Beyond Biotech - the podcast from Labiotech

Labiotech
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Welcome to the official Labiotech.eu podcast - Beyond Biotech! Each week, we talk about what's happening in the world of biotech, with news and interviews with experts from companies around the world. Join us as we cover the latest news, breakthroughs and innovations shaping the life sciences industry.A new podcast episode is available every Friday. The host is Dylan Kissane.

  1. 2d ago

    Saudi Arabia's biotech momentum: inside RGMBS 2026

    Saudi Arabia has spent the last four years building one of the most ambitious biotech gatherings in the region: the Riyadh Global Medical Biotechnology Summit. This September, the fourth edition brought together delegations from more than 57 countries and over 200 speakers, closing with more than 40 agreements and initiatives worth over SAR5 billion. From gene editing and genomics to AI-driven drug discovery and biomanufacturing, the Summit is positioning itself as a serious node in the global biotech map — and it's timed deliberately, arriving just weeks before BIO-Europe in Cologne. To unpack what happened in Riyadh, what it means for Saudi Arabia's biotech ambitions, and how the Summit connects to the conversations happening at BIO-Europe, I'm joined by Abdulaziz Aldayel, a nanomedicine researcher at the King Abdullah International Medical Research Center.  01:20 – Meet Abdulaziz Aldayel07:21 – What RGMBS has set out to achieve since 202111:44 – RGMBS dealmaking jumps to $1.3 billion21:17 – How RGMBS and BIO-Europe complement each other28:14 – What to expect at the next RGMBSThis episode is presented with the support of RGMBS. Interested in being a sponsor of an episode of our podcast? Discover how you can get involved here!  Stay updated by subscribing to our newsletter To dive deeper into the topic:  Genomes to bioreactors: Saudi Arabia’s gene editing oncology pushSaudi Arabia: is the country set to become a global biotech hub?Saudi Arabia to inject $3B into vaccines and medicines industry

  2. Oct 2

    How Flagship's Valo is reshaping AI drug discovery with human data

    AI has been one of the biggest buzzwords in biotech for years now — but for all the technological progress, actual R&D productivity gains have been hard to find, and the cost of developing a new drug keeps climbing. My guest today believes that's because AI alone was never going to be the answer. Valo, a biotech founded by Flagship Pioneering, is betting on a different approach: combining AI, predictive chemistry, and — crucially — real-world human data from the very start of drug discovery, using access to more than 17 million longitudinal patient records, some spanning 20 years. That approach has already attracted major partners, including a Parkinson's collaboration with EMD Serono worth up to $3 billion and a cardiometabolic disease partnership with Novo.  Joining me to talk about it is Valo's CEO, Brian Alexander — a former practicing radiation oncologist whose years treating patients with aggressive brain tumors helped shape his mission to reimagine how we discover medicines. Brian, welcome to the show. 01:30 — Meet Brian Alexander04:17 — How treating brain tumor patients shaped his mission09:58 — Valo's two-platform approach to drug discovery16:23 — What 20-year patient records reveal about disease22:23 — Why Valo positions itself as pharma's R&D engine32:43 — How this approach could raise clinical success ratesInterested in being a sponsor of an episode of our podcast? Discover how you can get involved here!  Stay updated by subscribing to our newsletter To dive deeper into the topic:  Episode 198: The problem at the heart of drug discovery: Lexogen & Ochre Bio on the power of AI on human dataHow human-first datasets are reshaping AI drug discoveryWebinar: How AI has changed drug discovery & development, and what’s coming next

  3. Sep 25

    Theialife’s race to bring a childhood myopia treatment to market

    By 2050, nearly half the world's population is expected to be myopic, with around a billion people projected to progress to high myopia — a leading cause of irreversible vision loss later in life. Children face a narrow window in which to intervene, while the eye is still growing, before those structural changes become permanent. Yet despite the scale of the problem, there is still no FDA-approved drug that slows myopia progression in children, a gap underscored just last month when the FDA declined to approve an atropine eye drop for the same use. My guest today is Thomas Ruggia, President and CEO of Theialife, a late-stage biotech developing an oral therapy for pediatric myopia derived from a natural caffeine metabolite. Tom joins Theialife after 25 years in ophthalmology leadership, including roles at Johnson & Johnson, Alcon, Novartis, and most recently as CEO of Samsara Vision. We'll talk mechanism, evidence, and the road to Phase 3. 01:49 Meet Thomas Ruggia 06:50 How progressive myopia develops in children and why it's misunderstood 15:55 ND10's mechanism of action 19:51 20 years of Danish compassionate-use data vs. a randomised trial 26:44 Why no FDA-approved pharmacologic therapy exists yet 37:57 Theialife's pipeline beyond myopia Interested in being a sponsor of an episode of our podcast? Discover how you can get involved here!  Stay updated by subscribing to our newsletter To dive deeper into the topic:  Innovation in ophthalmology: How biotechs are reshaping the treatment of eye diseasesCan gene therapy treat vision loss?Europe’s Ophthalmology Scene Stays Hot for Biotech Funding

  4. Sep 18

    The best biotech conversations you missed this summer

    Summer is a busy time for everyone, guests and listeners alike, so today we're taking stock. This is our Summer Recap — a clips episode pulling together the best moments from conversations you might have missed over the past few months. We'll hear from Randy Teel of Arvinas and Per Lundin of Evox on two very different ways of getting drugs to the brain, and Laurent Lévy of Nanobiotix on outsmarting the liver altogether. We'll meet the founders behind these companies, including Andy Parker of Step Pharma and Gene Mack of Gain Therapeutics, and the unlikely paths that got them there. We'll dig into the science of nonsense mutations with Nerissa Kreher of Alltrna, circular RNA with Lu Gao of Therorna, and a cancer target hiding in human genetics. And we'll close with what these leaders think success actually looks like, years from now. So sit back, and let's revisit some of our favourite moments from the summer. 02:32 Solving the delivery problem08:39 Founder journeys15:13 Platform science24:41 Business, money, and geopolitics32:28 Looking aheadInterested in being a sponsor of an episode of our podcast? Discover how you can get involved here!  Stay updated by subscribing to our newsletter To dive deeper into the topic:  Episode 204: The first PROTAC is here. What comes next in protein degradation?Episode 205: Turning cancer cell dependencies into targeted therapiesEpisode 208: Gain Therapeutics: a first-in-class, disease-modifying therapy for Parkinson'sEpisode 209: Why Western pharma is sleeping on China's circular RNA revolutionEpisode 211: Beyond biology: Nanobiotix's physics-first approach to cancerEpisode 213: How Evox Therapeutics is targeting CNS diseases with exosomesEpisode 214: Rewriting the rules of genetic medicine with tRNA therapeutics

  5. Sep 11

    Rewriting the rules of genetic medicine with tRNA therapeutics

    Most genetic medicines are built to treat one gene, one mutation, one disease at a time. That's true even for the newest modalities — gene therapy, gene editing, mRNA — each still has to be engineered disease by disease. Alltrna is testing a different idea: that the real target isn't the gene, but the process of translation itself, where genetic instructions become protein. The company's lead approach focuses on nonsense mutations, a shared error responsible for roughly a tenth of all genetic disease diagnoses, and asks whether a single engineered molecule could address it across many conditions at once. My guest today is Dr. Nerissa Kreher, Chief Medical Officer of Alltrna. Nerissa brings two decades of rare disease drug development experience, including CMO roles at Entrada Therapeutics, Tiburio Therapeutics, and AVROBIO, to the task of turning that platform thesis into an actual clinical program. We'll talk translation, trial design, and what it takes to bring the first engineered tRNA therapy into the clinic. 02:45 Meet Nerissa Kreher and Alltrna's tRNA platform07:29 Gene-by-gene versus mutation-by-mutation drug development12:08 What nonsense mutations are and why they matter15:55 Phase 1 trial approval in Australia19:49 What basket trials are and FDA receptiveness27:27 Where Alltrna could be in five yearsInterested in being a sponsor of an episode of our podcast? Discover how you can get involved here!  Stay updated by subscribing to our newsletter To dive deeper into the topic:  Beyond Biotech - Episode 66: treating rare diseases with tRNAWill tRNA therapy be the next big thing in genetic disease treatment?Pharma giants pull back on AAV research: what’s next for the gene therapy space?

  6. Sep 4

    How Evox Therapeutics is targeting CNS diseases with exosomes

    Gene therapy has largely stayed out of the brain, and the blood-brain barrier has been the reason why — it protects the brain from harm, but it also blocks most advanced medicines from ever reaching it. That's now beginning to change. The recent FDA approval of a brain-penetrant enzyme therapy for Hunter syndrome showed that biologics can cross that barrier and work. The next question is whether gene editing can do the same. My guest today is Dr. Per Lundin, Co-Founder and CEO of Evox Therapeutics, a UK biotech using engineered exosomes to deliver genetic medicines directly into the brain. Evox is now extending that platform from RNA and biologics into gene editing, targeting the genetic drivers of diseases like Huntington's and ALS, where treatment options remain extremely limited. Per also brings a background as a European Patent Attorney and repeat biotech founder. We'll talk delivery, pipeline, and what a commercially scalable genetic medicine for the brain might actually look like. 02:45 Per Lundin's background and Evox's platform09:38 Denali's Hunter syndrome approval and its significance14:58 Targeting MSH3 to treat Huntington's disease20:03 What commercially scalable genetic medicine requires22:13 Evox's dominant IP position in exosome delivery27:34 What success could mean for patients in ten yearsInterested in being a sponsor of an episode of our podcast? Discover how you can get involved here!  Stay updated by subscribing to our newsletter To dive deeper into the topic:  Evox and Lilly Partner to Develop Neuro RNA Drugs in Deal Worth €1.1BSix exosome therapy companies driving development in the fieldExtracellular vesicles: a growing pipeline still searching for validation

  7. Aug 28

    BIOSPAIN 2026: partnering, policy, and the rise of Spanish biotech

    Today we’re thrilled to bring you a special episode highlighting one of Europe’s premier biotechnology events: BIOSPAIN 2026. Joining us is Stuart Medina of Asebio, who will take us inside this landmark gathering. For the first time and in response to strong sector demand and growing interest, BIOSPAIN moves to an annual format. Hosted this year in vibrant Bilbao in Spain’s dynamic Basque Country, the event runs from 29 September to 1 October at the Bilbao Exhibition Centre. In this episode we explore the BIOSPAIN program, the partnering opportunities on offer, the new Talent Day on the final day, and all the practical and logistical details for attendees.  04:02 Why BIOSPAIN is moving to an annual format 05:17 Bilbao and the Basque country09:44 BIOSPAIN 2026: four program tracks13:47 One-on-one partnering 16:10 International participation and a growing Latin American presence 22:27 Talent Day: BIOSPAIN's dedicated biotech job fair 27:48 Ticket options, exhibiting, and sponsorship opportunitiesThis episode is presented with the support of Asebio and BIOSPAIN. Interested in being a sponsor of an episode of our podcast? Discover how you can get involved here!  Stay updated by subscribing to our newsletter To dive deeper into the topic:  Pharma in Spain: why global investors and innovators are moving inPractical partnering at BIOSPAIN: on the ground with biotech innovators ready to take the next stepEpisode 165 - BIOSPAIN 2025: Why 1000 companies from more than 40 countries will gather in Barcelona this year

  8. Aug 21

    Beyond biology: Nanobiotix's physics-first approach to cancer

    What if the key to beating cancer wasn't a new drug, but a new way of thinking about matter itself? That's the question Laurent Lévy asked when he co-founded Nanobiotix over twenty years ago — and it's a question that is now producing some genuinely compelling answers in the clinic. Nanobiotix is a Paris-based biotech pioneering what they call physics-based nanomedicine. Their lead asset is a radioenhancer made of hafnium oxide nanoparticles, designed to be injected directly into a tumor and amplify the destructive power of radiotherapy from within — without increasing damage to surrounding healthy tissue. It is currently in Phase 3 trials in head and neck cancer. But that's only half the story. The company's Nanoprimer platform is now emerging as a potential new engine for growth — with the promise of making an entirely new class of genetic medicines work better. 02:47 Meet Laurent Lévy06:04 What physics offers that biology cannot 11:12 How JNJ-1900 (NBTXR3) works 15:14 The immune effect 18:16 Pipeline milestones ahead20:56 The Curadigm Nanoprimer platform 25:32 The oversubscribed €85 million raiseInterested in being a sponsor of an episode of our podcast? Discover how you can get involved here!  Stay updated by subscribing to our newsletter To dive deeper into the topic:  Radiotherapy-Enhancing Cancer Nanomedicine Secures Good Phase II/III ResultsGet to know 15 of the best biotech companies in ParisEight nanotechnology companies to watch out for

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Welcome to the official Labiotech.eu podcast - Beyond Biotech! Each week, we talk about what's happening in the world of biotech, with news and interviews with experts from companies around the world. Join us as we cover the latest news, breakthroughs and innovations shaping the life sciences industry.A new podcast episode is available every Friday. The host is Dylan Kissane.

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