Business Of Biotech

→ WHAT IT COVERS Marc Hedrick, CEO of Plus Therapeutics, details the development of Rhenium-186 radiotherapeutic Rayovik for CNS cancers including glioblastoma and leptomeningeal disease, explains the company's diagnostic subsidiary See Inside, and outlines why targeted radiotherapy delivers over 10 times the radiation dose of external beam treatment.

→ WHAT IT COVERS Rahul Aras, PhD, CEO of Iterion Therapeutics, details how the company advanced its lead cancer drug tegavivant through clinical trials in hepatocellular carcinoma and other tumor types for under $50 million in equity capital, using grant funding, focused indication selection, and strategic academic partnerships. → KEY INSIGHTS - **Capital-efficient drug development:** Iterion reached human proof-of-concept in HCC and desmoid tumors using under $50 million in equity capital by...

→ WHAT IT COVERS Thomas von Erlach, PhD, cofounder and CEO of Vivtex, describes how his MIT-spun company uses ex vivo GI tissue screening, computational modeling, and AI to create orally available biologics, culminating in a $2.1 billion partnership with Novo Nordisk targeting obesity, diabetes, and autoimmune diseases. → KEY INSIGHTS - **Stealth-mode validation:** Vivtex spent roughly seven years validating its platform before raising its public profile, deliberately avoiding announcements...

→ WHAT IT COVERS Monika Sumra, PhD, founder of Bunka Incorporated, applies biosocial anthropology to life sciences organizations, explaining how environment shapes leadership and performance. She introduces Cultural Performance Indicators (CPIs) as measurable tools that reveal the human conditions driving future results in biotech and pharma manufacturing.

→ WHAT IT COVERS Jared Bauer, cofounder and CEO of SeekLabs, details how personal loss drove him to build an AI-powered infectious disease company, covering the BioSeqr platform mapping 145 diseases across 3 billion data points, a CRISPR therapeutic that raised African swine fever survival from 0% to 60%, and a three-part commercialization strategy. → KEY INSIGHTS - **Company Turnaround Framework:** Identify failing companies by finding distressed investors, acquire institutional knowledge...

→ WHAT IT COVERS Kite Pharma EVP Cindy Perettie details the operational, manufacturing, and commercial strategy behind scaling CAR-T cell therapies globally, covering the upcoming Anito-cel multiple myeloma launch, the Arcellx collaboration structure, next-generation pipeline development, and how Kite's manufacturing benchmarks outperform competitors across turnaround time and reliability metrics.

→ WHAT IT COVERS Brian Hilberdink, president of US Human Pharma at Boehringer Ingelheim, discusses the company's commercial strategy across cardio-renal-metabolic, oncology, and obesity pipelines, drawing on 26 years at Novo Nordisk and a leadership role at LEO Pharma to position Boehringer as a commercial powerhouse alongside its established research identity.

→ WHAT IT COVERS Ron Cooper, CEO of enGene, traces his path from 30 years at Bristol Myers Squibb through building and selling Albireo Pharma to Ipsen for $1.2B, to leading enGene's nonviral gene therapy for non-muscle invasive bladder cancer, covering biotech scaling, fundraising, manufacturing strategy, and the 2025 industry outlook. → KEY INSIGHTS - **Biotech Scaling Framework:** Keep three cycles synchronized at all times: science/development, financing, and human capital.

→ WHAT IT COVERS Marc Salzberg, CEO and CMO of Airway Therapeutics, discusses building a privately funded clinical-stage biotech developing zelpultide alfa, a recombinant surfactant protein D targeting bronchopulmonary dysplasia in preterm infants born at 22–28 weeks, now entering a multinational phase 2b/3 pivotal trial across Europe, the US, and Israel.

→ WHAT IT COVERS Kenneth Galbraith, CEO of Zymeworks, explains how the company built a portfolio of five pharma partnerships using its Azymetric bispecific antibody platform, secured a $375M Jazz Pharmaceuticals deal for zanadetimab, and pivoted in November 2024 toward a hybrid royalty acquisition model to compound returns without building internal commercialization infrastructure.

→ WHAT IT COVERS Six Life Science Connect chief editors from publications covering biotech, pharma manufacturing, drug discovery, cell and gene therapy, outsourcing, and RNA therapeutics convene for a 2025 retrospective and 2026 outlook, examining FDA leadership turnover, funding climate shifts, AI adoption, GLP-1 market expansion, China's biotech rise, and RNA therapeutic milestones.