Sean Bohen, M.D., Ph.D., is the President and CEO of Olema Oncology, a biopharmaceutical company developing innovative targeted therapies for women’s cancers. We’re excited to welcome Sean back to the podcast – he last appeared on episode 130 in late 2022. Sean provides an update on all the exciting things that have happened at Olema since then, including an update on their lead product candidate. Sean reflects on navigating the challenging biotech market environment over the past year, making careful spending decisions, and raising significant capital to extend Olema’s runway. He also offers advice to first-time CEOs on building a strong support network to guide company growth.

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Troy Wilson, Ph.D., J.D., is the President and CEO of Kura Oncology, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company committed to realizing the promise of precision medicines for the treatment of cancer. Troy talks about his experiences being a CEO and the differences in responsibility between being a CEO and a board member. He also shares what it takes to have a productive board for a biotech company. He discusses recruiting at both the team level and the board level and the qualities that he looks for in a candidate. He shares where he thinks cancer drug development is headed, where it needs to head and where he thinks there’s unmet need. Finally, he talks about the work they’re pursuing at Kura and where they are from a development perspective.

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Keith Gottesdiener, MD, and Jeremy Duffield, MD, PhD, FRCP, are the President & CEO and CSO, respectively, of Prime Medicine. Prime Medicine was founded to bring the promise of gene editing to patients. They use Prime Editing, a next-generation technology that can “search and replace” to restore normal genetic function almost anywhere in the genome. Keith and Jeremy discuss the arc of their careers and how they got to where they are today. They talk about the differences working in big pharma vs. a smaller biotech like Prime. They discuss the importance of companies investing in safety and what they’ve learned regarding indication selection frameworks in gene editing. Finally, they talk about their goal of engaging in partnerships down the road, and the importance of having transparency within their organization.

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Ivana Magovčević-Liebisch, PhD, JD, is the President and CEO of Vigil Neuroscience, a microglia-focused company dedicated to improving the lives of patients, caregivers, and families affected by rare and common neurodegenerative diseases by restoring the vigilance of microglia, the sentinel cells of the brain’s immune system. Ivana shares how sitting on boards of other companies has informed how she operates as CEO at Vigil. She talks about how she’s seen her role evolve as the company has grown over the last three years. She discusses the importance of having diversity and diversity of thought on the leadership team. She provides her perspective on neurology as a therapeutic area, where unmet needs still exist, and the challenges and opportunities in precision-based neurology. Finally, she shares her approach to building culture at Vigil.

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Bobak Azamian, MD, Ph.D., is the CEO and Chairman of Tarsus Pharmaceuticals, a biopharmaceutical company that applies proven science and new technology to revolutionize treatment for patients, starting with eye care. Bobby talks about his early years working in the venture capital space before founding his first company. He shares what it’s like running a publicly traded biotech for the first time and the evolution of his role over the years at Tarsus. He shares his viewpoint on unmet needs and the importance of having a true focus on what’s really happening to the patient. He talks about future indications they’re pursuing at the company and how he leverages learnings from the first programs they ran to what’s coming up next. Finally, he discusses the company’s decision to commercialize in-house versus with a partner and the challenges of taking the company public during the pandemic in 2020.

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Nima Farzan is the CEO of Kinnate Biopharma, a clinical-stage precision oncology company focused on expanding on the promise of targeted therapies for those battling cancer. The company is developing medicines for known oncogenic drivers where there are no approved targeted drugs and to overcome the limitations, such as non-responsiveness or acquired and intrinsic resistance. Having started his biotech career in the late 90s, Nima discusses how his vision of leadership has evolved over the years. He talks about joining Kinnate in March of 2020 and the challenges of running the company and growing the team during a pandemic. He dives into the evolution of genomics over the last several years and what has surprised and impressed him about the genomic ecosystem as a whole. He discusses where Kinnate is from a development perspective and how he thinks about indication selection. Finally, he talks about how being an immigrant has shaped his approach to team building, culture and his own style of leadership.

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Mark Litton, Ph.D., is the President and CEO of Athira Pharma, a late clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing small molecules to restore neuronal health and slow neurodegeneration for those suffering from Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease, dementia, and more. Mark talks about being a CEO for the first time and what he’s learned. He discusses how the biotech ecosystem and its ability to raise capital for companies has changed over the last couple of years and how that’s informing how he’s operating at Athira. He talks about fundraising strategy and how he communicates with team members who perhaps haven’t been involved in fundraising cycles and value creation at biotech before. Finally, he shares how he thinks about business development and his approach to partnerships.

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Ram Aiyar, Ph.D., MBA, is the President & CEO of Korro Bio. Korro Bio harnesses the body’s natural RNA editing machinery to make precise, single-base RNA edits to modulate protein function, addressing the medical needs of patients. Having founded several companies, Ram talks about some of the non-obvious differences in terms of being senior leadership and founder of a company versus being CEO. He discusses his approach to fundraising and how it’s changed over time. He talks about the field of RNA editing, the evolution of that space, and where he sees it heading long term. Finally, he discusses where the company is from a pipeline building perspective and how he thinks about indication selection.

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Michelle Werner is the CEO of Alltrna and the CEO/Partner at Flagship Pioneering. Alltrna is the world’s first tRNA platform company to decipher tRNA biology and pioneer tRNA therapeutics to treat thousands of diseases. Flagship Pioneering conceives, creates, resources, and develops first-in-category bioplatform companies to transform human health and sustainability. Michelle discusses her 20+ year career in drug development and the importance of bringing new innovations to people who need them. She talks about her motivations behind going to business school in London and why she felt she needed to supplement her science and math education with the fundamentals of business in order to transition her career to commercial from R&D. She discusses tRNA as a treatment modality and its potential to be a platform technology. Finally, she shares where the company is from a development perspective and fundraising announcements.

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Bernard Coulie is the President and CEO of Pliant Therapeutics, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing novel therapeutics that seek to halt progression of fibrotic diseases — ultimately preserving organ function. Bernard discusses the arc of his career and shares his perspective on the European biotech ecosystem compared to the United States, and how that’s changed over the last 10 years. He talks about the importance of having access to lots of capital in the early days of starting a company. He discusses fibrotic disease, the high medical need to treat it, and the indications they are pursuing. Finally, he discusses the challenges of focusing on multiple therapeutic areas and the advice he would give to others.

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