Dean Griffiths PhD

A key insight from the BDC's 2024 report highlights what those backing and building innovative life sciences companies have always known: "... over the time horizon [10 years], life sciences sector returns continue to outperform ECT and ICT, despite being relatively underfunded" The opportunity for the engagement of more capital, by those looking to make impactful and high performing investments, is huge and doing so will result in more value capture by Canadian investors from the development and commercialization of Canadian life sciences innovations

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Are you a manufacturer of Digital Therapeutics (DTx) with a focus on the UK market? In this blog post, we delve into the intricacies of Digital Therapeutics (DTx) regulation in the UK, especially in light of Brexit in January 2020. 👉 https://lnkd.in/eqYb38ZF #DTx #DigitalTherapeutics #RegulatoryAffairs #Brexit

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📢📢 We’re excited to introduce Suil Vision, the first start-up to emerge from Cancer Grand Challenges. Launching a new start-up is always a significant milestone and it's even more special when it combines expertise from today’s most cutting-edge fields: #VirtualReality, spatial omics, and #CancerBiology. Spatial omics is revolutionising medical research. Suil Vision is set to accelerate discovery by providing intuitive immersive tools that make it easier for scientists to navigate and analyse increasingly large biological datasets. https://lnkd.in/euu4Qa_V #OnMyHorizon #PortfolioNews Owen Harris @Greg Hannon Dario Bressan Joe Day Matthew Farren

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In the morning panel, Ivan Griffin , Venkatesh Moktali, PhD , Bulent Kiziltan, PhD , Hebe Middlemiss , Daniel Kuhn and James Malone talked about benefits of #AI within drug discovery at BioTechX Europe. - Hype vs hope debate was fun - Bulent Kiziltan, PhD reminded that hype cycle curve isn’t real. In large organizations, there are functions on different sides of the curve. In addition, we need to understand the limitation of the technology well to really find out what is hype vs. not. - Also, I really like Bulent Kiziltan, PhD’s comments on integrated operating model and culture to realize value. It is a must have. We need to really understand the operating model and operating culture of the organization (aka people) to ensure the success of the technologies. - James Malone ‘s reminder of “we overestimate the potential of technology in the short term, and underestimate its potential in the long term” provided a good perspective and a challenge on how we maybe able to place bets with limited ability to forecast the future. And, we know we aren’t good at predicting future. - Hebe Middlemiss mentioned that ROI can be realized in a few different ways for example how quickly you fail vs how successful you are (which will take a much longer time to measure). - And, Bulent Kiziltan, PhD ‘s provocation on acceleration vs outcomes was on point. Focusing too much on acceleration doesn’t allow us to realize the full value of the technology. We need to think beyond acceleration.

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While the UK has faced a few headwinds in recent years, I still believe it to be a strategically important market that punches above it's "weight" as defined purely by revenues and profit - it provides a collaborative healthcare environment where new approaches can be tried and tested... I'm especially excited by the opportunity for faster, simpler access to richer and more consolidated healthcare data at national scale through NHS Secure Data Environments. Please drop Ben Richardson or I a note if you are interested in learning more about these interesting developments and the use cases for global Life Science companies. https://lnkd.in/e_4UsaGU

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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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This is an excellent piece of work from Georgia, linking real world oncology data, chemotherapy regimes and outcomes for 15000 patients from #NDRS National cancer register in England. The inference of disease free survival is a significant step in large scale datasets. If you are in Basel, definitely one to check out and really exemplifing the novel thought leadership in oncology at Genomics England Matthew Brown Richard Scott Emma McCargow #cancer #realworlddata #bigdata #ndrs #ncras

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Summary by Dr. Suzanne Claire Drury our Geneyx FAS EMEA. A Focus on: Geneyx Cohort search and NonCoding regions. A very interesting stat ->  🔸 0.41% of individuals with NDD have variants in the non-coding RNA RNU4-2 Doctors were able to quickly analyze their collection of 365 genomes and identify a case with a specific variant in just 30 seconds. Thats fast. What’s more impressive is that they were able to solve the case within a day of the paper being released. Technology in healthcare can bring much-needed clarity to patients' health journeys. For this particular individual, who had been struggling with intellectual disability, seizures, and microcephaly, finding answers must be a huge relief to all concerned. https://lnkd.in/dvNRKNaP  #disability #seizures #microcepha #genomics #RNA

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The #UK has launched a pioneering subscription-style funding model for #antibiotics, compensating developers based on the value of their antimicrobials to the #healthcaresystem rather than on sales. This model is designed to address the challenges of developing new antibiotics amid rising antimicrobial resistance and may set a global precedent. #subscriptionmodel #pharmatrends #UKhealthcare

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It was great to see news coming out of the Oxford Nanopore Technologies team last week at their 10th annual customer conference, London Calling. From a commercial point of view, it was encouraging that LC24 featured a ‘clinical and biopharma’ day for the first time. Gordon Sanghera, set out the many commercial partnerships through which ONT is seeking to unlock high potential applied sequencing markets, and various customers cited the more valuable insights being delivered by nanopore sequencing compared to existing technologies. Dr Danny Miller (paediatric physician) called long-read sequencing the ‘future of clinical genetic testing’. He spoke eloquently about the power to change lives, reducing what can be a lifetime of genetic tests to weeks or days with the richer data that ONT enables. Dr Miller said that even if the cost of other analyses fell to $0 he would still generate long read sequencing data to characterise rare disease in children and drive clinical decisions. While LC24 featured the usual level of tech improvements, such as the next gen ‘Transformer’ AI-driven data analysis, customers frequently cited ONT’s current technical performance as more than sufficient for their needs. This included the CDC presenter who said they plan to introduce ONT sequencing to their gold standard with its current accuracy and performance. Most of ONT’s current customers are researchers. However, longer term, the real prize is in the ‘applied markets’ so it was great to see an overview of the pathway for their products through to future, regulated in-vitro diagnostics. In the near term, the “Q line” products will support users in environments conducting routine testing, and the ONT’s ISO1345 GridION (expected in 2025) was attracting interest for clinical applications in infectious disease, cancer and human genetics. While the largest addressable market long term is cancer, infectious disease is also substantial and seems to have a lot of traction. It’s an area where nanopore-based sequencing is mature as well as giving the market advantages of speed and suitability for any setting. I was particularly inspired by the work happening here in London at Guy’s and St Thomas Hospital in respiratory metagenomics, a combination of better management of infections and an early warning system for potential emerging pathogens. And, on the cancer front, in Amsterdam’s paediatric oncology unit, who are using 45-minute sequencing workflows to guide the surgeon’s strategy live during brain surgery! The conference was as inspiring as always, both technically and commercially, and a reminder of the importance of the IP Group plc mission to evolve the power of science for a better future. #nanoporeconf #backinginnovation

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The rapidly evolving pharma and medtech services space is attractive to investors, but successful investors must consider key factors currently impacting the space, including the use of AI and data, the impact of government legislation and ensuring diverse patient enrollment in clinical trials. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/esEART-P

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At the recent European Cancer Community Foundation event at the Mansion House in London, we were told that 40% of oncology physicians in Europe will be leaving the healthcare system within the next 5 years. There are few plans to replace this surge of loss of expertise. Many hospitals, including in the US, are also at risk of reaching capacity. We could see a treatment bottleneck where we have new cancer therapeutics in place but lack the staff and clinical space to deliver them. Cancer treatments like CAR-T cell therapies and infused/injected antibody-based drugs, have been transformative. But they’re complex to deliver and ask a lot of healthcare systems. Some people are not eligible for them or cannot access them. Small molecule oral drugs will be crucial in tackling the future cancer challenge. They are less demanding of patients, self-administered, and have the potential to significantly reduce burden on hospitals. They also play a role after the more intensive therapies, for the older, frailer, who are better treated outside a hospital setting. CellCentric is developing an oral drug for the treatment of multiple myeloma, inobrodib. Despite significant progress in the last two decades, the vast majority of people diagnosed still ultimately die of the disease, even after the more involved treatments. There is a clear initial position for CellCentric’s drug after BCMA/TCE targeting agents. Paul Richardson (Harvard/Dana Faber), CellCentric Scientific Advisory Board member, has recently been quoted: ‘ The ability to offer treatments in communities as diverse as our myeloma populations, is vital.’ ‘ We need strategies after T-cell engager and BCMA -targeted approaches have failed.….’ ‘I’m particularly excited about oral agents directed at new targets, that are truly outpatient’ Despite all the R&D progress that has been made, global cancer deaths have still risen by 40% in just over a decade. We all have a responsibility to make treatment more accessible, to address specific patient population needs, hospital capacity constraints and the loss of specialist oncology expertise versus growing demand. CellCentric has had long term commitment and financial support from Morningside. The company received additional investment from Pfizer last year, as well as from BrightEdge, the innovation, impact investment, and venture capital arm of the American Cancer Society. BrightEdge propels groundbreaking patient-centric solutions by investing in and supporting the most innovative startup companies to advance science, reduce disparities, and promote healthcare sustainability. CellCentric #multiplemyeloma American Cancer Society BrightEdge - American Cancer Society

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Simon Bumfrey, Head of Technology and Life Sciences at HSBC Innovation Banking UK said: “2024 has seen several top global funds actively raising capital to be deployed in UK start-ups and scale-ups at all stages of growth, with UK-based funds anticipated to raise at record levels. This deep pool of liquidity is testament to the opportunity that many see in the UK innovation ecosystem and signals a buoyant outlook for 2025 and beyond... via BusinessCloud

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In a monumental move, Persephoni BioPartners and Loud Solutions have solidified a joint venture, creating a significant development for the scientific startup community in the North East. Persephoni BioPartners is a leading consultancy for early-stage Biotech companies. Supporting from Company Incorporation, IP & Legal, Strategic Advisory, Capital Raising to Commercialization. Loud Solutions is a boutique Human Capital consultancy focused entirely on the Pre-Seed to Series-B market place. Together they will find the best scientific assets and partner them with elite talent to maximize success and improve patient outcomes. Operating as the exclusive Human Capital provider for Persephoni BioPartners and its expansive portfolio, Loud Solutions brings a wealth of experience poised to deliver elite executive talent and cultivate a culture of sustainability and profitability. Redefining the standards of talent attraction and employee retention for startup and early stage assets. Thanks to Hilary Schultz and Willie for the work done over the past 3 months. "Putting the right people together, at the start, limits mistakes and improves the chances of success. Focused on improving patient outcomes and enabling innovation is always our priority." says Persephoni BioPartners Managing Partner and Cofounder Hilary Schultz See more here: https://lnkd.in/dGuvWwfu #jointventure #startups #partnership

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Hmmm. How about an LLM for designing trials that patients are more likely to be eligible for, want to participate in, and still generate commercially useful results? The issue isn't patient matching - the ecosystem is not flush with a wide range of studies and a wide range of patients, each seeking to find each other in the darkness. Despite the large number of "studies" on CT.gov, there are only a few studies running for NCEs in most conditions - often with almost identical inclusion/exclusion criteria that are only relevant to a small fraction of patients. On the patient side, one is either happy enough with their treatment outcomes - and has little knowledge of or interest in clinical trials without the nudge of their doctor, or one has a rare disease or serious stage cancer... In which case you are quite familiar with the trials available, and - often - have found yourself to be ineligible.. I'm sorry to be blunt! Change the game. Use technology to solve the real problem - which is far upstream from helping "patients in need" match with a study. Create study designs that offer more options to more, real patients. How many people reading this post have been handed a protocol that had known feasibility challenges from the start - and that could have been addressed much better by protocol changes vs more countries, sites and patients?

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In venture capital people talk about how an individual deal needs to return a fund. Accounting for the losses and driving the overall return profile required for investors. In DeepTech, this requirement translates as a very large market opportunity, where incumbents can't innovate because they lack the competitive talent moats required to develop new approaches to a particular problem space. Its not often that you find companies that fit this mould, but when they announce results like QV Bioelectronics have today you start to believe you might just have found one. Empirical Ventures is actively looking for syndication partners for this deal, please get in touch if you would like an intro to Christopher Bullock. https://lnkd.in/e_dB69Qn

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Modality focus, Using AI to pace up across the development to market phases, Aligning with big pharma cash generation appear to help clinical stage innovators to raise funding. With interest rates across the west looking to trend south over the next Qtrs would we be again heading towards a 2021 scenario for BioTech financing? #biotech #biotechfinancing #marketaccesstrends #clinicalAI

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We've invested a huge amount of time over the last year evolving the work we do at Singular: Building Brilliant Biotechs to create as much value and support for innovative Biotech companies as possible. And I'm really delighted to see this reflected on our brand-new website, now live at https://lnkd.in/eehUXnx6. The unfortunate reality is that most Biotech companies fail. Either they fail to deliver on the true potential of their research, or they fail completely, and die. When that happens, people tend to blame the science not working, or the money running out. But the truth is that those are usually symptoms, not the cause. The real difference between success and failure is your team and the culture you build around it. Think about it - with an incredible team and a world-class culture, would you be more likely to overcome your technical setbacks and deliver your milestones? And with a track record of doing that, will it be easier to raise money and attract the partners you need? We want as many Biotech companies to deliver on their potential as possible, so we're absolutely committed to helping them build the teams and create the cultures that make them one of the few who succeed, rather than the many that fail. And finally, our website reflects that. It's filled with content, insights and ideas that might be the key to unlock the amazing culture within your Biotech company - come take a look and let me know what you think! https://lnkd.in/eehUXnx6

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What we do for clients and what we can do for you... I love the work we get to do for our clients across the life science / biopharma space. Supporting (at least in a small way) advanced therapeutics, as well as the technologies and processes that undergird them (e.g., enabling technologies), is a fulfilling challenge. But what do we do for our clients (and what could we do for you)? In short, strategy work, competitive intelligence, and diligence support. We take a technical, first-principles approach to solving our clients' most pressing strategic and competitive hurdles. And we do it in a highly-collaborative way where we partner with these organizations. What could we do for you? Reach out and lets discuss! #strategy #consulting #pharma

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