#GlocalInnovation Part 2 - Dec 2020

Glocal Innovation UK/EU meets US Part 2 – 22 December 2020 

Written By: Lauren Perna and Produced by Graham Combe.

Glocal Innovation is part of the #coffeebuddies event series which was started in March 2020 as a reaction to COVID. #coffeebuddies was co-founded by Prof Tony Sedgwick and Graham Combe in the spirit of generosity to keep the life science innovation community connected, engaged, informed and entertained.   

The second of our Glocal Innovation, “UK/EU meets US” event took place on December 22nd and began with keynote speaker Sebastian Brunemier, a former scientist turned venture capitalist. Sebastian has an impressive academic background, including a fellowship as a Skaggs-Oxford Scholar at The Scripps Research Institute. He moved to venture capital after feeling frustrated with how few studies make it out of the lab. 

Sebastian founded several therapeutic companies in his current role at Apollo Health Ventures--the largest venture fund focused on aging. He was most excited to talk about Cambrian Biopharma, a diversified biopharma focusing on the biology of aging, founded in 2019. Cambrian Biopharma follows the Bridge Bio model, which is when one company acts as a shell for multiple unrelated companies, which in theory allows for a better chance of success. Cambrian has more than seven assets in the pipeline, having raised $60MIL. 

Cambrian (and Apollo) specialize in geroscience, the science of aging. The premise behind these companies is that the first drug that is proven to extend a healthy lifespan will become the most impactful and valuable drug of all time. It’s no secret that the world’s aging population is causing a strain on healthcare systems and economies and will only worsen in the next 30 years. Geroscience aims to extend the amount of time that a person remains healthy to curtail this strain. 

Sebastian explained that they look for drugs that will address an existing disease and can also pivot to other age-related diseases. Eventually, he anticipates these drugs will get approved as prophylaxes, but there is an incredibly high safety bar. However, there are already drugs on the market that have extended the healthy lifespan in mice by 20-30%. This concept of longevity biotech is a new paradigm of medicine, and we look forward to hearing more from Sebastian in the future.

Switching gears, our next speaker was Dave Bjork, who describes himself as a lung cancer survivor, patient advocate, and research evangelist. Nearly 20 years ago, Dave, a healthy non-smoker, found himself battling lung cancer—an experience that has shaped his notable career in advocacy. For several years Dave travelled weekly from Boston to Bethesda, MD, to work for the National Foundation for Cancer Research, eventually leaving to take a more local advocacy role. More recently, Dave took a consulting role for Medidata, helping bridge the gap between the patient voice and industry. 

Several participants on the call agreed that bridging the gap between patients and industry has become increasingly more important in all aspects of the drug discovery process. Bridging this gap will also be a critical part of improving the industry’s image, which Dave has made his mission. His industry career has shown him that the picture of “big, bad pharma” doesn’t represent most scientists. He feels that most pharmaceutical companies are dedicated to science and patients. This passion has led Dave to start his podcast, the Research Evangelist. He interviews brilliant—but not famous—researchers in an effort to call attention to the great things the industry is doing. We were grateful for all the great things that Dave is doing and that he shared his story.

We then welcomed Shahar Keinan, CEO and Co-Founder of POLARISqb. This one-year-old company uses quantum computing to design new molecular drugs that “cure all diseases for all people.” POLARISqb produces up to 100 drug blueprints per year by harnessing the power of quantum computing, AI, and precision medicine to find novel molecules from the chemical space of billions of molecules. The process avoids the multiple cycles of incremental improvements in drug design, with a cost of under $100K and a timeline under four months. 

Our next presenter was Nathalie Rowell, CEO of Virdis Group, an international executive search firm with headquarters in Oxford UK, and offices in Lausanne, Switzerland. Nathalie was formerly an IP lawyer, however, when having a family she needed to work from home, and getting involved in recruitment allowed her to do this. She found her passion for people and building relationships that led to her success in creating life sciences teams, and the formation of the Virdis Group. She recognizes that chemistry in a life sciences team is a critical part of its success, and her team prides itself on formulating strong senior executive teams particularly for emerging biotech across the EU, Switzerland and the UK.     

Following Nathalie was Masha Kononov, Head of BD North America for Arcinova, a multi-faceted CDMO. Arcinova tries to differentiate itself by providing fit-for-purpose formulation development or small-scale manufacturing, something that other CDMOs tend to stay away from, given its complexities. Arcinova is an award-winning company and a trusted advisor to its clients, offering what Masha calls “consultative sales.”

Closing out our event was Pedro de Noronha Pissarra, CEO of Chrysea Limited, a longevity company. Before heading up Chrysea, Pedro had an impressive academic career and a lead role in several successful life sciences companies. A Portuguese native, Pedro is the founder of the Portuguese Bio-industries Association. Chrysea is creating a new segment of functional consumer products for human and animal nutrition. The company optimizes naturally occurring anti-aging mechanisms, and their claims are supported by clinical trials and clinical research, which is unusual in the nutritional supplement segment. 

Write-up by Lauren Perna of Lauren Perna Communications. Lauren helps companies tell their story online, focusing on companies in the life sciences, non-profit, and service-based industries. Lauren has a knack for turning technical text into compelling content and offers services such as blog and article writing, copywriting, and social media content creation. She holds a BA in Communications and American Studies from Fordham University and multiple marketing and communications certifications.

The next Glocal Innovation / #coffeebuddies event connecting our predominately UK participants to the USA is on 31 March 2021. This one we are hosting in collaboration with BIOCOM California and we have a debate about Entrepreneurship – San Diego vs UK – the gloves are on: 

For further details of the 31 March event go to Eventbrite:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/148331683057