Latest / The BioHub - by Avetix / Episode 74 - Roy Maute - CEO of Pheast Therapeutics

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Episode 74 - Roy Maute - CEO of Pheast Therapeutics · The BioHub - by Avetix

0:05
Welcome back to another episode of the Bio Hub.
0:07
Today we're joined by Roy Morty of FEAST Therapeutics.
0:12
And Feast are an oncology biotech who recently entered
0:15
phase one trials for advanced solid tumors.
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Their platform essentially allows macrophages to kill
0:21
cancer cells by inhibiting checkpoints like the CD 24.
0:26
These are so-called don't eat me signals.
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They're expressed in certain cancers.
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Roy has a really super track record in oncology R&D.
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We're really happy to welcome him on for this episode.
0:37
So yeah, Roy, pleasure to have you.
0:40
Yeah, thanks so much for giving me the chance to come on to
0:42
talk. Wow, pleasure.
0:43
Absolutely. If you don't mind, Roy, just to
0:46
get started, I guess take it back in time a little bit.
0:49
What inspired you to step into biotech and sort of get a back
0:54
story on your career post transition from Stanford?
0:57
Things like that. Sure, happy to.
1:00
And so I have always been interested in science.
1:03
I mean, even when I was a young kid, I, I knew I wanted to study
1:06
science. And long before I, I knew what
1:08
that would actually entail, what it meant.
1:10
I grew up in Texas. I came out to California for the
1:13
first time for undergrad, so I went to UC Berkeley and I had
1:18
the chance to really do lab research for the first time.
1:20
I was really fascinated by genetics.
1:22
And I like to tell people that comes in part from Jurassic
1:25
Park, which was, you know, a book that had been published
1:28
when I was a young kid and a movie that came out when I was a
1:30
little bit older. But I, I think it's, yeah,
1:32
really science fiction is a great way to get people
1:35
interested in in real science. That's definitely what happened
1:37
for me. So I, you know, studied
1:39
molecular biology as an undergrad.
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I went to go get my PhD at, at Columbia and I, you know,
1:44
started focusing more and more on cancer biology and cancer
1:47
genetics. I think, you know, in the field
1:50
of genetics, there's a lot of different directions you can go.
1:52
All of them are really interesting.
1:53
But for me, as I kind of understood how cancer worked and
1:56
you know, the fact that you could get these genetic
1:58
mutations that would change the biology of the cell in a
2:00
permanent way and, you know, enable it to grow beyond its
2:03
normal bounds, that just was a really interesting phenomenon to
2:05
me. And so I, I joined the lab that
2:08
was focused on the genetics of B cell leukemia and lymphoma.
2:11
So it's a kind of particular slice of cancer biology really
2:14
where genetics are especially important because the genetic
2:18
rearrangements that B cells undergo in order to generate
2:21
antibodies are also ones that are kind of dangerous and give
2:24
the opportunity for these aberrant recombinations.
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So it was really cool to see that, of course, once I joined
2:29
the lab, I ended up doing something different because that
2:32
was the, the era where small RNAs were first starting to be
2:35
understood as important players and cell regulation.
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So I studied that for a while. I'm had a great, great
2:40
experience as a wonderful training environment.
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And then as I was thinking about my next steps, I knew, you know,
2:46
I was interested in, in going into biotech and developing
2:50
drugs. And I was, you know, thinking
2:52
about the best way to pursue that that path.
2:55
I knew that I needed to turn a little bit away from that kind
2:58
of niche that I got myself into. And this was also the era where
3:02
cancer immunotherapy was moving from this kind of long time
3:05
crackpot dream into now a reality in the clinic.
3:09
So I had the opportunity to join Irv Weissman's lab at Stanford.
3:12
He was, you know, good friends with my PhD mentor, which is,
3:15
yeah, great luck. I wouldn't have any lucky breaks
3:17
that I've had. And Irv had this kind of
3:20
different view on cancer immunotherapy because whereas
3:23
the majority of activity in the field then and and to this day
3:26
was really focused on T cells, you know, the adaptive part of
3:29
the immune system, these really potent killers.
3:31
Irv had a long time interest in macrophages and that had stemmed
3:35
from his labs decades long work in stem cell biology and hematic
3:39
rhesus. But when I joined his lab, it
3:41
was sort of right around the time that several other
3:44
scientists working within had done these Seminole works to
3:47
identify C47 as a regulated macrophage biology.
3:51
And it's something that sort of protect stem cells from
3:54
macrophage attack. And then they started looking in
3:56
cancer and saw that it played a major role there.
3:59
So I was really interested to, you know, to take another step
4:01
beyond that and ask, you know, what other regulators were
4:03
present. And so that was the focus of my
4:05
PhD work. I mean, my post doc work with
4:07
Irv, really incredibly rewarding experience.
4:10
And that was all too brief because, you know, I, I had gone
4:13
to Stanford and Park because I knew it was a, you know, a
4:15
really active area for entrepreneurship and biotech
4:18
company formation. That was definitely the case.
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So Irv and, and some of those colleagues I mentioned were in
4:23
the process of forming A clinical stage program and then
4:26
ultimately a company around that, that target C47.
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In the meanwhile, I was able to to find opportunity with other
4:32
colleagues at Scamper to start a company called I have an issue
4:35
about therapeutics, which was, yeah, in part focused on the
4:39
immunotherapy angle. That was my real passion.
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But ultimately the the sort of commercial focus of that company
4:44
was developing technologies for antibody discovery.
4:47
And so that again took me in a little bit of a different
4:49
direction, but was my first opportunity to be part of a
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biotech company. Sure, sure.
4:54
What was the what was the other spin out from from the lab?
5:00
Well, so the, the company that was formed by Irv and his
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colleagues around that immunotherapy target, CD 47, I
5:05
became 47 Inc. And it they, they had a really
5:09
unique path, which was really fascinating to watch and, and
5:12
learn from. You know, most drug programs
5:15
that have their genesis in an academic lab will kind of be
5:19
born from, you know, novel target discovery And then
5:21
probably the academic lab uncover something about the
5:24
biology of a target that makes it, you know, an appealing angle
5:28
for drug development. Irv and his colleagues took it a
5:31
step further and with the support of public grant money,
5:34
were able to actually identify an actual drug and, you know,
5:38
manufacture it and then start phase one clinical trials, all
5:42
in the auspices of a, a purely academic lab at that point.
5:45
Then they they formed a commercial inch T47 Inc.
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But it's really interesting to see that happen so substantially
5:50
before the a company really existed.
5:52
And I think that, yeah, put them on a path that allowed them to
5:55
really explore some areas of the the biology and ultimately the
5:59
drug activity that would have been a little more difficult for
6:01
a company from the beginning. Sure, sure.
6:04
So you've got into your first step into the biotech rule
6:08
rather than academia. Is that when did Gilead take
6:13
over the urban issue or was that later on?
6:17
Yeah, not urban issue. So that company was a real
6:19
bootstrap operation just yeah, a couple of young scientists and
6:22
we had a couple of business advisors and we, you know, built
6:26
the company up and had a collaboration with with Pfizer.
6:29
And then ultimately we were acquired by a company called
6:31
Ligand Pharmaceuticals who is interested to bring that
6:34
technology into their antibody discovery pipeline.
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After that acquisition, I then had the good luck to, you know,
6:42
reconnect with some folks from that group at Stanford,
6:45
including Irv. And I joined 47 Inc, not as part
6:48
of the original team, but once they were in clinical trials
6:52
and, and a handful of indications.
6:53
But it was a really fun time for me to join that company because
6:57
since they had started, you know, clinical activities and
6:59
built up this amazing Bank of patients samples, they had, you
7:03
know, a lot of ideas about, you know, who was responding and who
7:06
wasn't responding and why. But nobody had really had the
7:08
chance to, to use those samples to try to answer some of those
7:11
questions. So I was able to step into that
7:14
role and the kind of translational science role and
7:16
start to, you know, to really run some of those experiments.
7:19
And for me, that was my, my first opportunity to be, you
7:22
know, part of a clinical stage program, you know, a real drug
7:26
treating real patients. And it was, it was really life
7:28
changing, really exciting to, to be there at that time.
7:31
And I learned a tremendous amount from those colleagues at
7:33
the company. Then ultimately 47 was acquired
7:35
by by Gilead just about one year after I joined.
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So, you know, there's quite a whirlwind for me and I think the
7:41
rest of the people at the company at that time and that,
7:44
you know, I stayed with Gilead for about a year after that.
7:46
That was sort of deep pandemic era.
7:48
So a lot of you need challenges to integrate the company, make
7:51
sure that the program continue with its momentum into the later
7:54
stages of clinical development. And yeah, I think Gilead was a
7:58
great partner for that work. Yeah, for sure great partners to
8:01
have, but definitely challenges with those kinds of
8:04
acquisitions, right, For the, for the, yeah, being bought
8:08
company, the the team, Yeah, you often see that people tend to
8:14
transition out not too long afterwards I guess.
8:17
And that leads us on to you stepping into Feast as a as a
8:21
CSO, right originally. That's right.
8:24
Yeah. And and I have to say for my
8:25
part, it wasn't like I was, I was fleeing from video light
8:28
environment, far frontal. I I think it was a tremendous
8:30
company and the colleagues that I worked with there were
8:32
incredible. But yeah, it is different being
8:34
part of a larger company. I was still pretty early in my
8:38
career and and quite interested in this small company
8:40
environment, building a team from scratch, early stages of
8:43
discovering drug development or really appealing for me and
8:46
especially at Gilead. And there was a bit of a kind of
8:49
administrative separation between the kind of new target
8:52
discovery and early development. And then what ultimately was my
8:55
official focus, which was, you know, a later stage drug
8:58
development program from this translational biomarker
9:00
perspective. So yeah, I was interested to get
9:02
back to those kind of scientific roots a bit.
9:05
And after I left Gilead, I, you know, was kind of reconnecting
9:08
with people in my network and had a chance to, to sit and talk
9:11
with Emir Barkhall, who's one of the, the cofounders of FEAST,
9:14
kind of the, the person who really set us on our path.
9:18
She was a scientist that I worked with while I was at
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Stanford in Erv's lab. I, I trained her up a bit as a
9:23
rotation student. And so we were friends from that
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time and we published a paper together after I left erv's lab.
9:29
And she, in the meantime, I'm completely separate from work
9:31
that I had done with her, had developed some new genetic tools
9:34
for identifying novel regulators of macrophage phagocytosis.
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And she had identified CD 24 as a really exciting target.
9:41
And so I knew that work. I'm just as a, you know, an
9:44
observer and an admirer, but I got a chance to, to get a little
9:47
bit closer to, you know, some of what she was thinking for
9:49
developing a company. And I, I feel that the, the CD
9:52
24 target has a lot of advantages, even above and
9:55
beyond 47, which had, you know, had matured so much as a
9:59
clinical stage program. So was really fascinated by
10:01
that. She, you know, was really
10:03
interested to start a company, but also wanted to continue with
10:06
her, you know, her clinical training.
10:07
And so it was a great opportunity for me to join her
10:10
and then our other Co founders or vice minerabina jetty to form
10:13
the company. And yes, as you said, I started
10:15
as the CSO because the company was only a small group of
10:19
scientists at that time. And so the only sort of leader,
10:21
leader really needed for on a full time basis was the CSO.
10:25
Amira's bird is kind of the interim CEO during that
10:27
transition period. And then as the team grew,
10:30
eventually I, you know, became the the CEO so that I, you know,
10:33
can leave the the full team on a day-to-day basis.
10:35
And not just the scientists, but I still, yeah, try to stay
10:38
heavily involved in the science of the.
10:41
Company. So obviously, why wouldn't you
10:42
with, with your background, of course you, I mean, you guys
10:45
have had a, you've been in business for four years now or
10:49
you've been with, with the team four years at least, Roy.
10:52
That's right. So the the company sort of got
10:55
furious as an entity about four years ago.
10:59
We'll have the the 4th birthday of our kind of in person
11:01
operations in this coming October and that's when you know
11:05
me and a handful of other scientists that we recruited in
11:08
to form that that kind of day one team started.
11:11
So yeah, it's been it's been a great experience since then and
11:13
a great journey. And I'm proud to say we made a
11:15
lot of progress during this four years.
11:17
Yeah, you've made huge strides in such a short period of time.
11:21
Really four years is is is no time at all in biotech you've.
11:25
Obviously, yeah, I feel that way, although it's instinct
11:28
because I had a my daughter at exactly the same time that the
11:30
the company was starting. And so she's already like a a
11:33
big kid. So in a way it feels short and
11:35
in a way it feels like we've yeah, it's been a long time.
11:38
Yeah, that is crazy for sure. But I mean what you entered
11:43
phase one in Q2 of this year, that's what not even about 3 1/2
11:47
years to to get into the first trial.
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That's pretty, pretty rapid. I'd stay in most people's courts
11:54
and talk through a little bit about where you're at currently
11:57
with the with league candidate, but just definitely across the
12:01
across the platform as well. Yeah, I'd love to.
12:05
So as you said, I think it's we made some fast progress
12:08
especially with early program. I think that's, you know,
12:10
largely because we we started from a kind of great scientific
12:13
momentum coming out of the work that Amira and Herb did at
12:15
Stanford around CD24. All that said, you know, when we
12:19
first started the company, we knew that this target, which is
12:22
really compelling for a lot of reasons, had some key scientific
12:26
questions that we needed to clarify before we even knew
12:28
what's the best drug against it. And then we had to develop that
12:31
drug and then and then do all of the usual steps to get it into
12:33
patients. So, yeah, I think we were really
12:36
effective during that period. And that was the first couple
12:38
years of the company's history. But then, as you mentioned, we
12:41
were really excited to treat our first patient in April of this
12:44
year. And so now that lead program is
12:47
still in the process of Joe's escalation in the monotherapy
12:50
section. So because of our disease area,
12:53
you know, we're we're focused on treating real patients from Day
12:56
1. So it's a Phase 1A all comers
12:59
monotherapy dose escalation study.
13:01
We're treating, you know, a diverse array of different
13:03
advanced solid tumors, which includes an emphasis on a
13:07
handful of different indications that the biology tells us are
13:10
really important for this target.
13:11
So you know, we're we're sort of trying to have it, have our cake
13:15
and eat it too, you know, move quickly to the dose escalation
13:17
by allowing a sort of broad variety of patients into the
13:20
study, but working with our clinical partners to make sure
13:22
that at least a large portion of those patients are ones that we
13:25
think are in the key indications.
13:26
And that's gone really well so far.
13:28
So I can't say you know, too much specific about what we're
13:31
seeing, but we're really excited with the speed that we've moved
13:33
and, and a lot of the things that we're seeing in the clinic.
13:36
And we're, you know, eager to, you know, continue in that path,
13:40
which will enable a, a broader expansion of our clinical study
13:43
early next year. At the same time, we're, you
13:46
know, doing a lot of work to identify novel regulators of
13:49
macrophages that can be leveraged in different ways.
13:51
And so we're developing a a pipeline of additional drugs
13:54
that includes different modalities to make sure that
13:57
we're kind of accessing a lot of the advancements that have been
13:59
made in the field. You know, beyond immunotherapy.
14:02
There's been, you know, tremendous success with AD CS in
14:04
recent years. And I think the field has
14:06
learned a lot about what works in that space.
14:08
And we want to bring that also into our work and, you know,
14:11
combine our sort of novel Indian regulatory targets with best
14:15
practices in AD CS. And so we're developing a suite
14:18
of bispecific AD CS which will fill out, you know, the next
14:20
portion of our pipeline. Nice.
14:22
Interesting. I I was going to ask actually.
14:24
I mean, I know you can't say much about the the current study
14:27
that's that's ongoing, but just in terms of that indication that
14:31
that you might look to inpatient populations that you may look to
14:34
in the future where we really targeting, what were you
14:37
thinking? Yeah.
14:39
So we're, of course, trying to learn from the ongoing clinical
14:42
study. We're going into that study.
14:44
I think we have a lot of information from the cancer
14:46
biology to draw from. ZD 24 is a target that is not
14:50
expressed in every type of cancer.
14:51
So for example, it's largely absent in some of the heme
14:54
cancers that have been an area of focus for macrophage
14:57
checkpoints in the past. So that in a way is is good for
15:00
us. We don't have to you know go
15:01
back in the same indications where on some previous attempts
15:04
haven't been successful. Instead we can follow the
15:07
biology of our target into some new indications.
15:09
So by expression, by overexpression versus the tissue
15:13
of origin and by genetic amplification, I think we've got
15:16
a really strong foundation to identify these indications and
15:19
that includes high admit needed indications like ovarian, triple
15:23
negative breast, endometrial, cholangiocarcinoma, colorectal
15:27
and others as well. But you know, as as far as our
15:29
our sort of first set, we see a lot of patients that that need
15:33
new therapies especially in immunotherapy space within that
15:36
handful of diseases. Understood.
15:38
OK, interesting. I know you touched on speed
15:42
briefly a little bit as as well. Obviously you've got the path
15:45
designation now as as well, right, That was announced a
15:48
couple of months back. And when, when are you expecting
15:53
timelines wise, you know, next day it's a readout what, what
15:56
can we expect from you in the next sort of 6 to 12 months, I
15:59
guess. Yeah.
16:01
For us, I would say that we're accumulating this, you know,
16:05
monotherapy day-to-day by day. And so on an ongoing basis, we
16:08
have a better sense of what is the safety profile, what is the
16:11
dosing going to look like. And I, I think we, you know, may
16:14
be in a position to share some of that.
16:15
And then first half of next year, likewise some of the
16:18
activity of the drug that we're we're seeing, I think is, is
16:21
something we'll be able to certainly learn from now and
16:24
then perhaps talk about in the, the near future.
16:27
And then we're really working toward this clinical expansion
16:30
in the Phase 1P setting where we'll dig into individual
16:33
indications, unlikely leverage combination therapies that are
16:36
relevant for that space. And we're hoping to initiate
16:39
that, you know, in the first quarter of next year.
16:43
And so, you know, a lot of us to go right in order for us to hit
16:45
those timelines perfectly. But that's what we're working
16:47
toward because we think that is what puts us on the kind of
16:50
fastest path to registrational data.
16:53
And so from there, I think, you know, we we really benefit from
16:57
great engagement from our clinical partners.
16:59
And so since the unmet need in these diseases very high and the
17:03
physicians are really excited about new potential therapies, I
17:05
think that's that's helped us with enrollment and making sure
17:08
that we're getting the right patients as quickly as possible.
17:10
So I'm hopeful that we'll be able to move through those
17:13
phases swiftly. And yeah, maybe have some some
17:15
very exciting data across those categories next year.
17:19
Yeah, sure. I know you mentioned
17:21
enrollment's been pretty successful already.
17:23
I'm sure that's down to some external factors as well, like
17:26
you mentioned, but obviously as well the internal team that you
17:29
built, I know when we spoke beforehand, you were keen to,
17:34
you know, massively stress the importance of the quality of
17:37
team that that you guys have built.
17:39
And particularly on on the culture front, I think you have
17:43
something like, yeah, your attention is like 100%, which
17:46
was absolutely crazy that you mentioned previously.
17:49
How have you, how have you been successful here?
17:52
Because it's not, it's not universal that you get that
17:55
right in in biotech, it's fair to say.
17:58
Yeah, I think, you know, we've been in very intentional about
18:00
it and we've also been really lucky with some of the the key
18:04
people that we brought in. I think for the the foundation
18:07
of the company that really started with the group of
18:09
scientists that we recruited in, you know, before we'd raised any
18:13
money. You know, they're leaving very
18:14
successful periods in other areas.
18:16
And so it's quite a leap of faith.
18:17
So that I think selects for a certain phenotype.
18:20
But you know, each one of the people who form the scientific
18:23
core were people that, you know, either I or my Co founders had
18:27
experience working with. So we knew very well what kind
18:30
of leaders they would be at the company.
18:32
And yet we were asking them to to take on a role that was, you
18:35
know, a step up from what they had done previously, drawing on
18:38
their scientific experience, but kind of being part of a a
18:40
company building experience that that maybe was new to them.
18:44
And so they really thrived in those roles.
18:46
And then I think in turn, I were able to really successfully
18:48
identify people and to, to bring in, to fill out those teams.
18:52
I think for US1 big transition point, As for many companies of
18:56
our type is to go from a, a team of quote UN quote, just
18:58
scientists at which as a scientist, I, you know, I feel
19:01
highly haven't qualified to, to recruit and lead to now a
19:04
company that has, you know, a much more diverse set of
19:07
backgrounds and functions, crucially including that
19:09
clinical facing component. And so, you know, amongst the
19:13
senior leaders that we brought in, I, I sort of view that
19:16
hiring process for our chief medical officers, the most
19:18
important. And he's, you know, really my,
19:21
my partner in crime for all aspects of, of running the
19:23
company, but he's, you know, completely in charge of
19:26
envisioning what our, our clinical path will look like and
19:28
executing that. And so the, the chief medical
19:32
officer of FEAST is a a physician named Ruffo Rousseau
19:34
have the perfect type of, of physician scientist for us
19:37
because someone who's incredibly curious and yet, you know, super
19:41
experienced on the clinical side.
19:42
So he's able to master that, but also kind of engage with all the
19:46
scientific energy that I think that the the company had from
19:48
its early days and, you know, make sure that works boring
19:51
ideas. And yet and he executing really
19:53
well on the clinical side. And he's got, you know, an
19:55
incredible network and a great rapport with our clinical
19:58
investigators, which I think is a big part of why we've been so
20:00
successful on the lympho operation side.
20:03
Are you still doing most of the PA against VIA word of mouth by
20:09
referrals like like you were furthering in the past or?
20:13
It's a mix, I would say over the, the history of the company,
20:16
yeah, in the earliest days, we, we relied heavily on people in
20:19
our network. I think as we've grown the team,
20:21
we, you know, we don't want to do just, we would have run out
20:24
of, of, of people even if we had had that focus.
20:27
So I think we've got a great mix of, you know, people who are
20:30
sort of completely new to the the company and coming just from
20:35
a, you know, from scratch recruitment process.
20:38
And then people who have, you know, some level of touch point
20:40
into the existing team or founders.
20:43
I would say on the clinical side, for example, we've, you
20:45
know, had the the great benefit to draw on network and as we
20:50
think about the the team, but because of, you know, we're a
20:53
small company and you know, runway is, is crucial for most
20:56
companies in our space right now.
20:57
So we're trying to be very efficient.
20:58
So really he, you know, has, has done a great job of building a
21:02
team of consultants as necessary and then only sort of fully
21:06
hiring once we really, truly have the need.
21:08
And yeah, I think that is a process that will it will change
21:12
over time. As we mature, that team will
21:14
again grow beyond the bounds of any one person's network.
21:17
But we always do like to use that when we can.
21:19
Yeah, absolutely. Makes sense.
21:21
I think something you mentioned before about bringing people on
21:25
who were taking a step up, I think that's interesting.
21:27
That probably relates to why you've had such good retention.
21:31
People feel invested. Very similar to a conversation I
21:34
had with another project over in Boston a few weeks back, exactly
21:38
the same. Everyone they hired took a step
21:40
up. They were invested.
21:42
They're in it for the long run because they could see the
21:44
growth they were, yeah, they were going to get from from the
21:47
position. It wasn't just a job, as sort of
21:50
corny as that sounds. It is part of the wider, wider
21:53
purpose. I think that probably speaks to
21:55
what you guys are building for sure.
21:57
I think so. And I would say that I'll just
21:59
to clarify our, our retention has been very high throughout
22:02
the history of the template. It's not that we've never lost
22:04
anybody, but I would say in the recent year and a half or so, we
22:08
we really haven't had any, you know, regrettable losses from
22:10
the team and all of the key leaders of the company, I think
22:13
have stayed with us at the beginning exactly for the reason
22:15
that you say, you know, we try to make it a nice place to work
22:18
and a fun place to work and a pleasure place to work.
22:20
I think those aspects of Ultra are really crucial.
22:23
But also, as you said, I think I don't know, this is almost by
22:28
default. I would say I'm a little bit
22:29
more junior in terms of use of experience than some people who
22:32
might be in my position. So the people I would naturally
22:35
bring onto the team or, or likewise probably a little early
22:37
into their career if they're coming from my network.
22:39
But I don't know. But by luck and skill one way or
22:43
the other, thesis had a lot of success at leveling up people in
22:45
that way. And and yeah, that that gives
22:48
them a a sort of reason to grow with the company in a way that
22:51
is also really great for continuity of the team and and
22:54
retention as well. So I think it's it's worked out
22:56
really well for us so far. Absolutely, absolutely.
22:59
And when we spoke before you mentioned about some, some
23:02
upcoming financing potentially to look out for in, in Q4 or
23:07
early 26. Do you want to give us a little
23:09
bit more detail on what we can? Expect there, yeah, we're we're
23:13
sort of in process with it. So I can't say exactly what
23:16
we're focused on, but we raised our Series A in January 2022.
23:20
And So what we, you know, have been very efficient with those
23:22
funds. You know, most companies need to
23:25
raise as they ramp up clinical activities and, and we're doing
23:27
that as well. So I think we're we're certainly
23:29
finding our path forward on that despite the relatively
23:32
challenging funding environment that is out there for biotech
23:35
generally for, you know, immunotherapy specifically.
23:38
You know, we have some some headwinds that we're working
23:40
against. But yeah, I think we've
23:42
crucially got really rock solid support from our original
23:46
investors who have, you know, seen us work in real time and,
23:49
and really like what we're doing.
23:51
And we've been able to to bring in some additional parties as
23:53
well. I think for us as we look to the
23:55
the kind of longer term future, it's going to be clinical data
23:58
for our league program that really helps us take that next
24:00
step. And so you know, you know that
24:03
that's likely to come in 2026 or beyond when we have that, you
24:07
know, larger raise that really kind of allows us to plan for
24:10
the entire rest of the future of the league program in the
24:12
pipeline. And for now, I think we're
24:13
focused on bringing the funds that we need to in order to get
24:15
there. Cool, makes sense just to just
24:19
to shine the light on how you've been Fine.
24:21
I know you touched on it there that the wider market, it's not
24:23
the easiest in the minute. How have you found it over the
24:27
past few months in terms of conversations?
24:29
It's it's on everyone's lips, right?
24:31
Everyone. It's saying it's as tough as it
24:33
probably has ever been, at least in the past five to 10 years.
24:37
Yeah. What's your perspective on it?
24:40
Yeah. I, I mean, I think my experience
24:42
has been that we started the company I think at a quite lucky
24:46
time. There was a lot of money flowing
24:48
into biotech and I think Feast closed its Series A kind of on
24:52
the tail end of that. So we, you know, we managed to,
24:55
to raise robustly. And for us, the key was to make
24:57
sure we had enough money to get to the stage where we are right
25:00
now. Kind of think in sort of
25:02
previous areas of biotech fundraising, it might have been
25:05
natural to, to raise a smaller amount, which would sort of
25:09
erase the program on the way to the clinic.
25:10
And then you raise again. And I'm, I'm happy that we
25:13
weren't in that situation because things got really cold
25:15
during that period of time. And you know, many companies who
25:19
sort of started at the same time as us and have come involved
25:22
exactly for that reason, maybe not for lack of progress or good
25:24
science, but just because the funds went there to continue.
25:27
So we were just lucky in that respect and again, found great
25:30
partners for that Series A that were they shared that idea of
25:33
just getting us enough money to get all the way there.
25:36
You know, I, I orbit of fantasy that by the time we got to that
25:40
point, just everything would have, would have been very
25:42
different. And, you know, we will be back
25:44
to the rows of your time for biotech fundraising.
25:47
It's not exactly that. So certainly there's a lot of
25:49
investment happening in certain areas, but it's been some time
25:52
since the industry has seen a big win in immunotherapy.
25:55
And so whereas I would say when I started my, you know, my
25:58
industry career is just obvious to everyone that immunotherapy
26:02
was the future. And this is where, you know,
26:03
investment would flow first. By contrast, something like
26:06
ADC's were around, but kind of a little bit cold by comparison.
26:10
And things have flipped, you know, just as they do.
26:12
This is an industry of, of trends and waves.
26:14
So because we haven't seen a lot of success from the sort of
26:18
following immunotherapy programs, you know, that might
26:21
be changing these sort of iterations on, on PD1 PDL, one
26:24
with the Vegeta fusions. This is a really interesting
26:26
area. But anyway, it's not a, it's not
26:28
an automatic that we don't have to explain ourselves of what
26:30
we're doing. So for that reason, I think when
26:33
we talk to people, I think we've gotten a lot of interest in, you
26:36
know, in the science of people, people in this industry where
26:39
investors typically come from a science background.
26:42
So it's very helpful. We can always kind of hook them
26:43
with just the, the fascinating stuff that we're doing.
26:46
And then ultimately, I think it for many of them that comes down
26:49
to a OK, great. I really hope this works in the
26:51
clinic get back to us as soon as it does.
26:54
And then, you know, the, the set of people were interested to
26:56
kind of take a risk on the program in this particular phase
26:59
of development is a little smaller, but it's certainly not
27:01
0. So I think we, you know, we,
27:03
we've gotten the conversations that we need to in that way.
27:06
Like you say, you know, timing wise, it worked out last time
27:09
fingers grossed that that that is the case this time around
27:12
again as well. I'll put in.
27:14
So that's why I think that's pretty much covered everything
27:16
apart from the final Biohub question, which we talked about
27:21
previously, and that was the dinner guest question.
27:24
So yeah, a couple of people you'd like to take out on a
27:28
dinner party, a nice evening with with friends or with
27:31
someone you've never met before but would really like to.
27:35
Yeah, sure. I there's a fun to think about.
27:37
So for the the scientist, I I'll go with Jim Allison, who's a
27:41
immunotherapy legend, you know, Nobel Prize winner.
27:43
So just in that respect is more than qualified as a dinner guest
27:46
for me. He's actually someone who I've
27:48
had a chance to meet before because he's good friends with
27:51
my my mentor and he's just an incredible storyteller and
27:55
someone who's got decades of, you know, science and life to
27:58
draw upon. So I think science, you know,
28:00
science included, but also beyond the science.
28:02
So you'd just be a, a fascinated person to spend a couple hours
28:05
and we'll gather a few drinks with on the business side.
28:09
I, I just finished a book called For Blood and Money.
28:12
And this is a a book that's probably familiar to a lot of
28:14
listeners of the podcast, but it's about the biotech industry
28:18
in the Bay Area, focused on on the development of the BTK
28:21
inhibitors Imbruvica and Calquins from Pharmacyclics and
28:25
Assertive, respectively. There's a really fascinating
28:27
read and it's the book that's full of really colorful
28:29
characters, including many who are still very active in the
28:32
biotech industry. So there was one person in
28:35
particular who I've never met before by the name of Wayne
28:37
Rothfong, who you know, came from a pure investment
28:40
background. And sort of over the course of
28:43
this journey, first investing in pharmacyclics and then later
28:46
founding Acerda, kind of became a really scientifically minded
28:51
person as he's portrayed in the book.
28:52
And some of you has just a completely different, I guess,
28:55
from what I can tell in the book, leadership style,
28:58
communication style. So in that respect, probably
29:00
somebody I could learn a lot from.
29:01
And since he's still an active biotech investor, maybe I'm kind
29:04
of willing into reality and the the possibility of talking to
29:08
him and meeting with him. So Wayne, if you're, you're
29:10
listening, feel free to drop me an e-mail.
29:11
I'd love to chat. There you go.
29:14
Reach out. For sure.
29:15
Very good. Awesome.
29:16
Roy, thank you very much. It's been a pleasure to have you
29:18
on and a pleasure to get to know you a little bit over the course
29:21
of, yeah, of setting this up. So thanks again for your time.
29:25
Yeah. I really appreciate it, Callum.
29:26
Great to talk to you and thanks for the opportunity.