Xtalks Life Science Podcast

Combating Autoimmunity: Vera Therapeutics CEO Dr. Marshall Fordyce Discusses Advancing IgAN Treatments

In this episode, Ayesha spoke with Marshall Fordyce, MD, founder and CEO of Vera Therapeutics, a company focused on developing treatments for autoimmune diseases.
Dr. Fordyce founded Vera in 2016 as an entrepreneur in residence at Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, took the company public in 2021 and has advanced its lead molecule through a successful Phase II trial in IgA nephropathy.
The company is on track to read out its Phase III results next quarter. Along the way, Dr. Fordyce has built a world class team of drug developers and raised over $1 billion in capital.
Dr. Fordyce previously worked in clinical development leadership roles at Gilead Sciences in the 2010s, driving innovation in treatments for HIV and hepatitis.
Dr. Fordyce received his BA from Harvard University and MD from Harvard Medical School, trained in Internal Medicine and served as Chief Resident at NYU Bellevue.
Dr. Fordyce currently serves on the Board of Directors and as Treasurer of the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation.
Tune in to hear Dr. Fordyce discuss new innovations in therapies for autoimmune diseases like IgA nephropathy and the work he is leading at Vera Therapeutics.
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Targeting Pressing Unmet Needs in Kidney Diseases with Unicycive Therapeutics CEO Dr. Shalabh Gupta

In this episode, Ayesha spoke with Shalabh Gupta, MD, founder, chairman and CEO of Unicycive Therapeutics, a company focused on addressing unmet medical needs in renal diseases.
Kidney diseases are a major global health concern. In the US, chronic kidney disease (CKD) affects more than one in seven individuals, and one in three adults with diabetes may have the condition.
Before founding Unicycive Therapeutics in 2016, Dr. Gupta served in various roles, including founder and CEO of Biocycive, a commercial strategy role at Genentech and as an equity researcher at UBS Investment Bank and Rodman & Renshaw (currently HC Wainwright). Dr. Gupta is also the founder and CEO of Globavir, which licensed diagnostic technology from Stanford University and then partnered with global commercial diagnostic companies.
Dr. Gupta also serves as an advisor to the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Innovation Center, a role he has held since 2020.
Before his roles in business and finance, Dr. Gupta was an attending physician at NYU Medical Center and a clinical faculty member at the NYU School of Medicine. Dr. Gupta received his MPA in Health Care Finance and Management from NYU’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service and his MD from Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research, India.
Tune in to discover how Unicycive Therapeutics is tackling the most pressing unmet needs in renal diseases and driving innovation in kidney health.
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Innovating Treg Therapies for ALS and Alzheimer’s with Coya Therapeutics CEO Dr. Arun Swaminathan

Join us as we celebrate a major milestone — the 200th episode of the Xtalks Life Science Podcast! From groundbreaking biotech innovations to exclusive interviews with life science industry innovators and leaders, we've covered it all. Thank you for tuning in each week! We look forward to continuing to bring the latest and greatest across the pharma, biotech and medical industries!
In this episode, Ayesha spoke with Arun Swaminathan, PhD, CEO of Coya Therapeutics, a company developing regulatory T cell (Treg) therapies targeting neurodegenerative, autoimmune and metabolic diseases.
The company is developing a pipeline of therapies designed to enhance the function of dysregulated Tregs in various diseases, including ALS and Alzheimer’s disease.
Dr. Swaminathan has over 20 years of healthcare business executive experience. He began his career in clinical development, taking on commercial roles of increasing responsibility at Bristol Myers Squibb and Covance. Prior to joining Coya, Dr. Swaminathan served as chief business officer (CBO) at Actinium Pharmaceuticals and Alteogen, leading multi-billion-dollar deals. He also co-founded Lynkogen, a pre-clinical stage biotech, and served as its CEO. Dr. Swaminathan has a PhD in pharmaceutical sciences from the University of Pittsburgh.
 
Tune into the episode to hear more about Coya Therapeutics’ innovative immunotherapeutic approach from Dr. Swaminathan.
 
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The Path to Healthy Aging: Pioneering Therapies for Age-Related Diseases with Rejuvenate Biomed's Ann Beliën

In this episode, Vera spoke with Ann Beliën, PhD, founder and CEO of Rejuvenate Biomed, a biotech company leveraging AI-driven platforms to develop therapies for age-related diseases and promote healthy aging.
Rejuvenate Biomed is aiming to transform the treatment landscape for diseases such as sarcopenia, neuromuscular, metabolic and neurodegenerative disorders. Dr. Beliën founded Rejuvenate Biomed in 2017 and under her leadership, it transitioned from a discovery start-up to a clinical-stage biotech company.
Dr. Beliën has more than two decades of experience in drug development that has included international assignments in the US, the Netherlands and Belgium in various therapeutic areas, including oncology, neurology, immunology and infectious diseases.
Prior to founding Rejuvenate Biomed, Dr. Beliën served as a due diligence representative for R&D at Johnson & Johnson (J&J) where she was also a member of the management board of Janssen Prevention Center for five years.
Dr. Beliën holds a PhD from the University of Irchel in Zürich, Switzerland and a master’s degree from the Free University of Brussels (VUB), Belgium.
To hear more about how Rejuvenate Biomed is pioneering therapies for age-related diseases and working to promote healthy aging.
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Driving Innovations in Rare Diseases with Takeda’s Anthea Cherednichenko

In this episode, Ayesha spoke with Anthea Cherednichenko, MPH, MBA, Vice President, Hematology Franchise Head, Takeda, who discussed driving innovation in rare diseases through collaborations focused on better serving patients and their communities.
Anthea has more than a decade of global experience serving the rare disease community, particularly those with blood and bleeding disorders, at Takeda. She is a global healthcare leader with over 20 years of industry experience across the US, Europe and Asia. As Vice President and Franchise Head for Hematology in the US Business Unit at Takeda, Anthea steers a diverse portfolio and team to inspire positive patient outcomes through innovation with a focus on rare diseases, health equity and health care innovation.
Tune in to the episode to hear about driving innovations in rare diseases, including the vital role of external and internal collaborations to address significant unmet needs and empower patients throughout their healthcare journeys.
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Advancing Alzheimer’s Diagnostics: Insights from ALZpath VP of R&D Dr. Lee Honigberg on the Future of Blood-Based Biomarker Assays

In this episode, Ayesha spoke with Lee Honigberg, PhD, VP of Research & Development, ALZpath, a provider of diagnostic tools for Alzheimer’s disease. 
 
This includes a blood-based biomarker assay, called the ALZpathDx assay, which measures pTau217 in the blood.
Prior to joining ALZpath, Dr. Honigberg was most recently Senior Director and Distinguished Scientist in Translational Medicine at Genentech, where he was leading a group responsible for biomarker development for programs in neuroscience, ophthalmology, cardiovascular and metabolic disease.
Before Genentech, Dr. Honigberg was at Pharmacyclics where he led the preclinical development of ibrutinib, the first approved BTK inhibitor, establishing a new standard of treatment in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).
Dr. Honigberg’s contributions were recognized by the 2019 ACS Heroes in Chemistry award. Dr. Honigberg received a PhD in Neuroscience from the University California San Francisco (UCSF).
Tune into to the episode to learn about the latest innovations in Alzheimer’s diagnostics.
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Advancing PTSD Treatment with Digital Brain Biomarkers ft. Oded Kraft, Co-Founder, CEO and President of GrayMatters Health

In this episode, Vera speaks with Oded Kraft, Co-Founder, CEO and President of GrayMatters Health, a company transforming mental health care through evidence-based digital brain biomarker technology.
Oded shares insights into GrayMatters Health’s mission to improve patient outcomes for mental health disorders like PTSD by leveraging their proprietary EEG-fMRI-Pattern (EFP) biomarker. He discusses how this novel technology integrates functional MRI and EEG data to address critical gaps in mental health treatment, offering a personalized approach for patients.
With over 20 years of leadership experience at companies like GE Healthcare, Medingo-Roche and Kornit Digital, Oded also reflects on his journey in healthcare innovation, the challenges of scaling cutting-edge technologies and his vision for the future of mental health treatment.
Tune in to learn how GrayMatters Health is shaping the future of PTSD treatment and making mental health care more effective worldwide.
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Innovating Immune-Modulating Therapies in Autoimmune Disorders ft. Dr. Mario Marcondes, VP Head of Clinical Development, Nektar Therapeutics

In this episode, Ayesha spoke with Mario Marcondes, MD, PhD, VP Head of Clinical Development at Nektar Therapeutics, a company focused on the discovery and development of novel therapies for autoimmune disorders and cancer.
Dr. Marcondes is a licensed and trained physician, specializing in oncology and immune oncology. He has more than 15 years of research and teaching experience in Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT)/Cellular Therapies and more than 10 years of industry experience. He was the Program Lead for early-stage assets at Nektar and manages clinical trial programs from Phase I through to Phase III.
Dr. Marcondes is a member of multiple professional clinical and translational research organizations, including the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), American Society of Hematology (ASH), American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and Center for International Blood & Marrow Transplant Research (CIBMTR).
Listen to the episode to hear about the current research landscape in autoimmune disorders, including the work Dr. Marcondes is leading at Nektar Therapeutics.
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Advancing Digital Approaches in Alzheimer’s Research and Care ft. Sarah Averill Lott, Research Lead, Digital Medicine Society (DiMe) & Diane Stephenson, Executive Director, Critical Path for Parkinson

In this episode, Ayesha spoke with Sarah Averill Lott, MPH, CPH, Research Lead at Digital Medicine Society (DiMe) and Diane Stephenson, PhD, Executive Director at the Critical Path for Parkinson (CPP) at the Critical Path Institute.
DiMe is a global non-profit and a professional home for digital medicine that aims to drive the broad adoption of digital approaches to advance medicine and public health. DiMe convened a working group to identify barriers to greater utilization of digital measures in Alzheimer's research and subsequently developed resources to help researchers and clinicians more quickly adopt digital measures in this area.
Sarah Averill Lott is a program lead at DiMe where she supports programs and resources that promote the safe, effective and equitable use of digital health technologies to advance clinical research and improve outcomes for patients. She has degrees in neuroscience and public health.
Diane Stephenson is a neuroscientist by training with 35 years combined experience in academic neuroscience and drug discovery. Dr Stephenson joined Critical Path Institute in 2011 and presently leads the Neurology programs centered around Critical Path for Parkinson’s (CPP) and Critical Path for Alzheimer’s Disease (CPAD), with the goal of accelerating drug development tools for neurodegenerative diseases. Dr. Stephenson received her PhD in Medical Neurobiology from Indiana University.
Tune into the episode to hear about the adoption of digital measures in Alzheimer’s research and care, including the collaboration between DiMe and the Critical Path Institute.
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Transformative Neuropsychiatric Therapies ft. Dr. Amit Etkin, Founder, President and CEO of Alto Neuroscience

In this episode, Ayesha spoke with Amit Etkin, Founder, President and CEO of Alto Neuroscience, a company developing precision treatments for neuropsychiatric conditions.
Alto Neuroscience is focused on designing candidates that target core brain processes in patient populations not adequately treated by currently available medications. Alto is currently pursuing candidates in major depressive disorder (MDD), bipolar depression and schizophrenia.
Mental health disorders are a leading cause of disability globally. In the US alone, 1 in 5 people are living with a mental health disorder, with an estimated $280 billion spent on mental health services in the country in 2020. Despite significant need, the current standard of care consists of treatments that are ineffective for many patients.
Dr. Amit Etkin founded Alto in 2019 and is the president, CEO and serves as chair of the company’s board of directors. Prior to founding Alto, Dr. Etkin was a tenured professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University, where he held multiple leading roles.
His research contributions during his tenure at Stanford led to Dr. Etkin being awarded the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director’s Pioneer Award, the most competitive and prestigious NIH grant, and the first in history to be awarded in clinical psychiatry. He also received an Entrepreneur of the Year (EY) award.
Tune into the episode to hear from Dr. Etkin about innovations in treatments for neuropsychiatric disorders at Alto Neuroscience.
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