Tech and Drugs - Podcast

Thibault Geoui
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Welcome to Tech and Drugs, the podcast exploring how data and AI are revolutionizing Pharma and Biotech. Each episode features candid conversations with industry experts tackling real-world challenges, sharing success stories, and lessons learned. Explore how digital transformation accelerates breakthroughs and bridges the gap between tech and science. 🔍 What You’ll Discover: • How AI is driving drug discovery and development. • Insights from the forefront of TechBio innovation. • Practical lessons for navigating digital transformation.

  1. From Tennis Courts to Molecular Design: Tim Hoctor on Data, Discovery, and the Future of Pharma

    MAR 3

    From Tennis Courts to Molecular Design: Tim Hoctor on Data, Discovery, and the Future of Pharma

    🎙 Tech and Drugs – Season 02, Episode 02From Tennis Courts to Molecular Design: Tim Hoctor on Data, Discovery, and the Future of Pharma Last December in Berlin, I had the privilege of sitting down with my friend and longtime mentor Tim Hoctor, one of the true legends at the intersection of technology and life sciences. Tim’s career defies categories. He started as a professional tennis player in California. From there, he stepped into early Silicon Valley startups, then into Molecular Design Limited, the birthplace of computerized chemical registration and what many still call the “MDL Mafia.” Later, he became a senior leader at Elsevier, helping shape how scientific data, literature, and databases connect in the digital era. This conversation is part industry history lesson, part strategic deep dive, and part personal reflection. What we cover: ✔️ Tim’s unconventional journey from tennis pro to engineer to life sciences data executive✔️ How MDL pioneered digital molecular representation and why it became foundational to modern pharma✔️ Why linking structured databases to scientific literature was visionary in the 1990s and still unfinished business today✔️ The persistent data silos in pharma and why culture, more than technology, is often the bottleneck✔️ Why 6 billion dollar drug development costs are a systems problem, not just a science problem✔️ The real role of regulators in AI adoption and how agencies are asking industry to help define the future✔️ What COVID changed forever in automation, digital adoption, and supply chain resilience✔️ How tools like ChatGPT are reshaping behavior across pharma teams✔️ Why pharma still hasn’t had its “SpaceX moment” and what it would take to truly disrupt the model✔️ The vision of garage biotech powered by autonomous labs, shared data, and AI driven discovery Tim speaks with rare clarity about what holds our industry back, what gives him hope, and why better data sharing may ultimately matter more than the next algorithm. If you care about the evolution of pharma R&D, the cultural barriers to AI adoption, and what it will take to move from incremental efficiency to true system level change, this episode is for you. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

    49 min

  2. FEB 4

    Inside Scientific Publishing, AI, and the Future of Medical Knowledge with Mitja-Alexander Linss

    🎙 Tech and Drugs – Season 02, Episode 01Inside Scientific Publishing, AI, and the Future of Medical KnowledgeIn the opening episode of Season 2, I sat down with Mitja-Alexander Linss, Head of Marketing at Karger Publishers, one of the world’s oldest and most respected medical publishers, to explore how scientific communication is evolving in the age of AI.With over 130 years of publishing history behind it, Karger sits at a fascinating crossroads: peer review, trust, and scientific rigor on one side; AI, new formats, and radically changing consumption habits on the other. This conversation dives deep into what must change, what shouldn’t, and where AI can genuinely add value without breaking the foundations of science.What we cover in this episode:✔️ How scientists and clinicians really consume content today—and why short-form, video, and audio formats are rising fast✔️ Why peer review still matters, and how new formats may (slowly) enter the “version of record”✔️ Where AI is already used in publishing: fraud detection, reviewer matching, workflow optimization✔️ Why fully automated AI peer review remains ethically off-limits—for now✔️ The data licensing debate: LLMs, copyright, fair use, and why scientific data is different✔️ How publishers can responsibly collaborate with AI companies without undermining trust✔️ Augmented and virtual reality in scientific publishing—visualizing molecules and complex data in 3D✔️ The Vesalius Innovation Award and how Karger supports startups in AI and scientific communication✔️ A forward-looking vision: from searching papers to asking questions and getting evidence-based answersIf you’re interested in AI in science, medical publishing, research integrity, or how centuries-old institutions adapt to exponential technologies, this episode offers a thoughtful, grounded perspective—without buzzwords.

    33 min
  3. Inside Helical: Bio Foundation Models, Virtual Cells, and the Future of AI-Native Drug Discovery

    12/17/2025

    Inside Helical: Bio Foundation Models, Virtual Cells, and the Future of AI-Native Drug Discovery

    🎙 Tech and Drugs – Episode #11Inside Helical: Bio Foundation Models, Virtual Cells, and the Future of AI-Native Drug DiscoveryThis week I sat down with Rick Schneider, co-founder and CEO of Helical, a Luxembourg-based startup on a mission to democratize bio foundation models.Rick and his team are building something ambitious: an open, AI-native platform that lets pharma and biotech teams actually use large DNA, RNA, and single-cell foundation models, without needing their own supercomputer or an internal army of ML researchers. From training cutting-edge mRNA models on the Luxembourg HPC MeluXina to releasing beginner-friendly open-source tools, Helical is shaping the next generation of AI for science.What we cover:✔️ Rick’s journey from “almost doctor” to engineer, AI specialist, and now biotech founder✔️ What bio foundation models really are… and why unlabeled sequencing data changes the game✔️ Why one model will never solve all of biology, and why Helical is proudly model-agnostic✔️ How the field is inching toward a “virtual cell” built by combining multimodal model embeddings✔️ Pharma’s real bottlenecks: data scarcity, batch effects, validation culture, and… organizational speed✔️ How Helical enables lab-in-the-loop workflows without operating a lab themselves✔️ The explosion of new bio models, and how Helical helps teams evaluate what’s hype vs. useful✔️ Why shifting more hypothesis testing in silico could finally compress drug discovery timelinesIf you’re curious about where bio foundation models are heading, how pharma should rethink its AI stack, or what it means to build a truly AI-native biotech platform, this conversation with Rick is packed with insights.

    30 min
  4. Inside Ginkgo Bioworks: High-Throughput Biology Meets AI

    12/03/2025

    Inside Ginkgo Bioworks: High-Throughput Biology Meets AI

    🎙 Tech and Drugs – Episode #10A special inside look at Ginkgo Bioworks, where automation, biology, and AI collide.I sat down with John Androsavich (GM, Ginkgo Data Points) and Jason Hocking (VP Engineering) to explore how Ginkgo generates huge multimodal datasets, automates complex biology at scale, and builds the infrastructure that today’s AI models desperately need.What we cover:✅ How Ginkgo evolved from synthetic biology to high-throughput data generation✅ Why clean, diverse datasets — not models — are the real AI bottleneck✅ A look at Ginkgo’s automation: modular “Rack” systems, NGS pipelines, and scalable cell models✅ Making data usable for both scientists and ML teams✅ The future of AI-guided labs and closed-loop experimentation✅ How shifting away from animal testing could accelerate human-relevant drug discoveryWhether you're in pharma, biotech, or AI for science, this episode is packed with insights on where R&D is headed next.

    1h 7m

  5. 06/04/2025

    Applying Google's Search Recipe to Pharma R&D Data - With Douglas Selinger from Plex Research

    ere it is 🎙 "Tech and Drugs – Podcast" Episode #9 with 🧬💻 Douglas "Doug" Selinger from Plex ResearchThe theme for today: Applying Google's Search Recipe to Pharma R&D DataIn this episode of Tech and Drugs, I sit down with Douglas "Doug" Selinger, founder and CEO of Plex Research, whose unique approach is reshaping how scientists utilize data in drug discovery. While many companies are busy building predictive AI models, Doug and his team at Plex Research are leveraging techniques inspired by Google's internet search algorithms to make sense of vast and disparate datasets in pharma and biotech.Doug brings decades of experience, from pioneering microarray technologies in George Church's lab at Harvard to leading computational biology initiatives at Novartis. In 2017, he founded Plex Research to tackle the persistent challenges of data overload, silos, and underutilized information.We cover:✅ Doug's path from early genomics research to developing an innovative search-driven analytical platform designed specifically for scientists✅ How Plex's "focal graph" method integrates massive chemical biology and omics' datasets to reveal hidden connections in biological data✅ Overcoming Pharma’s persistent "data silo" problem by creating algorithms that adapt to the data scientists actually have✅ Real-world examples of Plex Research unlocking novel insights into disease mechanisms, biomarker identification, and precision oncology✅ Why transparency and explainability remain critical for AI adoption among scientists✅ The future potential of autonomous AI systems, combining knowledge graphs and large language models (LLMs), guided by human insightWhether you're navigating the complexities of data-rich environments or curious about pragmatic AI applications, this conversation provides actionable insights for improving decision-making in drug R&D.💬 How do you see search-inspired AI approaches changing drug discovery? Share your thoughts in the comments!

    51 min

  6. 05/21/2025

    Building a Data-Driven Pharma Organization Through Analytics & AI with Shionogi's Anindita “Ani” Sinha

    Here it is 🎙 “Tech and Drugs – Podcast” Episode #8 with 👩‍🔬📊 Anindita “Ani” SinhaThe theme for today: Building a Data-Driven Pharma Organization Through Analytics & AIIn this episode of Tech and Drugs, I sit down with Anindita “Ani” Sinha, Vice President of Commercial Operations at Shionogi, whose journey from the microbiology lab to leading analytics, marketing, and field teams has shaped her vision for the future of pharma. With a BA in Biochemistry from Columbia and a PhD in Microbiology from Yale, plus nearly 15 years at Celgene, Bayer, Pfizer, and more, Ani shares how she:We cover:✅ How Ani went from academic research to consulting and then built “analytics first” teams in big pharma✅ Why AI is a powerful tool—but only when you “trust, verify, and know your data’s limits”✅ The critical steps to laying a solid data foundation: understanding, prioritizing, and connecting your datasets✅ Democratizing insights with self-service analytics and AI-driven platforms—finding the sweet spot between structure and flexibility✅ Strategies for attracting and retaining top tech-savvy talent in a highly regulated industry✅ What’s next: next-best-action models, predictive analytics, and cultivating an AI-ready workforceWhether you’re a scientist, data enthusiast, or industry leader, this conversation is packed with practical insights to help you harness analytics and AI for smarter decision-making in drug development and commercialization.💬 What data or AI challenges are you facing in life sciences? Share your thoughts in the comments!

    48 min
  7. From Molecules to Machine Learning: How AI Is Transforming Drug Discovery

    04/08/2025

    From Molecules to Machine Learning: How AI Is Transforming Drug Discovery

    🎙️ From Molecules to Machine Learning: How AI Is Transforming Drug Discovery - Season 1, Episode 7 — with Frédéric CélerseHow do you shrink a multi-month quantum chemistry calculation into a few days? In this episode, we explore the power of augmented intelligence in drug discovery with Frédéric Célerse, researcher, boundary-breaker, and firm believer that good science starts with great data.Join host Thibault Géoui as we dive deep into:🔹 Why Frédéric says AI is more like augmented intelligence than artificial🔹 How molecular dynamics and quantum modeling are being accelerated by machine learning🔹 What AI can (and can’t) do alone, and why human insight is still irreplaceable🔹 Real-world tensions between AI and wet-lab scientists, and how to build true interdisciplinary teams🔹 The data trust gap in life sciences and why data governance might be the unsexy hero of innovation🔹 Why publishing models need to evolve for a faster-moving AI world (yes, we’re looking at you, Nature)🔹 And what advice Frédéric gives to students stepping into this fast-changing fieldIf you’ve ever wondered what it really takes to bridge AI with chemistry, biology, and pharma, and why being curious, collaborative, and data-savvy is key, this episode is for you.💡 Like what you hear? Subscribe to the podcast, leave a review, and follow us for more honest conversations at the frontier of tech and drugs.

    29 min

  8. 03/20/2025

    Navigating the AI’s Regulatory Maze in Pharma; Marilia Aires from Kiin AI Shares Insights ⚖️💊

    🎙 Tech and Drugs - Episode #6 with 🏛📊 Marilia Aires from Kiin AI is now live!The theme for today: AI, Data Ethics & The Legal Challenges in Drug DiscoveryIn this episode, we dive into the legal frontier of AI in healthcare with Marilia Aires, legal counsel and data protection officer at Kiin AI. With 16+ years of experience across global legal landscapes, Marilia is at the intersection of law, data ethics, and biotech, helping organizations navigate the legal and ethical minefield of AI-driven drug discovery.We explore:✅ Who owns the data? Understanding data privacy, IP, and regulatory frameworks✅ GDPR, AI Act & Pharma: How Europe’s AI laws impact biotech innovation✅ The challenge of high-risk AI models in drug R&D and how companies navigate regulations✅ Data contracts & AI governance: Ensuring compliance while fueling innovation✅ Future trends in biotech AI: Personalized medicine, real-world data, and global data governanceWith AI reshaping everything in life sciences, from clinical trials to personalized treatments, Marilia breaks down the biggest legal and ethical questions companies must answer before deploying AI solutions.💬 What’s your take on AI regulation in pharma? Are current laws helping or hindering innovation? Drop your thoughts in the comments!

    41 min
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About

Welcome to Tech and Drugs, the podcast exploring how data and AI are revolutionizing Pharma and Biotech. Each episode features candid conversations with industry experts tackling real-world challenges, sharing success stories, and lessons learned. Explore how digital transformation accelerates breakthroughs and bridges the gap between tech and science. 🔍 What You’ll Discover: • How AI is driving drug discovery and development. • Insights from the forefront of TechBio innovation. • Practical lessons for navigating digital transformation.

Information

  • Creator
    Thibault Geoui
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    13
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Thibault Geoui
  • Show Website
    Tech and Drugs - Podcast