Episodes
We’re online with Adrian Rawcliffe, the CEO of Adaptimmune, the TCR cell therapy company behind the first engineered cell therapy for solid tumors that was approved for a rare form of sarcoma.
We talked about Tecelra's commercial rollout. We also talked about what's next in cell therapy, and Philly Cheesesteak vs Fish and Chips.
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Thank you to today’s sponsor, Merck, who can support your antibody drug discovery. Learn more and claim a cool antibody pin here: https://bit.ly/3AhZFUA
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Published 10/28/24
We’re in Basel 🇨🇭 with the CEO of Nouscom, one of the top EU immuno-oncology biotechs in the cancer vaccine space, Marina Udier.
We talked about cancer vaccines and Nouscom’s platform. We also discussed the importance of focus for success and her career.
⭐️ ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Marina was recommended to me by one of her investors. She has an inspiring story, growing up in Croatia, going to the US, and making it all the way to be one of the 11% of female CEOs of biotechs in Europe in 2024. Now...
Published 10/01/24
We’re in Munich 🇩🇪 with the founder of one of the 15 most valuable European biotechs, Harpreet Singh.
We talked about the field of PRAME receptors, TCR therapeutics and cell therapy at large. We also talked about the combination with mRNA therapeutics and his upbringing in a Sikh family in Germany.
🔗 LINKS MENTIONED
Labiotech.eu | “Interview Harpreet Singh - Why Being in a New Field From the Start Can Pay Off in the Long Run”, Sep 2019:...
Published 09/02/24
We’re in Munich 🇩🇪 with a “true” biotech founder, Dominik Schumacher of Tubulis. Not many biotechs in Europe are led by a founder PhD under 40 and have scaled to raising over 100M. I know only two, one is Thomas at Owkin and the other one is Dominik at Tubulis.
We talked about building a champion ADC biotech, the super hot ADC sphere, and the difference between luck and success.
🔗 LINKS MENTIONED
- https://curie.bio/ - https://curie.bio
- Tubulis Closes Upsized €128 Million Series B2 to...
Published 07/15/24
We’re in Boston 🇺🇸 with one of the top VCs, Otello Stampacchia of Omega Funds.
We talked about the highest competitive tension in biopharma now that he has ever seen. We also talked about his career, especially the challenges and opportunities he had from moving to Boston over 15 years ago.
📜 TRANSCRIPT
Read the full transcript here: https://flot.bio/episode/otello-stampacchia-omega-funds/
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Published 06/28/24
We’re in San Sebastián 🇪🇸 with one of the top VCs in Europe, Christina Takke from V-Bio Ventures.
We talk about her path to get to the top and the benefits of gender diversity for both investing and European biotech as a whole. We also talk about her investment in Argenx when it was only three employees and the venture creation had dropped since 2022.
🔗 LINKS MENTIONED
- Lean years for company creation in Europe? - BioVox, Sep 2023 -...
Published 06/17/24
We’re in San Sebastián 🇪🇸 with Naveed Siddiqi of one of Europe's largest biotech investors, Novo Holdings.
We talked about how things really are in European biotech at the moment. We also talked about his upbringing as a second-generation immigrant in the UK and the importance of diversity. I’ve known him since he was a partner at Andera. He is a sharp investor, but also very friendly and open.
💎 ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Naveed has been a part of Novo Holdings since 2019 and splits his...
Published 05/27/24
We’re in Hannover 🇩🇪 with the founder and CEO of Cardior, Claudia Ulbrich
We talked about Cardior’s recent €1B exit to Novo Nordisk. We also talk about miRNA and Cardiovascular, and why she earned the funny nickname “Frau Biotech”.
💎 ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Claudia has been founding biotechs since the ’90s. She founded her first biotech company, LipoNova AG in 1998 and went on to co-found many more, including Cardior Pharmaceuticals. During her time she has launched and brought public a...
Published 05/07/24
We’re super privileged to chat online with Bahija Jallal, the CEO of Immunocore. Immunocore is the largest biotech in the UK and the 5th largest in Europe with a market cap of just over 3 billion dollars. We talk about how Immunocore has helped thousands of cancer patients and has become a commercial biotech. We also talk about why she thinks gender and race diversity are a business case and how AI is changing protein and biologics engineering.
💎 ABOUT THE SPEAKER
I’ve “known” Bahija for...
Published 03/26/24
We’re in Brussels with Edwin Moses, the former CEO of one of the most successful platform companies in Europe, Ablynx, now part of Sanofi. We talk about how he feels 5 years after the exit from Ablynx and his lessons. We also talk about the parallels between industrial biotech, AI bio and cell therapy, and how a chairman can help CEOs grow.
💎 ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Edwin Moses is Chairman of Achilles Thx (cell therapy for solid tumors), Avantium (bioplastics) and LabGenius (AI biotech). He is...
Published 03/05/24
We’re in Copenhagen with Jens Nielsen, the CEO of BioInnovation Institute. We will talk about what works best to translate academic research in bio into innovation for humanity, especially how everything is connected. We also talk about how BII is solving some of the main challenges scientist entrepreneurs face and the drawbacks of Novo financing most of Denmark’s biotech ecosystem.
💎 ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Jens Nielsen is one of the best in this space in Europe. Not only is he the CEO of...
Published 02/05/24
We’re in Amsterdam with Sander van Deventer, the CEO of VectorY. We will talk about VectorY and what’s missing in gene therapy.
💎 ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Sander has an impressive track record, being a professor, operational biotech founder and a VC. In 1998, he co-founded uniQure, which brought the first gene therapy to the market. He also co-founded the leading VC Forbion as well as Dezima. He is now building a new venture VectorY, again in gene therapy. I interviewed him in 2017 back at...
Published 01/15/24
In an online special, we’re interviewing Thomas Clozal, the co-founder and CEO of Owkin. We talk about scaling AI in biotech and how it feels to be the child of billionaire biotech parents.
💎 ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Thomas founded Owkin in 2016 and I first met him in 2017. At that time, Owkin was still a baby and I wasn’t sure where it would go. Now it’s a unicorn following a $180M investment from Sanofi in 2021 and has over 300 employees.
🔗 LINKS MENTIONED
- Exscientia Expands Biologics...
Published 12/18/23
Today, I’m in Paris (🇫🇷) to chat with Marc de Garidel, the new CEO of Abivax. We talk about the challenges behind the exits and why Abivax could be a third big success.
💎 ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Marc is a biopharma veteran with an impressive track record. He has made two billion-dollar exits, was CEO of Ipsen, and has recently made the biggest French IPO ever with Abivax.
📜 TRANSCRIPT
Read the full transcript here: https://flot.bio/episode/marc-de-garidel-abivax-exit/
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Published 12/04/23
Today we're in Munich at BIO-Europe to chat with one of the best commentators in European biotech, Mike Ward. We talk about the best and the worst of the European biotech industry since the 80s.
💎 ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Mike has been in biotech content since the birth of the industry in the 80s. He has worked at BioCentury, Informa/Scrip and now Clarivate. I’ve known Mike for many years and I like how clearly he sees things while being no-b******t and fun.
📜 TRANSCRIPT
Read the full...
Published 11/20/23
We’re live from Oslo 🇳🇴 to catch up with Agnete Fredriksen, co-founder and CBO of Nykode (ex-Vaccibody). In this episode, we chat about being one of the leading women in bio in Europe, the Nordics, and immunotherapies.
💎 ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Agnete founded the immunotherapy company Nykode in 2006 which is now worth around $500M. For her PhD she designed and developed the first Vaccibody vaccine molecules, improving the outlook for cancer patients. I’ve known Agnete for many years and I like...
Published 10/31/23
Biotech great Rodger Novak, Co-Founder and Chairman of CRISPR Tx joins us on the show. In this episode, we chat about bringing the first CRISPR drug to the market and why he thinks everything is wrong in bio in Europe besides science. Rodgers’ is a name everyone should know, having made it big in the global biotech scene. I first interviewed him back in 2016 at Labiotech. It’s a treat to be able to sit down with him again.
💎 ABOUT THE SPEAKER
A serial entrepreneur, Rodger Novak has made it...
Published 10/24/23
We’re back live and in Paris with our next guest, Johannes Fruehauf. We talk about reinventing the co-working labs for biotech startups, the difficulties of doing business in Europe, profitability in biotech, and much more (see timestamps below).
💎 ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Johannes is the President, CEO, and founder of BioLabs, the biggest “incubator”, or as they like to call it “co-working laboratory”, platform for biotech startups in the world. Today they have over 14 locations, including 3 in...
Published 08/04/23
In a virtual special, we welcome Bernat Olle to the show. We discuss the microbiome space, including Vedanta’s upcoming Phase 3, and how it feels to be a European founder in Boston.
Bernat is the CEO and co-founder of Boston-based Vedanta Biosciences, one of the leading microbiome companies. They’ve had a positive Phase 2 trial and recently raised a $107M round to run a Phase 3.
Bernat is a life science trailblazer. During his doctorate at MIT, he developed a novel method for large-scale...
Published 06/22/23
It’s a treat to welcome Ingmar on the show. We chat about building a 20B dollar biotech startup, almost dying on the job, and why people skills are so important in biotech.
Ingmar is a pioneer in the EU biotech scene, revolutionizing drug development with mRNA therapeutics. He and his team created the initial technology used in mRNA vaccines and submitted the first patents for its use. CureVav helped other mRNA companies such as Moderna and BioNTech successfully solve the Covid pandemic....
Published 05/24/23
It's great to have Werner, the CEO of Evotec, one of the largest biotech research companies in Europe/the world, on the show. We have known each other for almost ten years now. He's not only sharp but also friendly and easy to talk to. In this episode, we chat about leading AI in biotech, the sharing economy in the industry, how to be authentic, and more. Hope it helps you learn, be inspired and grow 😉
Timestamps:
(00:00:00) Intro
(00:00:37) Welcome
(00:02:49) AI in biotech
(00:10:08) What AI...
Published 04/26/23
For our first episode, we catch up with Antoine Papiernik, the chairman of Sofinnova partners, one of the top EU biotech VC funds. We chat about building billion-euro biotechs in Europe, being listed on the Midas list (without letting it go to your head), the importance of being good at selling, being lucky, and how to balance all this with family priorities.
I've been lucky to know and be inspired by Antoine for almost 10 years. Over his successful career, he has invested in over 500...
Published 03/22/23