The rise of antibiotic resistance and the threat of emerging viral pathogens have created global public health threats. Recce Pharmaceuticals is developing a new class of synthetic anti-infectives that it says can overcome the hyper-cellular mutation of bacteria and viruses. What’s more, the company says their potency doesn’t diminish even with repeated use. We spoke to James Graham, CEO of Recce, about its synthetic anti-infectives, how they work, and why they can be used repeatedly against a broad range of bacteria and viruses.

Whether in an operating room or in a trauma situation, the ability to quickly stop bleeding represents a critical need in healthcare. At the end of December, Cresilon filed for U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to market its hemostatic gel to rapidly stop bleeding. The filing follows the launch of Vitigel, Cresilon’s hemostatic gel for the animal health market. We spoke to Joe Landolina, co-founder and CEO of Cresilon, about how he developed the plant-derived gel, the significant need he is seeking to address, and how the gel is able to halt bleeding in a matter of seconds.

In cancer, synthetic lethality refers to a state in which two genetic mutations that alone may allow a cancer cell to survive will kill it when they exist simultaneously. Cyteir Therapeutics is seeking to exploit that strategy with what it calls next-generation synthetically lethal therapies to treat a wide range of cancers. We spoke to Markus Renschler, president and CEO of Cyteir therapeutics, about synthetic lethality, Cyteir’s pipeline, and life as a small public biotech in 2022.

AI Dynamics is seeking to make AI accessible. Though its NeoPulse platform can be used across industries, the life sciences is one of the key markets the company is targeting with its technology being used to do everything from target identification for drug development to diagnosing and triaging TB patients by the sounds of their cough. We spoke to Rajeev Dutt, CEO and president of AI Dynamics, about the company’s core AI technology, how it seeks to make AI accessible, and why he believes it can transform drug development and healthcare by moving the needle on costs.

Social anxiety disorder can cause debilitating physical and emotional manifestations when a person is doing such things as meeting new people, speaking in public, or interviewing for a job. It can cause sweating, a rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath, and dizziness. The fear of embarrassment and humiliation can lead to depression and even addiction. VistaGen Therapeutics is developing intranasally delivered therapies for CNS disorders that can provide rapid relief at the onset of an episode much like someone with asthma might use a rescue inhaler. We spoke to Shawn Singh, CEO of VistaGen, about social anxiety disorder, the need for innovative approaches to treat that and other CNS conditions, and the potential for rapid onset therapies to treat a range of mental health conditions.

Humacyte’s human acellular vessels are experimental, engineered, off-the-shelf replacement vessels that are being developed for vascular repair, reconstruction, and replacement. The vessels are designed to overcome long-standing limitations in vessel tissue repair and replacement. Though not yet approved, the manufactured vessels are getting a real-world test as the company has been providing them to hospitals in Ukraine to treat wounded civilians and soldiers with vascular injuries. We spoke to Laura Niklason, CEO of Humacyte, about the company’s human acellular vessels, how they are produced, and the potential needs they can address.

The emergence of tyrosine kinase inhibitors represented a major advance in the fight against cancer, but the ability of tumors to mutate and develop resistance to these therapies remains a challenge. Theseus Pharmaceuticals is developing what it calls “pan-variant” kinase inhibitors in the hopes of outsmarting tumors by anticipating the range of kinases that may drive their spread and growth as they change. We spoke to Tim Clackson, president and CEO of Theseus Pharmaceuticals, about its structural-based approach to drug development, how it determines the appropriate targets for its pan-variant kinase inhibitors, and why it believes its next-generation TKIs can overcome the challenge of drug resistance.

The emerging understanding of the role the microbiome plays in wellness and disease is opening up a large number of potential therapeutic targets in the millions of genes that drive the microorganisms that live within the body. Eligo Bioscience is developing a new class of precision medicines that uses gene editing to address the expression of pathogenic genes in the microbiome to treat not only infectious disease, but other conditions such as inflammatory diseases and cancer as well. We spoke to Xavier Duportet, CEO of Eligo Bioscience, about the company’s use of synthetic DNA to target bacterial genes, its platform technology, and the wide range of conditions that can be addressed through this approach.

While cancer immunotherapies have been promising, CAR T cell therapies have been costly, effective on less than half of patients, and focused on hematologic cancers. Cytovia Therapeutics is enlisting natural killer cells, part of the innate immune system, to develop off-the-shelf immunotherapies to treat liquid and solid tumors. The company is leveraging a cluster of technologies to produce CAR NK cell therapies, edited NK cells to enhance their targeting, and NK engagers to redirect NK cells toward tumor targets. We spoke to Daniel Teper, co-founder and CEO of Cytovia, about the case for NK immunotherapies, Cytovia’s platform technologies, and the company’s pipeline of therapies in preclinical development.

Neurodegenerative diseases such as ALS, Alzheimer’s disease, and frontotemporal dementia have been difficult conditions for drug developers to target. Coya Therapeutics is approaching these conditions as diseases of immune system dysfunction to address the neuroinflammation that underlies them We spoke to Adrian Hepner, president and chief medical officer of Coya, about the role a hyper immune response plays in the progress of neurodegenerative diseases, how the company’s experimental regulatory T cell therapy works to halt that, and its pipeline in development.