Flot.bio

New episode: I’m with Adrian (Ad) Rawcliffe of Adaptimmune 🇬🇧, the company behind the first engineered cell therapy for solid tumors that has been approved. — — — Thank you to today’s sponsor, Merck Life Science, who can support your antibody drug discovery. Learn more and claim a cool antibody pin here: https://bit.ly/4e2Ed3J — — — “There are very few cell surface proteins that are completely specific to cancer.” We talked about Tecelra's commercial rollout. “Peak sales, it was a $400M figure for the annual sales and with pretty high gross margin. An analyst from Guggenheim thought it was rather $180M. What do you think?” We also talked about what's next in cell therapy, and Philly Cheesesteak vs Fish and Chips. You can now watch and listen to the full episode for free on YouTube, Spotify or Apple (link in the comments 👇)

Excited to partner with the largest biotech event in 🇪🇺 to record an episode live for the first time! I’ll be chatting with Lovisa Afzelius, General Partner at Flagship Pioneering, for an hour on Tuesday at 11 am in room K1. We’ll cover the four different biotech companies Lovisa has founded, Flagship’s European initiatives, and how she became one of Sweden’s leading female biopharma executives. If you’re attending BIO-Europe, I would love to see you in the audience and catch up. I would also love to hear if you’ve any questions for Lovisa. Please let me know in the comments or DM 😇

“They (Daiichi Sankyo) have a really powerful ADC platform, but also for them, it's sometimes challenging!” Here’s a clip of Dominik Schumacher of Tubulis GmbH about one of the hottest space in biotech right now, ADC’s. Antibody-drug conjugates, or ADCs, are targeted therapies for cancer treatments that combine precision of biologicals with the potency of chemo. While I thought Asia, especially Japan and China, had been the leaders in antibody-drug conjugates, Dominik points out the trailblazing work that has also been pumping out of the US. “A lot of pioneering work has been done in the US.” “There was a first wave, Seagen and Immunogen. They had so many ADCs in the program, and there was so much rich science  coming from them.” What do you think about the ADC space at the moment? 🤔

New episode: I’m talking with the CEO of one of the top EU biotechs in the cancer vaccines space, Marina Udier-Blagovic of Nouscom 🇨🇭 “A good vaccine has to have three things: 🚀 A good platform 💰 The right payload into that platform 👩⚕️ Figuring out in which patients you put it.” We talked about cancer vaccines and Nouscom’s platform. “If I knew at the time all of this, I would probably, maybe have been intimidated. But when you’re young and you just don’t know any better, you are kind of naive.” We also discussed the importance of focus for success, and her career, becoming one of the 11% of female CEOs of biotechs in Europe in 2024. You can now watch and listen to the full episode for free on YouTube, Spotify or Apple (link in the comments 👇) P.S. Have you noticed the new microphones for a much better audio quality?

“More gender diversity leads to better business decisions. We should drive for more diversity in the industry!” Here’s a short from Christina Takke of V-Bio Ventures on the importance of gender diversity in biotech. Key points: 1. “What is known is that men and females, they communicate differently.” This can lead to different perceptions of information and decision-making, such as missing a deal. 2. Diversity among the people you interact with is so important to help you see ideas differently, have a wider understanding of an issue, and help you to move away from confirmatory bias. 3. Diversity leads to better business decisions and ultimately, better biotech for patients. I was really happy to have this conversation with Christina (on the beach 🏖️). She brought up great points, backed by her experience and research. What is your opinion on the importance of diversity, particularly gender diversity, in biotech? 🤔

In 2024, Marina is one of the 11% of female CEOs of biotechs in Europe. Great to meet her in person for the first time and to record an episode while in Basel 🇨🇭 We talked about Nouscom and cancer vaccines. We also spoke about the importance of F O C U S and her inspiring career, from Croatia to the US to Switzerland. Full episode will be online first week of October ⏰

“How to build a biotech incubator and ecosystem without having €500M from the Novo Nordisk foundation?” I was trying to challenge Jens Nielsen of BioInnovation Institute on its model and how it could not work elsewhere without a rich donator like Novo. “We’re thinking a lot about how we could replicate this model without spending that much money somewhere else. How do we help Berlin, Paris, and other places in Europe?” “There would be big learnings on the most cost-effective ways to help biotech startups.” Cost and return are the main challenges of a biotech incubator. For every euro you invest, you want at least one euro out. So far, I don’t know that many biotech incubators in Europe that are profitable, and so most are financed by semi-public investments, which often have downsides attached (politics, slow etc.). “When we have international visitors, from France, Germany, England, and other places, they get super excited, and they all say we would like to have a BII, until I tell them what it costs.” This reminds me of Labcentral in Boston, an exceptional space, but it has received massive financing from the state of Massachusetts and sponsors. At the end of the day, running a biotech incubator is expensive. As for a biotech startup, you need enough capital to invest, hire the best people, and have a virtuous cycle. “If you don't have enough capital… you can’t execute on it.” What do you think about BII and biotech incubators? 🤔

New episode: here’s my conversation with Harpreet Singh of Immatics, one of the 15 most valuable 🇪🇺 biotechs. “We think that TCRs are key to making solid cancers accessible to Immunotherapies because TCRs can tap into the intra-cellular target space.” We also talked about Cell Therapy at large and why there is scepticism at the moment. “Well, it matters so much whether you get it right. This is true for every kind of drug, but for cell therapy, you have a relatively high cost of goods, so you have to give something back in return that is so mind-blowing for physicians, patients, for payers.” We finished on the combination with mRNA therapeutics and his upbringing in a Sikh family in Germany. You can now watch and listen to the full episode for free on YouTube, Spotify or Apple (link in the comments). What do you think? 🤔 P.S. Have you noticed the new background music to celebrate episode 20?

“My favourite stuff is the way Onno from Galagapos came back from disaster, time and time again.” 🎢 In this new short, Edwin Moses shares his opinion of what makes a great biotech entrepreneur. The key point: When disaster strikes, which ultimately will at least once, make sure you don’t lie down in defeat. Keep trying to find a way. That’s what leads to success. I really enjoyed listening to his experience on this and completely agree. As an entrepreneur, I have faced disasters a few times so I understand how hard it is to push through. But ultimately, persistence is worth it 💪 What do you think makes a great biotech entrepreneur?

"What makes it unique is the chemistry…It has a specific spiking pattern that stands for low toxicity." Here's a short clip from our chat with Dr. Claudia Ulbrich. Discover how Cardior Pharmaceuticals was one of the first to make microRNA (miRNA)-targeted therapeutics work for cardiac diseases. “I think in the first instance, there was a different approach to identify the right microRNA.” Learn about how the science works and the outcomes for patients. "We are reducing the target with more than 50-55%…” What do you think about this form of therapeutics?