Latest / The BioHub - by Avetix / Episode 162 - Arun Swaminathan - CEO at Coya Therapeutics

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Episode 162 - Arun Swaminathan - CEO at Coya Therapeutics · The BioHub - by Avetix

0:06
Welcome back to the Bio Hub. Today I am joined by Aaron
0:10
Swaminathan, CEO of Koya Therapeutics.
0:14
Now Aaron has over 20 years of hands on healthcare executive
0:18
experience across corporate and business development strategy
0:22
and finance with a track record of structuring and closing
0:26
company validating transactions. Aaron, great to have you on
0:30
today. Yeah.
0:31
Look, so Aaron, you know, just to start off with, take us
0:34
through your career arc, I mean, from BMS and Covance to founding
0:37
a biotech to CBO roles to ultimately your CEO role
0:41
currently. I mean, what were the key
0:43
inflection points that really shaped how you lead today?
0:46
Yeah. Thank you, Ben.
0:49
I've had a wonderful career journey, all of it in pharma,
0:54
biotech, including my degrees in pharmacy.
1:00
I started as a pharmacist. I didn't practice much as a
1:04
pharmacist, but that's my basic training.
1:07
I did a PhD in clinical pharmacology as well, which then
1:12
led me to Bristol-Myers Square. That's my, that's one of my key
1:16
industry roles where I was responsible in my early career
1:21
for clinical trials in the cardiovascular and metabolic
1:25
space, which wasn't my background.
1:27
I, I, I did my PhD in transplant immunology.
1:31
But it, it, it kind of, for that was probably the first key
1:34
inflection point in the sense that, you know, it gave me
1:38
exposure to the Pharmaceutical industry.
1:41
What doctoral taught me was how do drugs kind of move from the
1:46
discovery process to getting to the clinic and then getting to
1:53
an NDA or a BLA filing. I was fortunate to be able to do
1:58
all of that with one specific molecule at BMS. So that was a
2:02
key inflection point on my understanding the journey of a
2:07
molecule through the discovery to approval process.
2:12
A second inflection point in my career was when I transitioned
2:16
to more of the commercial rules and this was a deliberate choice
2:21
by me to kind of understand the other aspects of what makes
2:26
drugs come to market, how do they happen, who are all the
2:29
people involved. So that was maybe the key 2nd
2:33
inflection point. And the third key inflection
2:38
point in my career was my decision to Co found a biotech
2:43
company. And with that I was able to
2:46
bring all of the experiences I had gained into.
2:50
How do you conceptualize the scientific idea, take it forward
2:56
and form a company and move it forward financing and everything
3:01
else that comes with it. And then the last 10 years, I
3:05
have continued on that edge of entrepreneurship and sculpt by
3:10
being in the C-Suite of small companies where, you know, you
3:14
learn how to manage these organizations and advance the
3:19
science so it actually becomes meaningful for patients
3:22
eventually. So that's kind of my short
3:25
version of my journey today. Yeah.
3:27
And obviously you've now you're now at Koya.
3:29
I mean, what really pulled you into Koya in the 1st place and
3:32
and what has made you decide to take the transition from your
3:36
former CBO role into your current role as CEO?
3:39
Yeah, I transitioned to my current role almost a year and a
3:42
half ago, A year and a half ago, what attracted me to Koya was
3:47
three things, the science, the people and the opportunity I saw
3:51
to make a difference for patients that have a high unmet
3:55
need. So these were the three drivers
3:57
that brought me to Koya and it has proven me right.
4:01
We are working on something very meaningful and that is something
4:05
that I wanted to do is, you know, I saw the impact that a
4:11
company like Koya could make if we are successful in
4:14
transforming the lives of patients that today really have
4:18
very limited options. So that kind of got me excited.
4:21
Love the science and I'm sure we'll talk more about it and the
4:25
approach. So not only was I attracted to
4:30
the mission of Koya, but also the fact that there was actually
4:35
products in the pipeline that I felt strongly are going to be
4:39
successful. Yeah.
4:41
And and you touched on the science that I mean Koya is
4:44
built around T regs and you have Shimon Sakaguchi on your
4:47
scientific Advisory Board. I mean for the listeners, what
4:51
are regulatory T cells or T regs as you call them?
4:54
And why do you believe that there's such a powerful
4:57
therapeutic concept within neurodegeneration?
5:01
Yeah, T regs as a name implies they are regulatory T cells.
5:05
They regulate or modulate the T cells, which are the key cells
5:11
in the immune system. A lot of the neurodegenerative
5:15
diseases and autoimmune diseases as well are driven by T Reg
5:20
dysfunction. T regs are neuroprotective.
5:24
So when there is T Reg dysfunction, it tends to drive
5:28
the progression of diseases like ALS, frontoterpal dementia,
5:32
Alzheimer's, etcetera. The job of the T regs is to kind
5:36
of act as a security guard or the brakes, if I may, of the
5:41
immune system, kind of keeping that immune balance and making
5:46
sure that the immune system is not attacking healthy cells and
5:51
not attacking the nerve cells, not attacking the neurons.
5:54
So that's kind of at a high level what the T Rex do.
5:57
They're kind of the security guards or breaks of the immune
6:00
system. Yeah.
6:02
And obviously I mentioned Shimon there.
6:04
I mean, what what is his, you know, particular role within,
6:07
within the founding of of T Regs?
6:09
I mean, do you want to speak a little bit about his Nobel Prize
6:11
as well? Absolutely.
6:13
Doctor Sakaguchi won the Nobel Prize along with Doctors
6:18
Ramsdell and Bronkoff for their work around the regulatory T
6:24
cells. And this was just the most
6:26
recent Nobel Prize awarded in medicine and Physiology.
6:30
Doctor Sokoguchi is the one who discovered the regulatory T
6:34
cells way back in the late 1990s.
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And what he was able to do was to identify the cells that
6:43
seemed to act as the security guards of the immune system.
6:48
And then with back and forth work that was independently
6:51
being done by the others as well, they formed the
6:55
connection. There was also an identification
6:58
of a gene called Fox P3, and this is a connection that really
7:04
made drugs and T regs as a viable target to target
7:10
diseases. I think that was the connection,
7:12
right? Being able to say that there's a
7:15
connection between a gene, Fox P3, and Fox P3 regulates the
7:22
functioning and expression of T Rex.
7:24
So then there was an interplay that was recognized, and that's
7:28
what the Nobel Prize was about. And independently, based on some
7:32
of this work that was happening, Doctor Stanley Appel, who's the
7:37
scientific Advisory Board chair with Koya, made the connection
7:42
between T Rex dysfunction and neurodegenerative diseases.
7:46
More specifically, I think what a lot of the work that Doctor
7:50
Sakiguchi and others did showed an autoimmune models.
7:54
And when you knock out this fox B3, it drives autoimmune
7:58
diseases. But the principle is same.
8:00
So, Koya, we're really standing on the shoulders of some
8:04
scientific giants and we feel that our, you know, we always
8:10
felt very strongly that our scientific approach is the right
8:13
approach for these diseases. If anything, you know these
8:17
things just further validate that for us.
8:19
Yeah, and it it's a great scientific foundation to to be
8:23
building a company on. I mean, walk us through a bit
8:26
about Coyer's pipeline today. You know, what are your lead
8:28
assets? What are they designed to do
8:30
biologically and where are they currently in their development?
8:33
Our lead acid is code named Coed 3O2.
8:37
What it is, is a proprietary combination of a low dose
8:40
Interleukin 2 and a CTL A4 IG. Our lead indication for which we
8:48
are currently in Phase 2B clinical trials with a trial
8:52
called All Stars is in patients with ALS.
8:57
So we are doing a randomized double blood control study right
9:01
now looking at the effect of COIA 3O2 in potentially stopping
9:07
or slowing the progression of ALS in these patients.
9:11
That Sunday is fully recruiting. It's ongoing.
9:14
We're recruiting across 25 centers in the United States and
9:18
Canada. We anticipate completing
9:22
enrollment in the second-half and potentially having a top
9:25
line readout in the first quarter of 2027.
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Behind that the same molecule Coed three O 2.
9:34
We also now have the Ind green lighter approval to proceed with
9:39
the next stage of clinical study in patients with frontal
9:42
temporal dementia, which we intend to do later this year.
9:46
And behind that, obviously we're looking at the potential not
9:50
only of Coed 3O2, but our other pipeline molecule clit 3O3,
9:55
which is a combination of a proprietary low dose aisle 2
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with GLP 1 agonist in diseases like Alzheimer's and other
10:03
spaces as well. Yeah, I mean, it's a really
10:06
exciting time. I think the next the next 12
10:08
months are going to be pretty big for you guys in terms of
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what your future really looks like.
10:12
You know, looking ahead, what does your development strategy
10:15
look like and what has to go right operationally for you to
10:19
be able to, you know, hopefully deliver the data that you want
10:22
to see? That's quite simple.
10:25
We have to execute on our ongoing clinical trial and our
10:28
planned clinical trial. The ongoing clinical trial All
10:31
Stars in ALS is probably the biggest executional milestone
10:38
that Goya has had in our lifespan as a company.
10:42
Like I said, we anticipate completing a recruitment in the
10:45
trial later in the second-half of this year.
10:48
So that is going to be one of the key, key factors for COIA.
10:52
So we're really focused on making sure that that trial is
10:57
proceeding well, which it is to date and continues to proceed
11:01
well and that we can get to that finish line, which is the
11:05
completion of the trial and the radar of the top line.
11:08
Similarly, less, less risk or maybe less because it's a
11:19
exploratory study is the next study, the frontal duple
11:21
dementia study as well. So you know, right now 2026 for
11:26
Koya is really a year of execution that then sets us up
11:30
for a potentially transformational year hopefully
11:34
for the patients, which then becomes a transformational year
11:38
by default for the company in 27, so.
11:42
Yeah, 100% and yeah, fingers crossed for you guys.
11:45
I'm really hoping the next year is going to going to be that
11:47
pivotal year that you guys are hoping for.
11:51
As for yourself, I mean you spent years bridging science and
11:55
value creation. I mean, what is really your
11:57
playbook for translating interesting biology into a
12:01
credible commercial opportunity? The playbook is both complex and
12:08
simple, but it is simple in the sense that it is about finding a
12:13
way and being creative and innovative in how you can now
12:18
take the science and make it move through the formal steps
12:24
that are necessary for it to get to the larger clinical trials
12:28
and eventually to the market. Because there we are a regulated
12:32
industry. So really a lot of fit is about
12:34
how do we get through the right checkpoints, the regulatory
12:38
checkpoints in the appropriate manner.
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And as a small company, how do you get that funded?
12:44
How do you keep it funded? How do you make sure that you're
12:48
creative in leveraging other resources to move these forward?
12:53
And I think that that's the key with small companies, Ben, is
12:56
that the ability to kind of look for creative ways to continue to
13:03
move the chains. It's an American analogy, I
13:06
understand. But you know, to come to
13:08
continue to move the move the ball forward, that is the key.
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And that is something that I have gotten better and better
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at. I'm still learning through every
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single experience I've had, especially over the last 10
13:23
years. And there's a lot of
13:25
efficiencies, there's a lot of creative ways, but you know, it
13:28
is really required somebody that drives it forward to bring good
13:34
science to market. It doesn't happen automatically,
13:38
right. That's that's kind of where I am
13:40
passionate about doing that. Yeah.
13:43
And obviously it is so different doing that within a small
13:46
biotech environment as compared to what it is within a large
13:49
pharma. If if you were to give anyone
13:52
who's potentially starting out their career within the biotech
13:55
industry and wants to focus on that commercial aspect, if you
13:58
were to give anyone within that sort of space any piece of
14:02
advice, what would it really be? To people starting their career
14:06
in biotech, I still am a strong believer that if you have the
14:10
opportunity, start at a big or company, not not a company that
14:17
house pretty employees or 30 because it is important early in
14:21
Courier to develop a lot of depth as well as breadth and
14:26
bigger companies provide you that opportunity.
14:29
I had that opportunity at pursue Marsquip.
14:33
So I'd say that if you're starting off in a career, if
14:36
it's possible, sometimes it's not, try to get that that
14:39
experience. And if your ambitions include
14:43
being a leader in a biotech industry, then diversify in the
14:48
right kind of way as well. Meaning if you only become an
14:53
expert in one field, that is great.
14:55
We do need those people in the industry.
14:57
That doesn't necessarily set you up for being a broader leader in
15:02
a biotech company because you have to understand how every
15:06
aspect of the engine works. And the best way to do that is
15:11
to get experience across multiple different functions.
15:15
No 100%. And I think, you know, you do
15:17
typically see a, a, a bit of a gap between those two different
15:21
types of people. There are some people who are,
15:23
you know, exceptional specialists in what they do and
15:26
they stick to that and they build up to the point where they
15:28
are, you know, recognized as one of the go to people that within
15:31
their realm. And you do have other people
15:34
like yourself who like to work across all different functions,
15:37
really learn the entire, you know, biotech or drug
15:40
development engine, as you put it, so that when it does come to
15:43
that point later in their career that they are more experienced,
15:45
they have that wider breadth of, of skill set to be able to lead,
15:50
you know, effectively. Absolutely.
15:53
And you know, that depends on each individual and what
15:56
motivates and drives them. So I can't really give a general
15:59
guidance to, but there is a lot of value to people who are
16:03
focused on one area and are deep experts.
16:07
Without that we would not function.
16:10
We do absolutely need those people, but we also, you also
16:14
need, you have to decide if being a more of a generalist
16:18
with substantial depth in multiple areas excites you more
16:24
or would you prefer to be deep in one area.
16:27
And I think that kind of defines your career paths and choice as
16:30
well, so. Yeah, no, certainly.
16:33
I mean when you think about biotech culture and what truly
16:37
matters most, you know, how do you protect those non
16:41
negotiables as a company scales? Well, number one non negotiable
16:46
to me of any biotech company should be patients.
16:49
We have to do when is right for the patients in every step of
16:53
the way, whether it is in clinical trials, whether it is
16:56
in data we generate. We have to keep the patient at
17:00
the center of everything we do. I think that is absolutely non
17:04
negotiable and even without the regular interest in place which
17:09
they're there to check and balance those things.
17:12
But even without that, I think that is a core commitment about
17:16
the company a pharmaceutical company makes is that we would
17:20
put patient safety as our number one and top priority as it
17:24
should be. The the others are you know
17:28
following the path understanding the non negotiables are we are a
17:33
regulated industry. So you have to follow the steps
17:36
required to meet the FDA, the EMEA and other regulatory
17:40
authorities with them, work with them and partner with them.
17:44
And to me, these are fundamental to being able to lead a biotech
17:51
company. Yeah, no, certainly.
17:54
And then as you grow it, obviously you know, you founded
17:57
your own biotech Koya. Koya right now is still fairly
18:00
small. You have a, a very close knit
18:03
and and specific culture that you, you focus on with everyone
18:06
that you bring into the business.
18:08
As you look to grow Koya and let let's say you sort of triple,
18:12
quadruple your numbers over the next few years.
18:15
How do you really ensure that that core culture that you've
18:19
built to begin with is maintained as you as you build?
18:22
Then that is that is always a key responsibility of a leader
18:29
and not an easy one. It always sounds easy that when
18:32
you scale up that you can keep certain aspects of the culture
18:37
still intact. But as organizations grow as you
18:41
know better than probably I do, it's hard to sometime keep that
18:45
entrepreneurial culture. Today, the culture at Koya is
18:49
one of no lanes. If our people want to step in to
18:55
spaces that are not their core competency, we welcome it.
19:00
We welcome open dialogue. We, because we're all we're
19:03
trying to do is to put our heads together to advance the programs
19:08
and we believe that multiple heads, smart heads are better
19:12
than one head dictating what should be happening.
19:15
That is harder when you start scaling.
19:18
And I, I realized that I'm practical of being a big
19:21
companies, but one of the challenges for me is going to be
19:24
how do we preserve that culture, that culture of collaboration,
19:29
that culture of non hierarchy as we expand as an organization.
19:35
And that is something I'm going to be focusing on or the next
19:39
year as we set up to as a company.
19:43
And some of that is identifying the types of wirings that best
19:50
fit the culture in Koya, for example, You know, I
19:53
fundamentally believe that I would rather bring on people
19:57
that have a sense of curiosity and a willingness to kind of
20:01
learn. Than people who already think
20:05
they are the experts in a certain field, right.
20:07
Sometimes it's it's a balance, a balancing act of these things.
20:11
So yes, culture, we are at that point where setting the culture
20:15
in a more formal way is going to become critical as we bring an
20:19
on board people in the next years.
20:23
One thing that has become a bit of a question I guess since
20:26
COVID was, you know, whether on site presence or being a virtual
20:31
company really makes difference to culture and to that
20:34
collaborative environment that you really want to foster.
20:37
What are your thoughts to that? I mean, do you want Koya to have
20:40
sort of one or two central hubs or are you happy operating
20:43
fairly virtually? Right now we're happy operating
20:46
fairly virtually and it works really well for us.
20:50
There are pros and cons, Ben. As you know, you live in this
20:55
industry, flexibility of virtual allows us to bring the best
21:02
talent we can in one sense, because people are not
21:06
constrained by, hey, I got family commitments, I've got
21:09
these so I can't move. So we're not missing out on
21:13
talent because of those types of reasons, right?
21:16
Because we we're allowing the flexibility for people to live
21:20
where they choose to live to, to to a large extent.
21:24
Having said that, as we grow as a company, we definitely have to
21:27
keep an eye on that and see if we maybe need to go to a more
21:31
hybrid model. All of that will be part of the
21:34
assessment as we grow. Today, I see no reason why we
21:39
would move away from our completely virtual model.
21:43
And today we don't have too many junior people at Koya.
21:50
I do wonder, and you may have better insights into this, how
21:57
my career would have turned out if a 25 years old I had started
22:02
my job in a virtual job. I, I think I learned a lot from
22:07
being in an office, interacting with colleagues, bumping into
22:12
senior people, bumping into colleagues and peers at that,
22:18
that element. I, I'm sure I know there's a lot
22:21
of articles being written about it.
22:23
I do worry about that aspect of it for people starting off in
22:27
their career. So as Koya grows and we start
22:30
bringing more, you know, recently graduates or people
22:35
with a couple of years experience, that is something I
22:39
have to start thinking about is at that point do we want a
22:43
different model? And I think right now we're not
22:45
yet there. So right now we are, I think in
22:49
a perfect place with the virtual virtual model that we have.
22:53
Yeah. And if it works for you, then
22:55
that that's absolutely perfect. And I think like you said, as
22:59
you grow, it becomes, becomes more of a question and once you
23:02
start bringing slightly people because you know, those, those
23:05
first 5-10 years of your career where you are off of everyone
23:10
can be so vital to an individual's development.
23:13
So I think yeah, it, it is a question to consider for the
23:16
future. But I think you know, if that
23:18
model works for you where you are right now, then then then
23:20
great. Well, I think the key to making
23:22
this model work is what we talked about before.
23:25
It is hiring the right types of people that are self wired, self
23:31
motivated, that are committed. And that's the kind of people we
23:36
have at Koya. So where we are is almost not
23:40
critical. When you have that DNA of people
23:43
in the company, people who are saying, look, I understand my
23:46
responsibilities, I'm going to go about beyond it and I'm
23:49
committed to making this happen. You see that it works pretty
23:53
seamlessly in that scenario. Now if we become a 200 people
23:58
company, I'm sure there will be some challenges that come along
24:02
the way with that model. We'll address it at that point.
24:05
Exactly. And that that is one of the
24:06
challenges of of growth, especially within within this
24:10
industry. I mean, I guess just to sort of
24:12
close out with our with our usual question, if you could
24:16
have dinner with any scientist or innovator, past or present,
24:20
who would it be and why? I'll start with who I enjoy
24:24
having dinner that is Doctor Stanley Appel legend in in the
24:31
field of ALS and neurodegenerative diseases.
24:35
I do actually have dinner with him occasionally and he is
24:39
somebody that I absolutely enjoy those dinner conversations or
24:46
any conversations. And because he bring such a good
24:50
perspective and I enjoy talking to people like that.
24:54
People who are passionate about patients continue to be
24:59
passionate about patients. Despite an accomplished career
25:02
where he could choose not to do that at all.
25:05
He chooses to because so I love having dinner with those types
25:09
of those types of people. Who else would I like to have
25:14
dinner with them? And there's a long list from
25:17
people that I would absolutely love to do that with.
25:22
But I think if I have to generalize and not name a
25:25
person, I would love to have dinner with any sign to any
25:29
founder of biotech companies. Because I find that I learned a
25:34
lot when I talk to people who have founded and moved forward
25:39
biotech companies. So those I would welcome an
25:42
opportunity to have dinner with any of those people.
25:45
Yeah, no, I think I, I think that's, that's great.
25:48
I mean, you know, I think a lot of people also think it, it's
25:51
only the six, the ones that are seen as successful that would be
25:54
would be great to have that opportunity to speak with.
25:56
But I actually think that those that have failed have probably
25:59
learned more and can give you more of an insight.
26:01
So I think yeah, anyone who's been in opposition previously
26:04
would would be 100. 100 percent, 100%, you know, biotech
26:08
companies that have not made it in, in, in quote UN quote, in
26:13
the standards of the world. There's a lot to learn and, and
26:17
those CE OS and those founders get are very, a lot of times
26:21
we're extremely smart people and, and, but you know, our
26:25
industry is a tough one. We live and die by our clinical
26:28
data, which we don't always control all what we control is
26:33
that the science makes sense and we have designed things the
26:36
right way and, and move forward. So ABS 100% agree with you that
26:43
we learn. I mean, it's a cliche, but we do
26:46
learn more from our missteps than we learn from what went
26:50
well. Because you know.
26:52
Yeah, certainly. But look, it's been been an
26:55
absolute pleasure to have you on today, Aaron.
26:57
I mean, I've, I've thoroughly enjoyed our conversation and I'm
26:59
sure that our our listeners have as well.
27:02
Thank you, Ben, I really appreciate being on this show
27:05
and thank you for inviting me. Yeah, no, no worries at all.
27:10
And thank you to everyone else that's tuned in today and look
27:13
forward to having you here in the next episode.
27:16
Thanks and bye. Bye.