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In an interview, Dr. Bobak Azamian, CEO of Tarsus Pharmaceuticals, detailed the launch strategy for its first drug, Xdemvy (for treating Demodex blepharitis). Facing challenges of low diagnosis rates and a new disease category, the company drove market growth through its own sales team, multi-channel education, and data analytics tools, with Q4 2023 revenue exceeding expectations. Azamian also shared future plans, including expanding indications and exploring direct-to-consumer sales models.
Marcus Conant, the doctor who identified early signs of AIDS in San Francisco in 1981, is now 87 years old and serves as Chief Medical Officer at American Gene Technologies. More than four decades later, he is still pursuing a cure for HIV and points out the gap between the public's perception that HIV is 'solved' and the reality of continuously rising infection numbers.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) treatment is undergoing revolutionary changes for the first time in over 20 years. Before Radicava's approval in 2017, the field had long lacked effective therapies. Now, PrimeC, advanced by NeuroSense Therapeutics in collaboration with Biogen, has shown promising efficacy in mid-stage trials and could become a new treatment option. CEO Alon Ben-Noon discusses the disease's complexity, combination therapy trends, and future regulatory pathways in an interview.
Gianluca Pirozzi is a senior vice president at Alexion Pharmaceuticals (AstraZeneca's rare disease unit), and his 10-year-old daughter Valentina has Smith-Magenis syndrome. This personal experience has given him a deep understanding of the struggles faced by families with rare diseases and has shaped his patient-centered approach to drug development.
Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine is seen as a 'proof of concept' for mRNA technology. The company currently has 48 mRNA projects and plans to expand to nearly 100 over the next five years. Its individualized neoantigen therapy (INT), developed in collaboration with Merck, has entered two Phase III trials. This article is an exclusive interview with a Moderna executive, covering technical challenges, competitive strategies, and future outlook.
Mural Oncology's new CEO Caroline Loew says her new role represents 'unfinished business' in oncology drug development. The company spun off from Alkermes in November, focusing on cytokine immunotherapy. Loew emphasizes that the bottleneck of approximately 30% response rates in immuno-oncology urgently needs to be overcome, and plans to drive next-generation therapies through strategic focus, science-first approach, and an inclusive culture.
Amylyx Pharmaceuticals gained significant attention with the approval of its ALS drug Relyvrio in 2022, behind which lies the partnership of co-CEOs Josh Cohen and Justin Klee. In large pharmaceutical companies, the co-CEO model is uncommon, but the two founders believe that the complexity and long-term nature of the pharmaceutical industry precisely require this kind of team-based top leadership. This article explores the operational logic of this model, how disagreements are handled, and its performance during crises through an exclusive interview.
Gene therapy is moving from rare diseases to broader markets, but delivery efficiency remains the core bottleneck. 4D Molecular Therapeutics uses directed evolution to optimize adeno-associated virus vectors, and collaborates with Arbor Biotechnologies and brings in UCSF professor Noriyuki Kasahara, aiming to elevate delivery capabilities to new heights. CEO David Kirn details the technical path and industry prospects.
Arbor Biotechnologies is a preclinical-stage biotechnology company co-founded by CRISPR pioneer Feng Zhang and Illumina founder David Walt. The company aims to develop therapies for liver and central nervous system diseases by creating novel gene-editing tools that go beyond the limitations of existing Cas9 technology. CEO Devyn Smith stated that the company's lead program (targeting hyperoxaluria) is nearing the IND submission stage, with plans to file three applications over the next three years. The company is also collaborating with Vertex Pharmaceuticals to provide more precise gene-editing tools.
The biopharmaceutical industry generally has business development leads, but the Chief Investment Officer (CIO) title is uncommon. Dr. Mayukh Sukhatme, President and Chief Investment Officer of Roivant, said in an interview that this atypical title precisely matches the company's atypical 'hub-and-spoke' operating model. This asset-centric, therapy-area-agnostic model has led to ten positive Phase 3 studies and multiple multi-billion-dollar deals. Sukhatme, combining a Wall Street investment background with medical training, explains how to track potential partners over the long term, strike at the right time, and emphasizes that 'the only way to guarantee being in the right place at the right time is to always be present.'