Latest / The BioHub - by Avetix / Episode 221 - Steve Tregay - Managing General Partner Mission Biocapital
Transcript
- 0:06Welcome back to another episode of the Biohub and Avetics
- 0:09podcast. Today I'm joined by Steve
- 0:12Tregay, managing general Partner at Mission Biocapital.
- 0:15Steve has built his career across biotech, pharma, and VC.
- 0:20He founded and LED Former Therapeutics, held leadership
- 0:23roles at Novartis, and today he helped create and invest in some
- 0:26of the industry's most exciting early stage biotech companies
- 0:30through Mission Biocapital. In this conversation, we
- 0:33discussed the story behind Former what separates great
- 0:36biotech companies from the rest, how Mission Biocapital
- 0:39approaches company creation, and the role big pharma plays in
- 0:43today's innovation ecosystem. Steve, it's a pleasure to have
- 0:46you. How are you?
- 0:48Doing great and happy to be here.
- 0:49Yes, it's really good to have you on.
- 0:51Honestly, I want to start with you and your career because it's
- 0:57been pretty varied from, you know, research, pharma, all of
- 1:02that so to now building and venture capital.
- 1:06Looking back, what what were the defining moments that ultimately
- 1:09LED you to to where you are now? Yeah.
- 1:12I mean, I think, you know, this is something that a lot of
- 1:14people ask me is, you know, as you look back in your career,
- 1:18you realize it was defined by a series of opportunities and
- 1:22where those opportunities kind of took you aren't really things
- 1:25that you necessarily planned. I did my graduate work in
- 1:27organic chemistry at Harvard. In the end, decided I really
- 1:30like more of the business side, had a great chance to array
- 1:33Biopharma to kind of start cutting my teeth in that space.
- 1:36The opportunity to come to Novartis, never at the time when
- 1:40Marc Fishman was heading research and really thinking
- 1:43about how a large pharmaceutical company could think about
- 1:45innovation and really headquartering it was one of the
- 1:48first big pharma to really put a big stamp on the Kendall Square
- 1:51ecosystem was just an amazing opportunity.
- 1:54And that kind of led to Forma and and then obviously that kind
- 1:58of experience together with building the lab ecosystem with
- 2:01Lab Central really led to this. So, you know, a series of unique
- 2:05decisions, but ones that kind of fell in my lap at the right
- 2:08time, I guess. Yeah.
- 2:09And I think some, some of them would have been you know pretty
- 2:12big plunges as well. Like we talked about Forma, you
- 2:15know that that's a company that you founded, Co founded that
- 2:20that's not like a small decision to go out and do that.
- 2:24Well, especially, yeah, the story I always like to tell
- 2:26about Forma was, you know, we, you know, I was at the Novartis
- 2:28Venture Fund at the time and really thinking about, you know,
- 2:31what innovation would look like. But this was O 8 and O 9 and the
- 2:34market was definitely tough. So it was definitely an all in
- 2:37decision to kind of go forth. But it was something I really
- 2:39believed in. And I think that's something
- 2:41that's really essential to entrepreneurship is to, you
- 2:45know, find something you're really passionate about, that
- 2:47you believe you can make a difference and really advance
- 2:50that. And so that was something I was
- 2:51really excited about. It was a big, big leap, but it
- 2:54was something that in the end turned out to be successful.
- 2:57That that experience must have been interesting as well.
- 3:01Then going back into VC, what did building Former teach you
- 3:05about what shapes the way you evaluate founders and new
- 3:10opportunities today? Yeah.
- 3:12I guess one thing is I always think about, you know, are you
- 3:15really solving, you know, a large unmet need, right.
- 3:19And that and that can be from a technological perspective,
- 3:22obviously from a patient perspective and really make sure
- 3:25what you're building is something that the market really
- 3:28needs and that you have a differentiated approach to that.
- 3:31And then the second thing that I think was really something I'm
- 3:34really proud about with Forma was the team that we built was
- 3:37just absolutely amazing. They would run through walls
- 3:40that, you know, what they can do is just absolutely amazing.
- 3:43So I'm always a big fan of really looking for those great
- 3:46entrepreneurs that can build great teams and realize that
- 3:50drug discovery is challenging where the science may take you,
- 3:54you know, may end up in very different places.
- 3:56I didn't set out to build a sickle cell company when we
- 3:58started, but that's ultimately where we found ourselves.
- 4:01So you need great teams that can really follow the science and
- 4:05make a big impact. And so it's something I
- 4:07certainly learned at form of, but it's something I, I try to
- 4:09look for in the companies that I'm evaluating for investment.
- 4:14So when you're looking at these entrepreneurs, then like what,
- 4:17what sort of qualities, experience are you looking for?
- 4:21Well, 11 interesting thing, you know, getting to a little bit of
- 4:24the lab network, right? Having this lab network where
- 4:26you're surrounded by other entrepreneurs in a densely, you
- 4:30know, location, that really gives you a great chance to
- 4:35invest in earlier stage entrepreneurs.
- 4:37I mean, it's great to have a serial entrepreneur.
- 4:39We love that. We love to invest in them.
- 4:41We see them come through the labs, you know, multiple times,
- 4:45but at the same time, everyone has to be a first time
- 4:48entrepreneur. So you you can't just rely on
- 4:50kind of seasoned entrepreneurs. And so I think you're really
- 4:53looking for that, that passion, that leadership, that ability to
- 4:58really reduce a very complex, challenging situation of sorting
- 5:03out the biology, advancing a program towards the clinic, have
- 5:06that ability to reduce that down to a series of manageable steps.
- 5:10It can seem a little overwhelming to start with a
- 5:12company that's, you know, during early stage drug discovery and
- 5:15imagine yourself as a clinical stage company.
- 5:18But at the same time you need to be able to break that down into
- 5:20manageable steps and really then execute against that.
- 5:23So we're looking for people who can really kind of execute and
- 5:26have a track record at doing that maybe in different
- 5:28contexts, whether it be, you know, in their graduate career
- 5:31or maybe in other roles that they've had.
- 5:33Can they really execute in that environment?
- 5:35So you look at them and going is this the kind of person who can
- 5:40go out and fundraise? You can also drive science.
- 5:44You can be like, you can be a big driver for why overtop
- 5:49people should join this business, all of those things.
- 5:53Yeah. I think one thing to keep in
- 5:54mind is so, yes. But at the same time, I think we
- 5:57also believe or certainly I believe personally in kind of
- 6:01this concept of tours of duty, if you're familiar with that,
- 6:03where you need the right person at the right time for the
- 6:06company. And at at the end of the day,
- 6:09you don't need to run the company forever.
- 6:11I didn't run Forma forever, frankly took over for me and did
- 6:13an amazing job in taking the company public and ultimately to
- 6:16its acquisition. And he was the right person for
- 6:19a late stage company with you know, multiple clinical assets,
- 6:23right. And so you're looking for the
- 6:25person who can bridge that company for the next couple
- 6:27years and maybe they transition into a different role in within
- 6:31the company, or maybe they're very passionate about that zero
- 6:34to 1, right, that getting that company up and going and they
- 6:37want to go back and do that again.
- 6:39And so I think, you know, looking at the right skills that
- 6:43are needed by the company. So when you're an early stage
- 6:45company, there's a high premium on, you know, being able to
- 6:48execute on the science to really advance that going forward to
- 6:52advance, you know, the drug discovery efforts, fundraising
- 6:56is important, but on a very different scale than say, you
- 6:59know, a company that's going to go public, raise hundreds of
- 7:02millions of dollars in a public environment.
- 7:04You you may not necessarily need those skill sets in the person
- 7:09day one. And you can either surround
- 7:10yourself with great people or you can, you know, look to the
- 7:15ultimately transition those roles.
- 7:17You know, so I think really how you think about building
- 7:20companies over time, you, you need to think about what the
- 7:23needs are of the business at the time.
- 7:25And does that individual have the right skill sets?
- 7:28I think back to your question around and they need to at at
- 7:31all times, they need to be able to recruit and motivate great
- 7:34people because you're going to need them in different roles at
- 7:37different times. But you need to be able to
- 7:38recruit people and really speak passionately about that vision,
- 7:42right? That what that reason to believe
- 7:45as to why you're going to succeed, right?
- 7:47You know, we're in a challenging business.
- 7:48You need that. You know, I always joke that the
- 7:50most important skill of ACEO is that irrational belief you'll
- 7:54succeed against all odds, right? Because it's not an easy
- 7:57business. It's easy to kind of find 20
- 7:59reasons it's not going to work, but what you really care about
- 8:02is the one reason it will work. Yeah, Yeah, that makes sense.
- 8:06I think you raised a really interesting point where it's
- 8:08like, we'll just know where where you're best.
- 8:14There are a couple of people who complement that skill set too,
- 8:16right? I mean, I think, you know, you
- 8:18don't need to be great at everything, but if you can
- 8:21attract whether it be great board members, great, you know,
- 8:27C-Suite executives to really complement your skills and look
- 8:31at what your where your strengths are and where you're
- 8:34not. I mean, at Forma, we had an
- 8:35amazing board. We had Peter Worth who's the
- 8:37general counsel of Genzyme, Marsha Fenucci, who's the CFO of
- 8:41Millennium, you know, Paolo Paletti who is head of GSK
- 8:45Oncology, Tim Claxon who is head of very AD, you know, drug
- 8:49discover, you know, head of R&D. You know, they were great
- 8:52individuals. They're amazing to work with.
- 8:54They complemented, you know, areas that I didn't have in
- 8:57terms of experience and skill set.
- 8:59We we're all aligned with the vision of making form a grade.
- 9:02And so, you know, that was always amazing.
- 9:05You know, Rob Cerisky, who is my chief business officer, was an
- 9:08amazing, you know, at, at landing the deals and, and
- 9:11really being, you know, formal wouldn't be what it was without
- 9:15people like Rob. And so you know that building
- 9:18those teams around you, you have to be willing to really
- 9:21understand your strengths and your weaknesses and then find
- 9:23people that really bring that but are aligned with the vision,
- 9:27right? I think that's always the
- 9:28essential pieces You want. People are aligned with the the
- 9:31vision and bring those complementary skill sets to
- 9:34achieving that vision. I think that's the most
- 9:36important build, just being aware of those weaknesses and
- 9:39just plugging in those gaps around you in that expertise.
- 9:42And then especially for these first time founders who don't
- 9:45really know that just just never being so naive that you think
- 9:50you're the best person. Person to make the decision
- 9:53every time. Yeah, because I don't think your
- 9:57life will be a lot. Easier.
- 9:58Yeah, exactly, exactly. And at Mission Biocapital,
- 10:03you're, you've built a reputation around company
- 10:06creation. Really just just talk us through
- 10:10that process and and why you believe that's such an effective
- 10:14model for you guys. Yeah.
- 10:16And so one thing that we really think about is, you know, when
- 10:20we think about our lab network. So we now have 30 labs around
- 10:22the world. We're, you know, we have 600
- 10:25companies on this platform at once.
- 10:27And really what we're trying to do is enable, you know, the best
- 10:31science to really win, right, create a meritocracy across the
- 10:34best ideas. And, and the way we do that is
- 10:37by really lowering the cost, you can really move into a lab,
- 10:41you're renting a bench a month at a time.
- 10:43You can really go amazingly far on very little money in, in
- 10:48those early stages. And a lot of times you need, you
- 10:50need to go from, wow, what if this works to, oh, you know,
- 10:54we're, we're now on track to showing it works.
- 10:56And by lowering that cost and doing, you know, we can talk
- 10:59more about things that we do like the platinum program.
- 11:02But the underlying principle of all of this is, you know,
- 11:06enabling great entrepreneurships, right,
- 11:10entrepreneurs. And so that really lets us, you
- 11:13know, focus in on, you know, supporting them in every way,
- 11:17right? Making sure they can execute on
- 11:18their science, make sure they're surrounded by great peers,
- 11:22right? You know, they can learn as much
- 11:23at the coffee machine as they will through any mentoring
- 11:26program because they're surrounded by other great
- 11:28entrepreneurs. And so by doing that and really
- 11:31finding those passionate entrepreneurs and giving them an
- 11:34environment that they can succeed, then that gives us an
- 11:38amazing world to choose, you know, a subset of those amazing
- 11:41entrepreneurs to invest in. And so really being first and
- 11:45foremost about how do we enable great science and enable great
- 11:49entrepreneurs and then, you know, investing just kind of is
- 11:53the natural, you know, logical conclusion to supporting that
- 11:56ecosystem. Yeah, but I, I love that model,
- 12:00especially for a profile like you who's been there and done it
- 12:03before. You can really get into the
- 12:05nitty gritty and the the scrappiness of what a start up
- 12:08is like and you know, lead these people through that.
- 12:12Yeah. And it's also important to
- 12:13recognize that, you know, venture, you know, as a business
- 12:17is kind of, you know, a power dynamic, right?
- 12:21You know, I, I remember this well pitching, you know, a
- 12:24venture firm, you know, in the 50th floor in Midtown Manhattan
- 12:28in a giant boardroom, you kind of know who has the money and
- 12:30who's begging for money. But it's hard to, you have to
- 12:33recognize that without entrepreneurs, money has nowhere
- 12:37to go, right? It has no great ideas to, to
- 12:40invest in. And so, you know, a lot of times
- 12:43we like to say we start by solving, you know, getting to
- 12:46know these entrepreneurs by solving problems they have, you
- 12:49know, welcoming them into a lab somewhere in the world that now
- 12:52they can be fully operational. Making sure they have
- 12:54introductions to colleagues around, you know, the labs,
- 12:59making sure they have intros to pharmaceutical companies to get
- 13:01that early input on maybe where to take that the product.
- 13:05You know, we start essentially as their friends, right?
- 13:07And then it grows to being a relationship around investing.
- 13:11And I I like that power, you know, leveling the playing
- 13:14field. They bring something that we
- 13:16need, which is great ideas and we bring something they need,
- 13:19which is capital, right? And and that really should be
- 13:21viewed as a partnership, not necessarily as kind of a a power
- 13:26dynamic of who has money and you know, who needs money, right?
- 13:29And by doing that, I think it really creates a great ecosystem
- 13:32and it creates, you know, what we like to see is kind of these
- 13:35self fulfilling prophecies, these companies that are going
- 13:38to be successful. So talking a little bit about
- 13:40our platinum program, right? It's half $1,000,000 a bench
- 13:43anywhere in the world. We want to inspire people to
- 13:45build companies. You don't even have to
- 13:47incorporate when you apply. We'll provide, you know, legal
- 13:50support so you can get incorporated, so you can take
- 13:53our money, right? You know, we'll provide drug
- 13:56discovery capabilities. We have pharma partners who will
- 13:58provide expertise and guidance on where to take your program to
- 14:02really, you know, say, hey, it's not so scary to found a company.
- 14:06You'll be surrounded by other people.
- 14:07Half, $1,000,000. It gives you a year to see if
- 14:09this is going to work. You know, why not give it a try?
- 14:12You know, last year, we just wrapped up this a few weeks ago,
- 14:15we got 480 applications. Those companies, we've done this
- 14:19now for a couple years are out fundraising their peers by 4X,
- 14:23right? Why?
- 14:24Because they're in a great environment, they're getting
- 14:26great feedback. We're selecting the very best
- 14:29companies and really trying to inspire people to build
- 14:32companies. So it's, it's just a totally
- 14:34different way of thinking about, you know, how we support
- 14:37entrepreneurs. And you got to remember there's,
- 14:39there's always got to be an entrepreneur in the equation
- 14:41somewhere, somebody who's willing, you know, and this is
- 14:43what we'd like to bet on. Somebody who's, you know, got a
- 14:46great academic pedigree, maybe done a company before, maybe
- 14:49not, maybe they're a first time entrepreneur, but they are
- 14:52willing to bet that whatever they're invested, you know what
- 14:55they're they're investing their livelihood in this.
- 14:58They're giving up a job at a big pharma or another biotech or an
- 15:01academic career to chase their dream to follow that science.
- 15:06We've got to accept that, as you know, that's a real convict
- 15:09level of conviction. And we just want to put them in
- 15:11an environment where that conviction can translate to
- 15:14success. And I think, you know, looking
- 15:16at things like the Platinum program, we've seen, you know,
- 15:19we've done about 24 of these already.
- 15:22You know, they've gone on to raise $220 million, right?
- 15:26You know, and these are super early seeds, right?
- 15:28These are the earliest stages ideas, but at the same time I
- 15:31think that will be the next generation and especially in
- 15:34today's market environment where we have everyone focusing kind
- 15:37of late. I think it's important to
- 15:39continue to support the innovation ecosystem because we
- 15:41don't want to wake up three years from now and realize the
- 15:44only place we're finding great ideas is by, you know, in
- 15:48licensing assets from China at ADC stage.
- 15:51You know, that could be a great path to to value creation.
- 15:54But I think there's lots of great science around in the
- 15:56world that we need to make sure sees the light of day in this
- 15:59more challenging environment. I couldn't agree more.
- 16:03I couldn't agree more. I think you you, you touched on
- 16:07it a little bit there, but like the early stage biotech
- 16:11ecosystem has changed a lot over the last year.
- 16:14You know, you, you, you talked about the interest whether just
- 16:17moving further along into the process, into the clinic.
- 16:21What? What do you think founders need
- 16:23today that they perhaps didn't need?
- 16:2410 years yet. Yeah, great question.
- 16:27So, yeah, what we're seeing is, you know, in a in a market where
- 16:31early stage financing risk isn't necessarily being rewarded,
- 16:35we're not seeing big step UPS as we go into the next rounds.
- 16:38And as we look at the one element that venture capital
- 16:42control, it can control his financing risk.
- 16:45Meaning, you know, if the science works great and you
- 16:47can't finance the company to say run a clinical trials, you know,
- 16:52then it doesn't matter the science work.
- 16:53If you can't finance it right now, we can't control the
- 16:56science, we can't control the financing risk.
- 16:58So what that shifts to and it from an outsider looking in
- 17:03seems to be somewhat counterintuitive is in a risk
- 17:06averse environment for early stage investing, we're seeing
- 17:09bigger rounds. The reason for that is of course
- 17:12they're tranche. So scientifically we're still
- 17:14only putting money in to de risk the science and kind of
- 17:17increments, but we know the money is around the table.
- 17:21So that means it's that much harder to raise money for an
- 17:24early stage round if you need to fund later and later.
- 17:27It also puts a bigger demand on the entrepreneurs because, you
- 17:31know, normally it used to be, you know, what's your path to a
- 17:34development candidate? Well, now it's what's your path
- 17:37to a development candidate And oh, by the way, what's your
- 17:39clinical indication? How much is it going to cost and
- 17:42how fast can you get to clinical proof of concept?
- 17:44That's a lot more expertise. And again, if your expertise is
- 17:47in that steeped in the biology of that target, you may not
- 17:51have, you know, that perfect clinical indication.
- 17:54So companies are having to kind of grow up to present, you know,
- 17:59a much more comprehensive, intensive story of their journey
- 18:03than they've ever had to in the past, right.
- 18:05In the past, it was kind of, and we'll figure out where we're
- 18:07going to take it down the road. And so that's where
- 18:09relationships with pharma really early on can be really critical.
- 18:13But importantly, pharma's also, you know, continues to be
- 18:17externally focused for innovation into their pipeline,
- 18:20which is great. They have a lot of dry powder.
- 18:22They have patent expiries going off patent that are bigger and
- 18:26bigger, you know, drugs. So they have a bigger and bigger
- 18:29hole to fill. So it's a really nice
- 18:31relationship and what's great is a lot of these partners, and
- 18:34many of them are, have close relationships with their labs or
- 18:37with Mission Bio Capital, you know, are doing that to to
- 18:41really make sure that they're helping create the future that
- 18:44they want to partake it. You know, they'll give you that
- 18:46advice early on of indications that would be of high interest
- 18:50to them. Why?
- 18:51Because they're hoping that you might develop a drug that meets
- 18:54a, a niche that they're very going to be very excited to see.
- 18:57So getting to that early clinical proof of concept is now
- 19:00almost a requirement or at least knowing where you're going to
- 19:03go. Whereas before I think we're
- 19:05willing to kind of build, you know, build it and we'll, we'll
- 19:08figure out what to do with it later.
- 19:10I think we're much more laser laser focused on that
- 19:13especially, you know, it might be a new platform, but the new
- 19:16platform has to have applications and and line of
- 19:19sight to clinical proof of concept, not just platform proof
- 19:23of concept, for example. Yeah, I mean you, I mean talk
- 19:27about that big far apart as well, just how pivotal they are
- 19:30in biosec innovation. Yeah, it's great.
- 19:34I mean, they're terrific partners across the lab
- 19:38ecosystem. You know, they're sponsors in
- 19:40the lab network, They're giving out golden tickets, you know, a
- 19:43free bench. They're engaged.
- 19:45Almost all of them have corporate venture arms of some
- 19:48form, right. So they're participating in
- 19:50these rounds. I, I can't think of a deal we've
- 19:53done that hasn't had at least one, if not 3 or 4 different
- 19:56corporate venture investors. So they're really playing very
- 20:00actively in the ecosystem to make sure that the ecosystem
- 20:05continues to thrive and has the right feedback.
- 20:07They're very willing to meet with companies early on,
- 20:11establish that relationship, give that early advice and then
- 20:15continue to follow on. You know, equity investing is a
- 20:18great tool for them to get to know and get closer to that
- 20:21company, be involved at the board level in very constructive
- 20:25ways. So you know they're.
- 20:27Making sure that you're fully engaged.
- 20:29And so one thing that's important for us is if you're in
- 20:33Kendall Square like I am, or San Francisco, you know, in Kendall
- 20:36Square, you're surrounded by every big pharma has a head, you
- 20:39know, has a research presence here.
- 20:41But if you're in our labs around the world, whether that be up,
- 20:45you know, in the US, Europe, Canada, now, you know, bringing
- 20:49those relationships to pharma, you're a little more distant.
- 20:52But again, participating in investor days and things like
- 20:55that, that we run across the lab network gives a chance for the
- 20:59farmers to build the relationships with these
- 21:01companies and geographies. They may not be visiting every
- 21:04day 'cause it's not their home, you know, geography.
- 21:07But at the same time, to find those companies that may become
- 21:10the next great acquisition for them and bring an important, you
- 21:14know, asset or more or two into the pipeline.
- 21:16And so, you know, making sure that we're thinking about this
- 21:19as a global innovation ecosystem and finding efficient ways for
- 21:23people to interact. So when we think about, you
- 21:25know, venture, it's a local business, it's an entrepreneur
- 21:28building a company locally, but it needs to compete on a global
- 21:31stage. And so by giving, you know,
- 21:34visibility to the farmers to this global stage, but also for
- 21:38the entrepreneurs, you know, just because you're the best
- 21:41idea in Toronto, you need to be the best idea in the world,
- 21:44right? And so making sure that you've
- 21:47got that feedback of what will it take to be the best idea in
- 21:50the world. Because the science, you know,
- 21:53there's amazing science around the world.
- 21:55It just needs to compete on that global stage.
- 21:57And the sooner you know what it's going to take to compete on
- 21:59that global stage, the better you can run the experiments to
- 22:03inform that differentiation. Yeah, super important.
- 22:08That's so, so important. How do you see Big Pharma's role
- 22:12potentially changing over like the next 5-10 years?
- 22:15Do you think they'll be pretty consistent in the way they work
- 22:17or? Yeah.
- 22:18I think increasingly, you know, we've really seen an evolution,
- 22:22you know, of, you know, accessing innovation across both
- 22:27internal and external. R and DI think that will
- 22:29continue to accelerate. I think what they're realizing,
- 22:33you know, is, you know that, you know, there's so much innovation
- 22:37that's occurring. There's no way that a pharma can
- 22:40execute on all that innovation simultaneously.
- 22:44And by having, you know, hundreds and hundreds of
- 22:46companies, right, There's 600 companies that are lab network
- 22:49doing credibly innovative science.
- 22:51There's no way a pharma could replicate that diversity of
- 22:54biology, but for them to really be able to pick and choose and
- 22:57play active, I think this will continue to to do that.
- 23:01I think there's groups that are incredibly innovative on how
- 23:05they're doing that and collaborating early, leveraging
- 23:07even their own internal capabilities.
- 23:09For example, Lilly's a good example of that.
- 23:13You know, so those are great opportunities.
- 23:15I think we'll continue to see that evolve over time in ways
- 23:19where we're just increasingly more an interdependent
- 23:22ecosystem. You know, from a biotech
- 23:24perspective, it never makes sense to you know, launch a drug
- 23:28in 180 countries, right? That's just an infrastructure
- 23:31that for a single asset is never justified.
- 23:33So I think this logical hand off, I think the one thing that
- 23:37companies and as we're getting more sophisticated about early
- 23:40clinical proof of concept, companies are doing a better and
- 23:44better job of getting to that clinical proof of concept.
- 23:47And then thinking about a pharma partnership that's one that can
- 23:51then bring a global development perspective, a global launch,
- 23:55global commercialization. But getting to that early
- 23:58clinical proof of concept can be really critically important
- 24:02because it gives that pharma partners or partners that are
- 24:05evaluating the opportunity a real visibility into that line
- 24:10of sight to what could be a commercial product.
- 24:12They understand what indications, what type of
- 24:15efficacy they might be able to expect.
- 24:17So they can really envision that in their pipeline.
- 24:20And you know, and as they're looking at managing their loss
- 24:23of exclusivity and remember these are bigger and bigger
- 24:26drugs that we're seeing, right? You know, IO drugs going, going
- 24:31off patent, you know, when the GLP ones go off patent, right?
- 24:34Those are going to be massive, you know, things that need to be
- 24:37filled. So I think one thing we're also
- 24:39seeing is creativity from pharma looking at white spaces.
- 24:43They got large unmet medical needs that haven't been
- 24:46addressed. So I think that's a great
- 24:47opportunity as we continue to move the innovation forward for
- 24:52the diseases that need, you know, still need better
- 24:55solutions. And as those drugs go off
- 24:57patent, those become available, you know as low cost generics
- 25:02and we don't need to solve those problems again, right,
- 25:04cholesterol lowering, right? We don't need to go solve early
- 25:07stage, you know, you know, find new targets and cholesterol
- 25:11lowering, we have great drugs for that.
- 25:12So we can focus on more of the refractory patient populations,
- 25:15for example. Yeah, yeah, it's exciting.
- 25:19I think the future is definitely bright.
- 25:22You know, biotech sort of came through a harder spell, but
- 25:27wait. When you look at the public
- 25:29markets, the one thing I would say is if you're really focused
- 25:33in on that innovation, pharma is kind of unrelenting in their
- 25:39need for new assets in their pipeline because of this loss of
- 25:43exclusivity, right? I mean, there's a window where
- 25:45they derive their profits and then there's a window where they
- 25:49need to find the next big blockbuster.
- 25:52So if you focus in on delivering that kind of value, sure, if the
- 25:57public markets are available, then great, you can take
- 25:59advantage of that. But if you're only building your
- 26:02companies to be kind of public company value drivers, that can
- 26:06be challenging because as we've seen the markets come and go,
- 26:09there's periods of markets look pretty good right now, but
- 26:12obviously we've come through an extended period of time where
- 26:15they didn't. And but through that period,
- 26:17pharma has been incredibly active.
- 26:19So I think there's always, if you build towards that end
- 26:22point, you'll always have a path to liquidity whether there's
- 26:25public markets or not. And that's how we really think
- 26:28about building companies in this, in, you know, in markets
- 26:31where we may or may not see a public opportunity.
- 26:34We always make sure that we have a path to liquidity in the
- 26:37absence of a public market and take advantage of it if it makes
- 26:41sense to at the time. Yeah, yeah, definitely.
- 26:45I know. That brings us to our final
- 26:47question. See, which is the one I ask
- 26:50every one of our guests. If you could have dinner with
- 26:53any scientist to renovate a past or present, who would it be and
- 26:56why? Well, so with Forma, I had the
- 26:59great chance to work with a lot of folks that had kind of grown
- 27:02up in the Genzyme era, Peter Werth, Marsha Fenucci, Mike
- 27:06Wizka. And it was great just hearing
- 27:08kind of the, the stories of Genzyme and, and the leadership.
- 27:12And I had a chance to meet Henry Chamira a few times of, of just
- 27:15in that case, pioneering rare diseases.
- 27:17So I think the one I would always love to go back in time
- 27:20would be Bob Swanson and thinking about the formation of
- 27:23Genentech. You got to imagine in that era,
- 27:26biotechnology, right? The idea that we weren't going
- 27:29to, we're going to create a drug that wasn't a small molecule was
- 27:32completely revolutionary and, and just completely
- 27:35unprecedented. So I always like the idea of,
- 27:38of, of we stand on the shoulder of giants who pioneer things
- 27:43that just seemed impossible. Genzyme with rare diseases,
- 27:46Genentech with, you know, antibodies, those moments in
- 27:50time where you were doing something that no one in the
- 27:53world ever thought could be done, you know, would be the
- 27:56people that I think we can learn the most from.
- 27:58And we should certainly celebrate their achievements,
- 28:01but also take that as inspiration for what we can do
- 28:04in the future. Yeah, I love that.
- 28:07Thank you so much for coming on, Steve.
- 28:08It was a pleasure. Thanks for having me, this is
- 28:10great fun. And look, everyone please like
- 28:13and subscribe to the Bio Hub and thank you so much again, Steve.