21
Feb
2024
Joy, Gratitude and Next Steps for Timmerman Traverse
Reporting this morning from Tanzania. I’m feeling joyful and grateful. My latest biotech team wrapped up another $1 million Timmerman Traverse fundraising campaign for the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation. All 20 members of the team reached the summit of Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa at 19,341 feet. We raised awareness of Damon Runyon’s national network of brilliant, brave... Read More
20
Feb
2024
Timmerman Traverse for Damon Runyon, Kilimanjaro 2024 Photo Gallery
The Timmerman Traverse for Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation is in the books. We have raised about $1.1 million for this national network of brilliant, brave and bold young scientists. All 20 members of the team made it to the summit of Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa, at 19,341 feet. It’s an experience none of us will ever forget. ... Read More
17
Feb
2024
New Medical Podcast (Like Winter and the 2024 Red Sox) Offers Bleak Outlook, While Four Books Instill Hope
As Bostonians tentatively emerge from the bleak cold of another New England winter and begin to search for signs of spring, we instinctively turn to the Red Sox. Unfortunately, I am informed by my daughters that the team’s prospects appear dismal this season, so we’ll need to look elsewhere for hope. We might consider instead Boston’s other great preoccupation: biomedical... Read More
9
Feb
2024
Botox: A Luminous Example of Field Discovery
In this weekend’s Wall Street Journal, I review Death To Beauty, a new book by Dr. Eugene Helveston. It’s about the fascinating history of botulinum toxin and the California ophthalmologist, Alan Scott, who drove it into clinical use. The book review, of course, speaks for itself, but I wanted to highlight for TR readers an aspect of the story that... Read More
9
Feb
2024
CRISPR to Protect the Bone Marrow & Attack Cancer: Robert Ang on The Long Run
Today’s guest on The Long Run is Robert Ang. Robert is the CEO of Cambridge, Mass.-based Vor Bio. The company is working on what I think you could call an elegant application of CRISPR gene editing for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia. The idea here takes some explaining but is pretty simple. Patients with acute myeloid leukemia typically get... Read More
7
Feb
2024
Scion Starts with $310M to Build ‘Exceptional’ Biotech Startups
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1
Feb
2024
Vertex’s Next Big Thing, Regeneron’s Cell Therapy Play, & Takeda Bets on Protagonist
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25
Jan
2024
Sanofi Shells Out for Inhibrx, CG’s Breakout IPO, & a Cure for a Rare Deafness
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22
Jan
2024
Gene Expression In Therapeutic R&D: Rick Young on The Long Run
Today’s guest on The Long Run is Richard A. Young. Rick is a professor of biology at MIT and a core member of the Whitehead Institute dating back to its founding in the 1980s. Rick’s long and prolific research career has been dedicated to studying gene expression. He’s won a number of awards, and is a member of the National... Read More
18
Jan
2024
Arena Debuts with a Bang, Vertex Extends CRISPR, & BridgeBio Builds War Chest
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17
Jan
2024
One Thing Is Harder To Get From Investors Than Money: Candid Feedback
Candid feedback is a wonderful thing. It is essential for anyone who wants to get better at what they do and get ahead in life. It is oxygen for any professional with a learning mindset. It is also one of the sincerest ways to show someone you care about them. Conversely, lack of candor in any of its forms (keeping... Read More
11
Jan
2024
GSK Buys TSLP Antibody, J&J’s ADC Play, & Merck Adds Harpoon T-Cell Engagers
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9
Jan
2024
Investing in Healthy Aging: Jens Eckstein on The Long Run
Jens Eckstein is today’s guest on The Long Run. He’s an investment partner at Hevolution Foundation. It’s a Saudi Arabia-backed fund that supports basic research in healthy aging and invests in startups with partners to translate that science into interventions that help people live healthier, longer lives. These efforts are sometimes branded as increasing “healthspan” if not necessarily “lifespan.” Jens... Read More
8
Jan
2024
The Biopharma Industry Has a Data Integrity Problem
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4
Jan
2024
Karuna and RayzeBio Acquired, TCGX’s $1B Crossover Bet, & Cytokinetics’ Breakout
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4
Jan
2024
MOMA Gets Roche Deal, $66M Upfront, to Discover Novel Small Molecule Cancer Drugs
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2
Jan
2024
Rebooting AI in Drug Discovery on the Slope of Enlightenment
The past few years have seen a wave of AI investment in drug discovery in both large pharma companies and in venture-backed biotech startups. Expectations are running high. Management teams are betting that even marginal improvements on the ~90% failure rate of clinical trials will be worth the investment. While there have been hints of improved R&D metrics in... Read More
27
Dec
2023
Give to the Next Generation of Scientists
This is the time of year when many people sit down and think about the causes they want to support. I’m asking you to consider donating today to young scientists through the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation. Why Young Scientists? Our system for funding science doesn’t do enough to support young people. The average age of a first-time NIH grant... Read More
26
Dec
2023
Bispecific Antibodies for Cancer: Shelley Force Aldred and Nathan Trinklein on The Long Run
Today, I have a dynamic duo of scientific entrepreneurs on the show – Shelley Force Aldred and Nathan Trinklein. They are the co-founders of San Francisco-based Rondo Therapeutics. The company raised $67 million in a Series A financing announced in March 2022. Shelley is the CEO and Nathan is the chief scientific officer. Rondo is developing bispecific T-cell engaging antibodies... Read More
21
Dec
2023
The Cultures of Large and Small Pharmas, plus: Can They Overcome The “Productivity Paradox” and Seize the AI Moment?
Spurred by several questions I’ve received from students and trainees, today’s year-end column examines some of the ways large biopharma companies are fundamentally different from small biotech companies and startups. We’ll also ask whether biopharma can overcome new technology’s dreaded “productivity paradox” and learn, quickly, how to apply AI to accelerate drug development. Large Pharmas vs Smaller Companies (Including Startups)... Read More