepsy and other types of neurological conditions.

Check out this episode to learn more about:

◦ Evangelos's career story and what got him excited in stem cell research

◦ Challenges in modeling neurodegenerative diseases in a dish

◦ iPSC based models for inherited vs sporadic diseases

◦ Transitioning promising in vitro discoveries into clinical trials

◦ iPSC based cell replacement therapies for Parkinsons and Alzheimers disease

◦ The future of iPSC based models in drug discovery

◦ Evangelos's advice to young scientists pursuing academic career

◦ Get in touch with Evangelos:

◦ LinkedIn: Evangelos Kiskinis

◦ Web: http://evangeloskiskinislab.org/index.html

Make sure to download the full show notes with our guest's bio, links to their most notable work, and our recommendations for further reads on the topic of the episode at pmedcast.com

In this episode, we are diving deep into the world of the non-coding genome and, more specifically, an exciting new class of biomolecules - the long non-coding RNAs (lncRNA). Welcome, Dr. Samir Ounzain, the co-founder and CEO of HAYA Therapeutics. Samir and his startup HAYA are developing first-in-class therapies to target lncRNA responsible for the manifestation of various diseases. Samir and HAYA are aiming at fibrosis first, but have in mind a plethora of other conditions that can be treated by their approach. Join us for an insightful conversation on the non-coding genome, the journey from basic science to entrepreneurship, and the future of precision therapeutics.

Together with Samir, we discussed:

◦ The founding story of HAYA Therapeutics

◦ The role of non-coding genome in human health

◦ Ability to tweak non-coding genome to treat diseases

◦ Postponing aging using lncRNAs

◦ Impact on the future of precision medicine

◦ Prerequisites for founding a successful biotech company

Get in touch with Samir:

◦ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samirounzain/

◦ Twitter: @ispiyou

◦ Website: https://www.hayatx.com/

Make sure to download the full show notes with our guest's bio, links to their most notable work, and our recommendations for further reads on the topic of the episode at pmedcast.com