Latest / The BioHub - by Avetix / Episode 62 - Alison Finger – COO Vicero Bio

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Episode 62 - Alison Finger – COO Vicero Bio · The BioHub - by Avetix

• 0:05
  So welcome. Back to the episode of the Bio
• 0:07
  Hub. Today we're joined by a top
• 0:09
  leader in the biotech space, Allison Finger.
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  Allison brings more than three decades of experience driving
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  strategy, commercialization and growth across some of the most
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  innovative companies. She's currently the CEO of this
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  Hero Bio, where she overseas operations lead strategic
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  initiatives to advance the next generation of immuno oncology
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  programs. Previously, Alison served as CCO
• 0:31
  at Bluebird Bio, where she helped bring the company's first
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  selling gene therapy products to market and has also held global
• 0:38
  leadership roles at BMS. So join us today as we'll talk through
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  Alison's journey, mentorship, as well as transitioning from a
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  commercial to an operating role. So Alison, thanks so much for
• 0:49
  coming on. How are you?
• 0:50
  I'm good. Thank you.
• 0:51
  Thank you very much for having me here.
• 0:53
  Yeah, it's an absolute pleasure. So look, let's dive into a
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  little bit about you then. So can you talk us through your
• 0:59
  journey and what inspired you to pursue a career in the biotech
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  industry? My path was not really
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  traditional. I was a liberal arts major in
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  college and I began my career in advertising.
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  But when I was in advertising, I, I found myself more
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  interested in my client's business than the business of
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  advertising itself. And so I went back to Business
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  School, to Duke University to get my MBA.
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  And at Duke, one of the research strengths is decision sciences.
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  And I found that really fascinating because I think it's
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  a core strength of business management.
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  I had the fortune to join Bristol-Myers Squibb as a summer
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  internship, as a summer intern, sorry, working in the consumer
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  medicines group. And then they made me an offer
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  to come back full time. And so I joined BMS full time
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  after I graduated from Duke. I had the good fortune of being
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  there for over 21 years, and I got to run different parts of
• 1:53
  the business and launch 8 products.
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  I ran different therapeutic areas, including virology,
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  neuroscience and hematology, oncology.
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  And I also had the opportunity to live in Australia and New
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  Zealand for a couple of years and run the business down there.
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  So great experiences. I got to learn from some of the
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  very best in drug development. And then in 2015, I moved into
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  biotech where I joined, as you noted, Bluebird Bio as Chief
• 2:22
  Commercial Officer. And I was brought on to build
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  out the organization from a clinical stage company to a
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  fully integrated company. And that was absolutely
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  fascinating. Now I'm working with a new
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  company called Visceral Bio and I'm also serving on company
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  board. So I have a portfolio of really
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  interesting businesses that I'm involved with.
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  And I'd say that, you know, what's really fantastic about
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  getting to work in biopharma is the industry lets me work with
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  brilliant people from diverse fields who are changing the
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  world. And it challenges me every day.
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  It challenges me intellectually, and it just provides deep
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  satisfaction of knowing our work is advancing patient care.
• 3:02
  So I guess you know from starting out in advertising and
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  a liberal arts major, I ended up right where I belong.
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  Very good, and can you share the origin story behind Visera Bio
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  and the inspiration behind its founding?
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  Yeah, of course. So this year was founded on
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  ground baking technology from Chuck Shoemaker's lab at Tufts
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  University. Chuck is a pioneer in single
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  domain antibody research and he published Seminole work on this
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  technology back in 2007. VHH antibodies, sometimes called
• 3:35
  nano bodies, are structurally different from monoclonal
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  antibodies. They're, they're smaller
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  fragments with very high affinity and are highly stable
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  and using Tufts proprietary screening methodology, we can
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  optimize for potency achieving fentanyl or post potency with
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  our lead program. So Viscera's founder, Vikram
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  Khansra, whom I overlapped with at BMS. So that's how we
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  connected recognized the immense potential of of Doctor
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  Shoemaker's proprietary methodology and licenses
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  technology and we have applications across many
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  different disease areas, but we're focused on solving the
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  limitations of monoclonal antibody therapy in solid
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  tumors. So that's where we're squarely
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  focused. Immuno oncology, particularly
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  checkpoint inhibitors as many know has been a game changer in
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  cancer therapy and combination IO therapy has proven
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  particularly effective in many different solid tumor
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  indications. But the potency of combination
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  therapy also comes with increased grade 3 and 4 immune
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  related adverse events and so many patients can't get the full
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  benefit of this combination therapy.
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  Our Vinco bodies have the potential to offer the similar
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  potency without inducing these high toxicity rates due to their
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  structural differences from monoclonal antibodies.
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  And that's why we say that Visceral provides combination IO
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  efficacy without constraint. Very good.
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  And you sort of went into the pipeline a little bit then, but
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  maybe just to be more specific, how's the lead program coming
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  along? And then I know you guys are
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  working towards a Series A round at the moment.
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  How is that coming along as well?
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  Yeah, don't worry about. It our preclinical data is
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  compelling in a double knock and mouse model we have demonstrated
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  better safety at doses up to 12 times greater than standard of
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  care, the standard of care comparator of pembrolizumab and
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  ibilumumab. So we're very excited about
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  that. And we've also shown complete
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  tumor regression at 5 Meg per keg, which is highly potent and
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  continued tumor suppression after re challenge.
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  Our Sino PK studies demonstrated that our estimated human
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  equivalent dose will be just one milligram flat dosed dosed sub
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  Q. So this is a very compelling
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  emerging product profile and pending funding, we're ready to
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  advance this product into Ind in less than 12 months.
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  We're so as you noted, we're actively in the market for our
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  Series A raise and we're encouraged by the interest that
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  we're generating. We're having a number of
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  conversations. We're also having ongoing
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  conversations with potential strategic investors.
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  So as we all know, the economic environment is a little bit
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  tough right now and it can be challenging, but we're
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  enthusiastic about the progress we're making.
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  Yeah, that's good to hear because I speak to so many
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  companies that are in a slightly different situation where it's
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  just, yeah, really struggling to get any sort of funds in.
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  So good to hear that you guys are making progress.
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  And then just back to you, so you've predominantly been in
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  commercial roles for the bulk of your career.
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  How did you find that transition to be more of an operating role?
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  And can you give us some background on a on a typical day
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  for you as well? Yes, typical days aren't
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  typical, but so I spent 21 years of BMS in commercial roles or
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  business roles. But as you progress in this
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  function, it evolves into general management.
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  And so I had the opportunity to run multifunctional teams,
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  developing strategy and overseeing execution and
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  delivering on the PNL. And I was fortunate to lead many
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  different parts of BMS, including global development
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  teams, franchises and was managing Director of BMS
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  Australia in New Zealand, which I already mentioned.
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  And then after BMSI moved into biotech, heading up commercial
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  for Bluebird Bio. But this role involved as much
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  company building and establishing operations in
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  Europe and the US as it did commercial work.
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  So in in reality, I've actually been in operating roles for most
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  of my career. What's unique today is that I'm
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  focused now on company formation, which is a new area
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  for me and it's really exciting. So you asked what most of my
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  days look like. Most of my time these days is
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  focused on business development and fundraising, networking and
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  just talking to people and getting out there as much as
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  possible to to let people know about Viscero and what we're
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  doing and, and where we want to realize the vision of this this
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  potential therapy. Nice.
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  And I guess that's one of the beauties of being a small
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  biotech. You've got the opportunity to
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  wear multiple different hats at once.
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  So yeah, you're good. So you've been a large farmer
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  and small biotech. What do you think of the main
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  differences between the two and also in the way that leaders
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  think in the two different types of businesses?
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  You know, it's a really interesting question and I
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  thought a lot about this because I think great leadership is
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  great leadership. So regardless of company size,
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  leadership is about making great decisions, including setting the
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  strategy, enabling and empowering your team and
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  colleagues, managing risk and listening.
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  I think the differences between biotech and a large pharma is
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  really driven by the scope of the business and the
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  stakeholders. So when you think about large
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  pharma, leaders in large pharma must consider broad portfolio
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  implications and operated as a significantly broader scale.
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  You know, they're, they're playing in multiple different
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  geographies, multiple different disease areas.
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  And I know some biotechs are absolutely as well, but they're,
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  it's just a, it's a different size of the business.
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  And in contrast, biotech leadership means playing what I
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  say is closer to the net with different investor relationships
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  and navigating potential make or break events and, and as the
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  portfolio advances. And so, you know, I, I, the risk
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  profiles are different and I think that's what leads very
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  different leadership tendencies across biopharma or
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  pharmaceuticals and biotech. So the environments create
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  different risk profiles, but it's high risk either way.
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  And so that said, I've seen great leadership, relentless
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  focus on patient's needs and intense passion to deliver for
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  patients, both at big pharma, at BMS and also at biotech.
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  And I guess the core commitment to patients and the elements of
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  great leadership and send the organizational side.
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  So you know, there there are people who who like the broader
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  pharmaceutical, big pharma worldwide businesses and there's
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  people who like to play close to the net and at the forefront of
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  innovation and squarely focus there.
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  But I think great leadership is great leadership.
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  Very good and I know one of the topics that you were keen to
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  speak about was mentorship. Were there any specific mentors
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  that helped shape your career and and why is mentorship so
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  important to you as well? You know, I'm going to start
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  with the, the second part of that question 1st, and, and that
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  is that, you know, when I was at BMS, we put a large focus on
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  leadership and leadership development.
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  And part of that was that as you progress in your career, you
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  realize and you move from being an individual contributor to a
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  leader of people and a leader of teams.
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  The impact that you have for the business, for the organization,
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  for patients is less about your personal output and it's more
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  about how you empower people to do their best and, and enable
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  them to bring what they can to the table.
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  So by focusing on enabling others, you really create the
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  greatest impact for the organization.
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  And you do that through mentoring and leading your
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  teams, but also mentoring and leading other people.
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  And I've had the fortune of having great bosses and mentors
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  and most of my bosses remain my mentors today, which is really
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  fantastic. I'm in touch with most of the
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  people that I worked with across the years.
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  And I've got to learn from absolutely some of the best.
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  You know, I learned, I learned many different things.
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  Different bosses taught me different distinct skills, such
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  as how to think big and how to turn a vision into a, a tight
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  operating plan, how to lead with my heart as well as my head.
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  And how and, and one of the most important.
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  One of the first things I learned from my first manager at
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  BMS was the importance of asking questions and listening.
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  And so there have been many people who have mentored and
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  inspired me, but their collective and most valuable
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  lesson was showing me that with respect and trust, A-Team can
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  overcome challenges and achieve far more than they ever thought
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  possible. Yeah, I love that.
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  And this is a question we always finish with on the bio hub.
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  I know I wanted to pre warn you just to have a think on this
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  one, but if you were to have dinner with three people, past
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  or present, who would they be and why?
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  They don't necessarily need to be biotech innovators, although
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  they can if you like. But yeah, three people for
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  dinner. So my answer is not going to be
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  biotech innovators, but I, I do have to say that, you know, when
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  you have a, a long career in life sciences, you get to meet
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  absolutely fascinating people. And I've had the fortune of
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  having both lunch and dinner with a Nobel laureate in Doctor
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  Baruch Bloomberg, who was the person who discovered the
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  hepatitis B virus. And so when we were launching a
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  product called Barracuda or in Tekavir in China, he came to
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  that product launch. And I had the good fortune of
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  sitting next to him and talking to him about what he's done for
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  patients and for science and, and, and all of that.
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  So that, you know, that those kinds of experiences are just
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  one of the amazing things from working in this area.
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  But when I thought about your question, you know, there really
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  was only one answer for me. And it's going to be 4 people.
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  Sorry, it's not three people, but that's my, it's my
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  grandparents. So my mother is British and both
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  her mother and her father served in World War 2.
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  My grandfather was actually one of Churchill's generals, and my
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  grandmother was a group officer for the Women's Auxiliary
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  Auxiliary Air Force, which is just incredible for, you know, a
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  woman to do back in the day on my father's side, I never met my
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  grandfather. So I'd like to do that.
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  And my grandmother grew up in Milwaukee.
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  She was born in 1896, and she lives if you're 99 years old.
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  So I can only imagine what that dinner party would be like with
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  the four of them, the five of us, I guess, sitting around the
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  table. And I would love the opportunity
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  to learn more from them and about each of them, and also to
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  say thank you for everything they've done for me, to let me
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  be who I am. Also, I love that there's 3 or 4
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  terrific answers there I had. To do 4.
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  Yeah, right. Well, look, thanks so much for
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  coming on Alison. I think just hearing a little
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  bit more about how it is in an early stage biotech, you know
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  how the advancements in fundraising and pipelines coming
• 15:10
  along is, is really interesting to know.
• 15:12
  So, yeah, thanks so much for coming on.
• 15:14
  Thank you very much for having me, it's been great.
• 15:17
  Yeah.