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Part 4 of 4: Jon Chee hosts Barry Ticho, Founder of Verve Therapeutics and Chief Medical Officer at Stoke Therapeutics, a biotech company addressing the underlying cause of severe diseases by upregulating protein expression with RNA-based medicines.
With an MD PhD from the University of Chicago and extensive experience across academia and industry, Barry brings over two decades of expertise in clinical development. His journey includes roles as Head of Development at Moderna, Head of External R&D Innovation at Pfizer, and VP of Clinical Development at Biogen, where he's been instrumental in advancing numerous therapeutic programs across multiple disease areas.
Barry's unique perspective spanning academic medicine and biotechnology innovation makes his insights invaluable for aspiring leaders in the field.
Join us this week to hear about:
- Founding Verve Therapeutics and pioneering gene editing for cardiovascular disease
- Tackling medicine adherence with one-and-done gene therapies
- Leadership lessons from starting and scaling biotech startups
- How patient stories inspire innovation in genetic medicine
- Stoke’s vision for genetic medicine and transformative treatments for diseases like Dravet syndrome
Please enjoy Jon’s conversation with Barry Ticho.
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Enriched Notes:
Topics Mentioned:
Verve Therapeutics: https://www.vervetx.com/
Stoke Therapeutics: https://www.stoketherapeutics.com/
Google Ventures: https://www.gv.com/
Mass General Hospital: https://www.massgeneral.org/
Brigham and Women’s Hospital: https://www.brighamandwomens.org/
Biogen: https://www.biogen.com/
University of Pennsylvania: https://www.upenn.edu/
Gene Editing and Its Impact on Cardiovascular Disease: https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart-health/gene-therapy-for-cardiovascular-disease
RNA-Based Medicines for Rare Disease Treatment: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41419-022-05075-2
Biotech Partnerships With Big Pharma: https://www.excedr.com/blog/how-biotech-partnerships-support-research
Business Development in Biotech: https://www.excedr.com/resources/business-development-in-the-life-sciences
Biotech Funding Options: https://www.excedr.com/resources/biotech-startup-funding-options
Scaling Biotechs to Meet Key Milestones with Leasing: https://www.excedr.com/blog/how-leasing-helps-biotechs-scale-efficiently
People Mentioned:
Sekar Kathiresan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sekar-sek-kathiresan-3501846/
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
02:15 Founding Verve Therapeutics over breakfast
05:31 Gene editing for cardiovascular disease: The PCSK9 story
07:49 Barry’s experience as a first-time CEO
12:01 Joining Stoke Therapeutics and exploring RNA-based medicines
16:56 Building strong networks and the value of professional connections
22:09 Transitioning Stoke from private to public company
26:29 Hiring wisely and making difficult decisions quickly
30:09 Chief medical officer lessons: patient focus and team amplification
33:25 Stoke’s future: Dravet syndrome trials and pipeline expansion
35:12 Shouts and advice to younger self
37:23 Outro
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