Beyond Biotech

→ WHAT IT COVERS Paul Little, CEO of Swedish biotech Atrogi, discusses ATR258, a first-in-class oral beta-2 agonist designed to counter GLP-1-driven muscle loss. Phase one data from 69 participants shows simultaneous fat loss and functional muscle gain, with phase two trials planned for 2027 across three potential indications. → KEY INSIGHTS - **GLP-1 muscle loss scale:** GLP-1 drugs cause a meaningful proportion of total weight loss to come from muscle mass, not fat.

→ WHAT IT COVERS Valeriia Simanovskaia, founder and CEO of Bio Brokers, analyzes the GLP-1 market's shifting dynamics in 2025–2026, covering patent expiries in India, China, and Canada, the rise of oral formulations, monthly-dosing candidates like Amgen's maritide, and where capital is concentrating across obesity biotech. → KEY INSIGHTS - **Persistence gap:** Only 8% of patients initiating GLP-1 therapy for obesity without diabetes remain persistent at three years, rising to 14% for newer...

→ WHAT IT COVERS Abdulaziz Aldayel, nanomedicine researcher and deputy chair of collaboration partnerships at King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, details the fourth edition of Riyadh Global Medical Biotechnology Summit, which drew 57 countries, 200+ speakers, and generated over $1.3 billion in agreements across gene therapy, biomanufacturing, and AI-driven drug discovery. → KEY INSIGHTS - **Deal scale trajectory:** RGMBS deal value jumped from $100 million in 2025 to over $1.

→ WHAT IT COVERS Valo Health CEO Brian Alexander explains how the Flagship Pioneering-founded biotech combines AI, predictive chemistry, and 20 million longitudinal patient records spanning up to 30 years to improve drug discovery success rates, underpinning partnerships with EMD Serono worth up to $3 billion and Novo Nordisk in cardiometabolic disease.

→ WHAT IT COVERS TheaLife CEO Thomas Ruggia outlines the company's oral therapy ND10, derived from 7-methylxanthine, a caffeine metabolite, targeting pediatric myopia progression. With no FDA-approved pharmacologic treatment currently available, TheaLife is preparing a Phase III trial after observing measurable effects across 711 children in Denmark over two decades.

→ WHAT IT COVERS Beyond Biotech's summer recap episode features seven founders and executives from companies including EVOX, Arvanus, Nanobiotics, Step Pharma, Gain Therapeutics, Alterna, and Thirona, covering three core themes: novel drug delivery to the brain, platform science mechanisms, and the financing and partnership strategies keeping each program alive.

→ WHAT IT COVERS Alterna CMO Dr. Narissa Kreyer explains how the company's engineered tRNA therapy AP-003 targets nonsense mutations — a shared error class causing roughly 10% of all genetic disease diagnoses — rather than individual genes, enabling a single molecule to potentially treat dozens of rare diseases simultaneously via basket trial design.

→ WHAT IT COVERS Evox Therapeutics CEO Per London explains how engineered exosomes deliver gene editors directly into the brain, bypassing the blood-brain barrier to target Huntington's disease via MSH3 knockout and ALS via intracisternal administration, with a clinical trial planned for the second half of 2027. → KEY INSIGHTS - **CNS Delivery Route:** For Huntington's, Evox uses convection-enhanced delivery — a one-time neurosurgical procedure that infuses exosome-packaged gene editors...

→ WHAT IT COVERS BioSpain 2026, hosted in Bilbao September 29–October 1 at the Bilbao Exhibition Center, marks the event's first annual edition after two decades of biennial scheduling. Acebio's Stuart Medina outlines the partnering system, four program tracks, international delegation opportunities, and a free Talent Day job fair for biotech professionals.

→ WHAT IT COVERS Nanobiotix founder Laurent Levy explains how hafnium oxide nanoparticles injected directly into tumors amplify radiotherapy efficacy without increasing damage to surrounding tissue, with a phase three head-and-neck trial reading out in early 2026, plus a new Nano Primer platform designed to improve delivery of genetic medicines across oncology and CNS disorders. → KEY INSIGHTS - **Physics vs.

→ WHAT IT COVERS Tony Hixson, Chief Business Officer at Cancer Research Horizons, explains how Cancer Research UK's commercial subsidiary bridges early-stage oncology research to market through spinouts, licensing, and the See Further initiative — a £50M multi-charity joint venture targeting childhood cancer medicines neglected by pharmaceutical companies.

→ WHAT IT COVERS Beijing-based Therona Inc., founded in 2021, has built a circular RNA platform with three active clinical programs — prophylactic vaccine, therapeutic cancer vaccine, and in vivo CAR-T — while remaining largely unknown to Western pharma. CEO Lu Gao outlines the science, manufacturing approach, and dual US-China IND strategy for lead asset TI-0032.

→ WHAT IT COVERS Gene Mack, president and CEO of Gain Therapeutics, explains how GT02287 targets the GBA1-encoded enzyme glucocerebrosidase to potentially modify Parkinson's disease progression rather than manage symptoms. Phase 1b data from 21 patients in Australia shows biomarker reductions in toxic lipid substrates and early functional improvements.

→ WHAT IT COVERS Martin Steiner, Managing Director of DEBRA Research, explains how the German nonprofit bridges early-stage academic EB research and commercial drug development by funding grants, making equity investments in biotech companies, and building dedicated clinical trial infrastructure for a disease affecting roughly 1-in-20,000 people with a life expectancy of 35–40 years.

→ WHAT IT COVERS Bio Europe 2026, returning to Cologne November 9–11 for its 32nd edition, expands from three to seven content tracks, adding regulatory affairs, clinical development, and biomanufacturing programming, alongside a new content-only registration pass designed to bring the full biopharma C-suite into a conference historically dominated by business development professionals.

→ WHAT IT COVERS Andy Parker, CEO of StepPharma, explains how the company's lead drug dancadostat selectively inhibits the CTPS1 enzyme to block cancer cell proliferation across three concurrent clinical trials — relapsed/refractory lymphoma, biomarker-selected solid tumors, and essential thrombocythemia — following a €38M Series C raise. → KEY INSIGHTS - **CTPS1 Selectivity Mechanism:** Dancadostat achieves 1,300-fold selectivity for CTPS1 over CTPS2, meaning healthy tissues can still use...

→ WHAT IT COVERS Arvinas CEO Randy Teal joins Beyond Biotech to discuss the FDA approval of vepdegestrant, the first PROTAC protein degrader to complete Phase 3 trials, explaining how the technology eliminates disease-causing proteins entirely rather than blocking them, and outlining the company's pipeline across oncology and neurodegenerative diseases.

→ WHAT IT COVERS Brandy Wilkinson, CEO of GEM PharmaTech, and neuroscience pipeline leader Ricky Feng explain how the company's library of over 25,000 genetically engineered mouse models addresses neurology's sub-10% clinical success rate by building preclinical tools that mirror human disease biology, biomarkers, and disease staging. → KEY INSIGHTS - **Model selection risk:** Reaching for convenient, overexpressing mouse models rather than disease-relevant ones is a primary driver of CNS drug...

→ WHAT IT COVERS Werner Lanthaler, former Evotec CEO who scaled the company from 200 employees and €40M to 5,000 staff and €800M revenue, shares practical strategies for biotechs attending the BIO International Convention in San Diego, covering preparation, on-site execution, and post-event follow-up to convert meetings into partnerships. → KEY INSIGHTS - **Pre-event targeting:** Biotechs should map their disease area and development stage against the 20–40 pharma companies with publicly known...

→ WHAT IT COVERS Olivia Ryu, Senior Director at Curia, explains how corticosteroid and hormonal therapy APIs — molecules in use for over 70 years — still require highly specialized manufacturing, dedicated segregated facilities, and end-to-end CDMO partnerships to meet growing global demand across aging populations and emerging markets. → KEY INSIGHTS - **Facility Segregation:** Steroid and hormone APIs require physically dedicated, segregated manufacturing plants — not just procedural...