Vas Narasimhan

It's amazing to see so many biotech and antibody-based startups on the list of Top 100 Swiss Startups this year. However, it's not much of a surprise. With one of the most supportive environments in the world for the life sciences sector, Switzerland provides the perfect conditions for biotech startups to take root and grow. I can't wait to see which organisations make the list next year. #Biotech #SwissInnovation #Startups #Top100SwissStartups

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Very interesting to get the chance to talk to Torsten Osthus, of OSTHUS GROUP and cofounder of ZONTAL about #labdigitalization #scientificdata #FAIRdata #datastandards and their potential for #AI #ArtificialIntelligence application in the #lifesciences

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Nephrolytics: Transforming Kidney Disease care with Vision and Determination “The real difference between success and failure in a corporation can very often be traced to the question of how well the organization brings out the great energies and talents of its people… I believe that any organization, in order to survive and achieve success, must have a sound set of beliefs on which it premises all its policies and actions.” - Thomas Watson Jr. “A Business and Its Beliefs,” At Nephrolytics, we embrace this wisdom wholeheartedly. Our core belief is centered around transforming healthcare from a system burdened by the volume of disease to one that truly values the health of people. This mission propels every aspect of our work, from product development to strategic partnerships, echoing Watson’s conviction. Our journey is akin to that of Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis in 1847, who faced immense challenges in shifting medical practices to save lives. Despite the success of his infection control procedures, Semmelweis’s ideas were met with resistance and significant challenges. Similarly, Nephrolytics is dedicated to a path that is not easy but is undeniably crucial. We address the urgent need for systemic change—reducing physician burnout through more efficient systems and better data integration, and preparing for an impending physician shortage, particularly in nephrology. Our AI-driven platform functions as an EMR-agnostic stand-alone workflow station for providers, designed not only to enhance the quality of care but also to reduce cognitive burden & operational costs. It supports healthcare professionals in their mission to deliver exceptional care without undue strain. As we continue our journey, we seek more individuals to join us—those who resonate with our vision. We offer our advisors, investors and strategic partners not just an investment opportunity but a chance to share in a vision that transcends monetary contributions. This collaboration is about a shared mission and collective effort. Thomas Watson Jr. wisely stated that the enduring success of a corporation relies not just on its ability to adapt technologies or strategies but “fundamentally on how it cultivates and utilizes the energies and talents of its people.” He believed in the strength of an organization rooted in clear and firm beliefs, guiding all actions and decisions. This philosophy highlights the importance of fostering a unified purpose that deeply connects with everyone involved, ensuring resilience and continued relevance through changes and challenges. That is what I believe we are harnessing at Nephrolytics. Together, we are not merely participants in healthcare reform but are actively driving its evolution. Tina Gill Adam Haid Naeem Rahim Ali Nadeem Mian Ali Tyler Cady Hasan Ayub Brian Mason Matthew Brooks Yasir Lashari Kartik Sharma 🙌🏾 #Healthcare

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Eliminating Big Pharma hierarchies and bureaucracy is a good thing, even if it does mean laying people off. Anyone who has ever worked for a big, multinational #medtech or #biotech corporation will tell you that there are always too many mid-level managers too many senior managers, and far too many different levels of vice president. But it seems that even in the land of infinite revenue there is still opportunity to tighten budgetary belts. My sympathies to those who lost their jobs (I'll wager it wasn't anyone with associate executive vice president on their nameplate 😁) and here's hoping the move better positions Bayer for future growth. ============================================== I’m Leslie, a life science writer skilled in science-speak who can translate your complex science into persuasive copy. With 30+ years experience in the medical device, regulatory, laboratory and healthcare industries, I know what your audience wants to hear and what you need to tell them. Let's collaborate! ‌ #medicaldevices #laboratory #regulatoryaffairs #qualitymanagement #pharma #stemcells #science

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Despite strong foundational research, Germany faces challenges in integrating cell and gene therapies (CGT) into medical care, risking falling behind internationally. A national CGT strategy was presented yesterday.   Here’s how the strategy differs from the CGT strategy in the US and UK:   𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝐏𝐚𝐮𝐥-𝐄𝐡𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐡-𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭 (𝐏𝐄𝐈): Germany plans to centralize regulatory processes for GCT at the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut to streamline the regulatory environment. This involves defragmenting the regulatory landscape and introducing "sandbox" procedures as innovation spaces. ​In the US, multiple agencies such as the FDA and NIH handle different aspects of GCT regulation and development, while the UK has the MHRA and other bodies involved in the regulatory process. 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐈𝐧𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭: Germany emphasizes a "bottom-up" approach involving diverse stakeholders directly in the governance structure. This includes establishing a governance structure with the participation of significant stakeholders and developing a GCT network map and annual progress reports​. This differs from the US and UK, where strategies tend to have more top-down, centralized approaches often led by major government agencies like the FDA in the US or the MHRA in the UK. 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐆𝐌𝐏: Germany’s strategy includes specific measures for financial and structural support in GMP production, such as establishing a central GCT-GMP committee and ensuring sufficient financial resources for GMP infrastructures​. This level of detailed infrastructure planning and financial commitment is not as prominently featured in the US and UK. 𝐄𝐦𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭: Germany’s approach includes continuous political engagement and annual progress reporting to ensure political support and adaptation of policies. This structured political integration is more pronounced than in the US and UK, where political support is sought but not as systematically integrated​. 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬: The strategy highlights the importance of maintaining an open discourse involving humanities and social sciences, ensuring that ethical, legal, and social aspects (ELSA) are considered in GCT development​. This broader societal integration is less emphasized in the US and UK strategies, which focus more on the scientific and regulatory aspects. 𝐌𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬: I welcome the centralization at PEI. This offers the potential for rapid progress. I have mixed feelings about the other points, as they have the potential to slow things down. What's your thoughts on this?

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At my recent guest lecture at Harvard Business School with Prof Regina Herzlinger, a student asked me if there were other fields in healthcare that mPharma could expand to. I immediately said clinical research. We have accumulated vast amounts of population health data through providing treatments to 2 million patient visits annually, and our data is geographically diverse. I believe we, as Africans, need to start contributing to the science of drug development and new medical discoveries. We initiated our first clinical research project in 2021 to evaluate the feasibility of using self-collected specimens for high-risk human papillomavirus (hr-HPV) DNA testing in a hard-to-reach community in Ghana (Nzulezo). We also wanted to understand the most prevalent HPV genotypes among women in Ghana. Our research has now been published in BMC Cancer. We funded this study by utilising some of our profits from our Covid testing business during the pandemic. I am grateful to our scientific collaborators for working with us on this research. **Key Findings** **hr-HPV Prevalence:** - Overall prevalence: 39.0% (95% CI: 29.4–49.3). **Genotypes:** - HPV16: 8.0% - HPV18: 5.0% - Other high-risk HPV types: 31.0% Mixed infections were rare, with combinations involving HPV16 and other types observed in 1–3% of cases. **Cervical Lesions:** - Prevalence among hr-HPV-positive women: 11.4% (95% CI: 3.2–26.7). **Socioeconomic and Health Data:** - Mean age of participants: 43.6 years (SD: 14.5). - 49% had no formal education. - 88% relied on Ghana’s National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to cover medical expenses. - None had previously received HPV vaccination or undergone cervical cancer screening. **Follow-up and Treatment:** - Out of 39 hr-HPV-positive women, 35 underwent colposcopy. - One woman received thermal coagulation for a cervical lesion. - Four women did not respond to follow-up calls. I am excited about the possibility of us creating a clinical research unit at mPharma in the future.

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🧬 Big Pharma's Facing a Tidal Shift 🚀 As Humira's monopoly fades into history, it's ushering in an era of biologic competition - and that's just the tip of the iceberg. We're looking at industry titans on the brink of a patent cliff, preparing to dive into uncharted waters with drugs for obesity and Alzheimer's. 🌊 Leaders, consider this: the Inflation Reduction Act might shake up the game, but innovation never sleeps. It's time for strategic pivots - novel therapies, smarter operations, and yes, a marketing revamp. 💡 To my fellow execs in MedTech & HealthTech, we have pivotal roles here. Let's navigate these changing tides together, leveraging expertise & forward-thinking to thrive in this next-gen biopharma landscape. 🚀 #Biotech #Innovation #PharmaceuticalIndustry

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Despite the challenging fundraising environment, we are witnessing significant investments in AI-enabled drug discovery and development. Following Sanofi's recent partnership with OpenAI and Formation Bio (that some of you may remember as TrialSpark), the latter has taken a notable step by securing nearly $400M in their Series D funding round. This funding, aimed at enhancing their AI platform and in-licensing new product candidates, highlights the growing confidence in AI-driven healthcare innovations. This deal, much like the recent emergence of Xaira Therapeutics from stealth mode, highlights the latest fierce battleground among major VC funds. With A16Z backing Formation Bio, and Lightspeed and NEA investing in Xaira, the competition to lead in AI-powered biotech innovations is intensifying. Sequoia has even decided to back both ventures. #AIinHealthcare #BiotechFunding #Innovation #VentureCapital #FormationBio #XairaTherapeutics https://lnkd.in/eq6N2p4U https://lnkd.in/eNZ6vEtD

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How is a top 20 pharma company reshaping R&D? Vertex Pharmaceuticals path to becoming a top 20 pharma company with over a $100 billion market cap has been nothing short of adventurous. 🔬 Vertex's journey, from the rise and fall of Incivek to adopting a disease-first R&D strategy under Jeffrey Leiden, M.D., Ph.D., Reshma Kewalramani, MD FASN, David Altshuler, and Stuart Arbuckle has resulted in: 💡 Approvals for four cystic fibrosis products 👩‍⚕️ Casgevy becoming the first CRISPR-based gene-editing therapy approved for patients in the U.S. in December 2023 💊 An 85% success rate in advancing to phase 3 clinical trials 🏆 Sabine Hadida, Paul Negulescu, and Fredrick Van Goor earning the 2024 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences Check out this company's journey of resilience in my most recent article in Forbes: https://lnkd.in/gReTiP8k

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💡 Brain, heart and lungs – these are the most important elements of our new ONCO BCG factory. 💡 A passionate life science professional, Marzio Mercuri, vice president of Inconcreto, a consulting company working with #Syntahverse, talks about ONCO BCG facility in a unique way: 💡 The Brains: The Collaborative Trio – BMS, RMS & SCADA. The Brains of Onko BCG is composed by the collaborative TRIO of BMS, RMS & SCADA system, in controlling critical aspects of manufacturing operations in a real time and transparent manner. 👉 The BMS (Building Management System) manages overall building utilities and HVAC infrastructures, considering also safety aspects and specific controls of HVAC units. 👉 The RMS (Room Monitoring System) focuses on reporting cleanroom critical conditions such as differential pressure, temperature, humidity and airborne contamination. 👉 The SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) is dedicated to controlling and monitoring process utilities conditions and critical parameters such as temperature, pressure, conductivity, and TOC (Total Organic Carbon). By working in concert, these systems ensure a compliant, efficient and safe environment for personnel and high-quality pharmaceutical production. 💡 The Heart: Dara Pharmaceutical Equipment Production Line 👉 Imagine the Dara Pharmaceutical Equipment production line as the beating heart of ONCO BCG. Just as a heart pumps blood throughout the body, this production line is the engine driving the entire operation. 👉 Its significant capacity of 10 million vials per year signifies its robust functioning, capable of handling diverse formats for both lyophilized and liquid dosage forms. This powerhouse paves the way for Synthaverse's potential growth and future success. 💡 The Lungs: a symbiotic relationship with brain and heart. 👉 The lungs of ONCO BCG, the central air handling units (AHUs), are far more than air conditioners. With a air treatment capacity exceeding 200,000 cubic meters per hour, this complex system tailors air quality and temperature for diverse areas, from sterile cleanrooms to comfortable office spaces, ensuring a healthy environment for both personnel and sensitive equipment. 👉 The lungs work in tandem with the other two systems in the facility. They collaborate with the brain (BMS/RMS/SCADA) to receive instructions concerning desired air quality and temperature settings. Additionally, the lungs play a vital role in supporting the heart (production line) by ensuring a clean and controlled environment for efficient manufacturing operations. 👇 Meet the ONCO BCG factory 👇 Photo: KARMAR S.A. - General Contractor  #Biotech #OncoBCG #Pharma #Karmar

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Breaking News - Swiss Biotech Association Report 2024. Total number of Switzerland Biotech Companies at Ten (10) year High. Swiss lifescience exports up 400% in 24 years! Longevity, precision medicine, AI/Deep Learning likely to accelerate ALL further. quote "While exports from all other sectors combined grew by 81% in the twenty-five years from 1999 to 2023, the contribution of the life sciences sector grew by 400% over the same period (see Figure 1). " end-quote. https://lnkd.in/eeRbqTpX #investments, #switzerland, #pharma, #biotech, #venturecapital, #vc, #privateequity, #money, #gold, #forex, #fx, #cfa, #geneva, #zug, #zurich, #newyork, #stockmarket, #nyse, #money, #telaviv, #israel, #newyork, #capital, #alternativeinvestments, #trading, #stocks, #commodities, #healthcare, #lifescience, #innovation, #drugdevelopment, #longevity

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Takeda's CEO's annual letter hits on some key themes that many biopharma CEO's are converging on: value-based care, price transparency, breaking up the middlemen, and driving healthcare access and equity. "For several years I have been outlining Takeda’s thinking on health equity—including advocating for a transition to value-based health care that pays for outcomes and care quality, emphasizing the need to prepare for the next pandemic by ensuring global vaccine equity and explaining how the protection of intellectual property rights is essential to incentivize investment in R&D. One area where we would like to see greater progress this year is pharmacy benefit managers reform. We support efforts in Congress to delink rebates from list prices or wholesale acquisition cost. It is a complex system, but the bottom line is that the current system creates misaligned incentives that ultimately result in higher costs for the system and higher out-of-pocket costs for patients. One potential way to address these challenges is through greater transparency. Transparency at the point of purchase for patients would empower them to make decisions knowing exactly what their costs will be. This could lower costs for the entire system by building in greater pricing accountability along the chain so that no stakeholder can benefit from the inefficiencies that result in the prices that patients pay today." At COEUS, we are working with the world's leading biopharma companies to help transition them from a broken FFS model towards value-based care. We have built the world's leading platform that hosts the biggest CGT commercial launches, and rapidly moving into Oncology, Obesity/ Diabetes, and beyond. 1. Enabling Value-Based Healthcare: Our solution facilitates the transition to value-based healthcare by providing a powerful tool for creating and managing contracts that pay for outcomes and care quality. 2. Enhancing Transparency: By aggregating disparate healthcare data from various sources, our platform provides unprecedented transparency into the entire healthcare ecosystem. This empowers payers, providers, and patients to make informed decisions and helps stakeholders across the value-chain to tie price and value to therapeutic outcomes. 3. Driving Innovation: Our platform's ability to evaluate complex rules for value-based contracts, real-world evidence studies, and health equity measurements fosters innovation in the pharmaceutical industry. By providing a tool to measure the impact of new solutions, we help companies drive medical advancements while ensuring equitable access. 4. Improving Access and Affordability: Our solution helps identify areas where access and affordability can be improved without compromising innovation. By providing data-driven insights into the effectiveness of various interventions, we enable stakeholders to make informed decisions that benefit patients and the healthcare system as a whole. Visit https://coebra.ai/.

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Interesting article Paul, and thanks for highlighting to me Dr. Samin Saeed. Great to see Paul Hudson highlighting these issues and that Sanofi has a forum for discussion of ethical issues at a senior level. Not everyone does. Couple of thoughts. Firstly there is not a lot of expertise in companies as to how to discuss ethical issues in a structured way which reaches actionable conclusions. That skill can be learnt but let's be clear this is not about 'compliance'. Secondly, there is a danger that the ethical discussion only happens at senior levels. I'd suggest that discussing ethics and the importance of good judgement in the application of AI is essential at all levels in pharma. It's topic we're exploring next month at our charity symposium where Sheuli Porkess will be leading a discussion on such things. #pharma #aiethics #abpi

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Great post Brian Reid. With respect to changing how we pay for innovative medicines, we have a global transition to value-based healthcare yet we are not applying the same payment approach to the most utilized benefit in all of healthcare - pharmacy! Whether under the pharmacy benefit or the medical benefit, we have the tools to correlate drug use with clinical outcome which in turn allows us to better define value. #valuebasedcontracts #COEBRA

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AI’s potential for developing new cures is tremendous, but the public may want to temper its expectations, according to a recent @STAT panel featuring a biotech CEO, a scientist and a venture capitalist. While the three agreed AI’s long-term impact on drug development will be significant, one factor in particular is currently holding it back: insufficient data for training #AI. Data sources are improving, but AI doesn’t currently have access to the right data sets to enable it to shed light on the drivers of disease. Multiomics data holds promise, but those data sources are still too messy and incomplete. At ZS, we are leveraging AI to tame these challenges and help our clients produce effective therapies. I am excited to see the progress we are making, but there is still much more we need to do.   https://lnkd.in/dAsxYyDs #pharma #AI 

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In the past two weeks, the biopharma industry has witnessed two multi-billion strategic partnerships fall apart as Sanofi cut half of its $6.2 billion deal with IGM Biosciences and Genentech terminated its T cell therapy partnership with Adaptimmune. This raises the question: what percentage of the BioBucks in a partnership deal actually get paid out, on average? Although companies rarely publish the unredacted deal terms of partnerships, nor do they publish which payments are actually made (unless material to a public company), nonetheless we can calculate the probability-adjusted expected value of the Sanofi-IGM and Genentech-Adaptimmune deals as shown below. I am using industry-typical probability of success by stage and am making rough guesses on how the milestones were distributed by stage. Such an expected value calculation can be thought of as answering the question: how much would the in-licensor expect to pay on average if they could conduct hundreds of experiments with these probabilities and deal terms. By the way, a more complete analysis would time-adjust the values with an NPV of cash flows but that is not shown here.   Sanofi-IGM deal was for 6 targets (3 cancer and 3 immunology/inflammation) with upfront of $150M and aggregate milestones of $940M per oncology target and $1,065M per immunology/inflammation target. Here is a rough cut at a probability-adjusted estimate of total payments to IGM Biosciences at the time the deal was signed, which at $909M is about 15% of the total BioBucks of $6.2B. #lifesciences, #businessdevelopment, #biotech

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Organisations can create economic value by creating societal value. This is known as shared value, and is different from corporate social responsibility. How can we accomplish this? 1)   Reconceiving products and markets by considering societal needs. 2)   Redefining productivity in the value chain e.g., appropriate resource use & employee productivity and 3)   Building supportive clusters to improve both organisation and community productivity. How could we apply this to rare diseases? ·     Developing treatments for underserved rare disease populations. ·     Investing in R&D, both internal and external to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of rare disease treatments, leading to cost savings and better patient outcomes. ·     Collaborating with patient advocacy groups, academic institutions, and government agencies to foster innovation and accelerate drug development for rare diseases. By adopting a shared value approach, organisations can drive societal progress in the field of rare diseases. This was first brought to the spotlight in 2007 by Michael Porter & Mark Kramer, and is summarised in this beautiful Ted Talk https://lnkd.in/gtciupR3 This concept remains ever more important today.

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Yesterday cancer vaccines today in vivo cell therapies (but all mRNA)... Myeloid Therapeutics announced dosing of the first patient in a Ph1 study for MT-303, their second in vivo cell therapy candidate (thanks, Daniel G., for sharing it). The asset leverages mRNA to encode for a CAR with cell-specific expression to myeloid cells. https://lnkd.in/eAuuUrz7 Delivered via LNP, the therapy has the potential to be re-dosable and does not require any preconditioning like what's common with autologous cell therapies. There is a growing number of companies working on in vivo cell therapies from the likes of Asgard Therapeutics, Capstan Therapeutics, Orna (legacy ReNAgade), and Tessera. Not yet a "crowded" space but its getting there. It all goes back to delivery and being able to efficiently target and transfect high numbers of T-cells in vivo. no easy task for sure... #celltherapy #pharma #clinicaltrial

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