C-Suite Speaks

In Vivo discusses dimensions around pharma CEO pay in India and whether it should be part of cost management efforts amid the pandemic.

Five years on from the first US biosimilar approval, the country’s biosimilars market is starting to fulfil its potential, in part driven by a recent oncology “revolution” according to Sandoz’ Sheila Frame.

Diversity in all forms is critical to innovation in health care, says AstraZeneca’s chief medical officer, Ann Taylor. In an exclusive interview, she talks about the company’s work in mentoring and education, and why tackling issues around diversity and inclusion must be driven by the C-suite alongside community initiatives. 

In this installment of VC Playbook, profiling venture capital strategies in biopharma and medtech, In Vivo talks to Sofinnova Partners' Graziano Seghezzi about market access trends, Italy’s growing biotech offering and the perils of “health nationalism” to business partnering in the aftermath of COVID-19.

The role of biopharma start-ups in bringing innovative therapies to the market has grown enormously. These waves of new specialist companies often have the most innovative approaches to targeting a disease, and big pharma has become increasingly reliant on their fresh ideas to power pipelines. 

A selection of articles you might have missed from September 2020, including exclusive interviews with industry leaders and a review of value-based contract approaches in the US.

In the latest instalment of VC Playbook, In Vivo gets to know Arix Bioscience, a relatively young venture capital firm that went public in 2016. Arix has “has many similarities yet some key differences from a typical venture capital firm,” says the management team.

Corin has transformed from a niche UK hip resurfacing company into an innovative global player in orthopedics with a portfolio that includes robotics. UK branch managing director Paul Gibbons explained the group’s approach to business during COVID-19 and its culture of innovation.

Rabia Khan, managing director of discovery sciences at Sensyne Health, talks to In Vivo about pairing biology with technology in the most effective way, managing COVID-19 challenges and what the future leaders of biopharma might look like.

Big pharma has faced many evolutions to the pharma playbook of old. New technologies such as wearables introduce behavioral change to patients, while e-commerce giants such as Amazon seek a piece of the Rx action. The health care industry has done a reasonable job of weathering the storm inflicted on its core business model over the years, but it has yet to be a true disruptor. As the world marches on is pharma’s choice to disrupt, or inevitably be disrupted for good?

With the global pandemic leading to a big rise in mental health issues, medtech could have a role to play. In Vivo explores transcranial magnetic stimulation systems that are being used to treat severe anxiety and depression, among other indications. As well as the skyrocketing use of telehealth, apps and light therapy for mental health indications.  

Raquel Deering, one of In Vivo's 2020 Rising Leaders, discusses Regeneron's efforts to develop combination therapies, its collaborations with cancer vaccine companies, and its plans to become a major force in the oncology field.

Theragnostics’ CEO Greg Mullen aims to use his wide-ranging “hands-on” scientific and commercial experience to help clinch a $45m series A financing round that will fund a Phase I/II basket study to develop the biotech’s lead radiotherapeutic PARP inhibitor.

Co-founded by Sebastian Nijman and Thijn Brummelkamp in 2017, Scenic Biotech is a spinout of the Netherlands Cancer Institute and Oxford University. It was established with a focus on identifying genetic modifiers, or genes that suppress or block the disease-causing effects of a mutated gene in the body. In Vivo spoke with incoming CEO Oscar Izeboud about the company’s next steps, and the potential for genetic modifiers to address unmet needs in the rare disease space, and beyond.

In this latest edition of the Lab Links series on notable figures responsible for major advances in drug discovery, In Vivo talks to Harvard Medical School professor and biologist Timothy Springer on his 50-year record as an academic scientist, business entrepreneur and philanthropist. His latest venture is being co-founder – and principal funder – of the independent non-profit Institute for Protein Innovation, an institution designed to fill a critical niche in open-source biomedical research.

Tim Guilliams, CEO of Healx, talks about the company’s mission of creating from existing drugs new options for rare disease patients. The company is using artificial intelligence to find combination treatments against rare conditions, while working closely with patient groups as key partners in the development process. The goal: faster development timelines and cheaper therapies for patients.