Human Proof Of Concept

Greg Verdine has evolved from merely being a Harvard prof, to consulting for big pharma, to starting biotech companies, to being a Venture Partner, and even to co-founding a non-profit institute – not just sequentially, but largely in parallel. He has teamed up with Third Rock Ventures, TPG Biotech, AppleTree Partners, and he unveils his brand new gig with WuXi Ventures. Greg co-founded the biotechs Enanta (ENTA), Tokai (TKAI), Gloucester (now Celgene), Aileron, Warp Drive, WaVe (WVE), and Fog. His day job today, if forced to list just one, is CSO of Warp Drive Bio. He reveals a couple of secrets about Warp Drive strategy and lifts the fog off of Fog Pharma, his latest – and still stealth – newco. As different as these companies are, a common theme runs through them: to cure the incurable by drugging the undruggable.  With apologies to Star Trek, that is Greg’s personal mission: to boldly go where no drug has gone before. In fact Greg wants to blow up the conventional meaning for the word "drug". He sees 

In the late nineties, a company named "Advanced Medicine" came together with the 4Cs of entrepreneurship in place: a concept, co-founders, capital, and some well-placed cold-calls. Mathai Mammen was one of those co-founders, still living in a dorm at the time. The company's investors evolved, it renamed itself, went public, and ultimately split into two independent companies: Innoviva (INVA) and Theravance Biopharma (TBPH). Today, Mathai is the SVP of R&D at Theravance Biopharma. Under his leadership, they have always done things a little differently. In the beginning they used their seed capital to build an in-house vivarium. They have discovered all of their development candidates - 31 and counting - internally or collaboratively. And after 3 approvals, they left their royalty stream to Innoviva and struck out on their own to focus on R&D - because "it's difficult to be innovative when you're in the shadows." Mathai has had a longstanding reputation as one of the good guys in the industry, but in recent y

Ron Cohen has defied Venture Capital wisdom by founding Acorda Therapeutics over 20 years ago and remaining the CEO to this day.  Originally hearing "no" from 70 VCs, he nevertheless grew the company into a public biotech worth nearly $2B today.  As unlikely as that has been, there would've been no Acorda had he found more success on Broadway. Ron discusses his road from Jeopardy! champion to entrepreneur, the role played by his flat head and great hair, and what on earth could motivate someone to invest in drug development. He also explains how upstate NY does not start at 96th St. The two-part interview continues in the following episode, Part 2.

This past year, Ron took over the role of Chair of BIO, the Biotechnology Innovation Organization. From that vantage point, he comments on the high drama in 2015 that has entertained - and sometimes threatened - the industry. He discusses inter partes review, the right and wrong conversations on drug pricing, and the choices that determine the pace of R&D within our ecosystem of brilliant science and entrepreneurship. He also projects some hot trends and throws down the gauntlet for biotech in NY. If you listen carefully, you can hear him pounding the table. This episode, Part 2 of the two-part interview, picks up where Part 1 left off, on the subject of social media's role in biotech.

Welcome to Human Proof of Concept, the Biotech Venture Capital podcast hosted by Janelle R. Anderson.