Interviews on biotechnology

Interview 12 Feb 2020

Boosting Cancer Research by Unlocking Genomic Data

More genomic data is produced today than ever before as it’s fundamental to the development of new medicines. But although there is a lot of data out there, much of it is inaccessible. With a background in computer science and bioinformatics, Fiona Nielsen, co-founder and CEO of Repositive, decided to overcome this bottleneck and open […]

February 12, 2020 - 6 minutesmins - By Larissa Warneck-Silvestrin

Interview 5 Feb 2020

Harnessing Genetic Suppression to Treat Rare Disease

Through quirks of genetics, some people are naturally resilient to heritable diseases. Thijn Brummelkamp, Managing Director and founder of the Dutch startup Scenic Biotech, explains how the company is using this genetic resilience to treat rare diseases and cancer. Heritable diseases result from genetic mutations that cause essential proteins in the body to malfunction. For […]

February 5, 2020 - 5 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith

Interview 21 Jan 2020

How Biotech Startups Can Have a Stronger Position When Scaling Up

Scaling up the manufacturing process can be a daunting task for any biotech startup. Evelina Vågesjö, CEO of Swedish gene therapy biotech Ilya Pharma, and Jesper Hedberg, Director of the Testa Center facility, explained how testing at innovation facilities such as incubators and biotech accelerators can help avoid big pitfalls in the scaling process later […]

January 21, 2020 - 6 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith

Interview 18 Dec 2019

How BioNTech Navigates the Biotech Fundraising Maze

BioNTech is on a mission to individualize cancer therapy by developing a range of different innovative therapies, a task that can be a rollercoaster ride, according to its Chief Business and Commercial Officer Sean Marett. It’s been an interesting year for the German biotech. In July the company raised one of the biggest ever European […]

December 18, 2019 - 6 minutesmins - By Helen Albert

Interview 11 Dec 2019

Collaboration Between Founders and Investors Primes Biotech Startups for Success

How can entrepreneurs work with investors to maximize the chances of their company succeeding? Venture capital partner Nanna Lüneborg and biotech entrepreneur Mai-Britt Zocca spoke at Labiotech Refresh in Copenhagen about their experiences in founding IO Biotech, a Danish biotech startup that develops cancer immunotherapies. Zocca and Lüneborg were both involved in setting up IO […]

December 11, 2019 - 5 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith

Jennie Ekbeck Umea Biotech Incubator e1575383377248

Interview 25 Nov 2019

Building a Life Science Industry from Scratch in a Small Swedish Town

Jennie Ekbeck has taken on the challenge of building Europe’s best life science incubator in Umeå, a small town in northern Sweden. Jennie Ekbeck became the CEO of the Umeå Biotech Incubator in 2012. Before that she was the CEO of a probiotics startup called Probac. “The reason why I applied to be the CEO […]

November 25, 2019 - 8 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández

Interview 23 Oct 2019

Channeling the Power of AI into Personalizing Medicine

Artificial intelligence has been much discussed of late, but will it really help us solve important problems like how to bring personalized medicine to as many patients as possible? Kate Hilyard, COO of Healx in Cambridge in the UK, believes it can. Getting a drug to clinical trials currently requires a large investment of both […]

October 23, 2019 - 7 minutesmins - By Helen Albert

Interview 8 Oct 2019

Biotech Hubs: A Tale of Two Cities

Life science investors differ widely across biotech hubs in Europe. At Labiotech’s recent Refresh event, two investors from Cambridge and Paris compared the progress of these hubs and discussed the challenges that need to be overcome in biotech investment. Funding is the lifeblood of early biotech startups, and investors are a crucial supplier. For this […]

October 8, 2019 - 6 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith

Interview 30 Sep 2019

Taking Your Product Forward Against All Odds

Having to let go of your flagship product after years of development is not easy. Nor is fundraising for another product after a major partner backs out — a challenge that Angela Hildreth had to confront when she joined the British company Futura Medical as Finance Director last year. Angela Hildreth had never worked in […]

September 30, 2019 - 5 minutesmins - By Clara Rodríguez Fernández

Interview 18 Sep 2019

Why Communication is Key for Getting Ahead in Biotech

Many biotech founders and executives look to VC investors for advice and inspiration, but the attraction can go both ways. After more than a decade of investing in life science companies, Renee Aguiar-Lucander, now CEO of Calliditas Therapeutics, decided it was time to try sitting on the other side of the table. Prior to moving […]

September 18, 2019 - 11 minutesmins - By Helen Albert

Interview 4 Sep 2019

Overcoming Clinical Setbacks to Fight Insect-Borne Diseases

Sometimes things don’t go your way in the biotech industry. The CEO of Valneva, Thomas Lingelbach, shared his experience of migrating from big pharma to biotech, and how his first biotech company weathered phase III failures to develop vaccines for neglected diseases. Once confined to the less developed regions of the world, many insect-borne diseases […]

September 4, 2019 - 9 minutesmins - By Jonathan Smith

Interview 30 Jul 2019

The First Approved NASH Therapy?

Genfit is poised to become the first company to get a treatment for NASH to market — something that could happen as early as 2020, should its late 2019 phase III trial results be positive. I spoke to Dean Hum, the current COO and CSO of Genfit, to find out more about the company’s 20-year […]

July 30, 2019 - 6 minutesmins - By Helen Albert

Resources

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The twelve hottest biotech companies in the Boston area

Biotech bankruptcies: what to expect in 2024 following a record year?

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Therapeutic areas

RNA editing set to take off: could it outperform gene editing?

Future of cancer treatment: what will therapy look like in 2034?

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