A Hub-and-Spoke Ophthalmology Company with an Eye for Innovation
Hub-and-spoke business models—the use of a central core of business functions with pipeline assets spun out into subsidiary companies—have gained traction for the benefits they can provide in terms of capital efficiency, diversification of risks, and improved access to capital. Eyexora is applying that business model to accelerate the development of therapies for ophthalmic indications. We spoke to Theresa Heah, CEO of Eyexora, about why the hub-and-spoke model is well-suited for the development of ophthalmic therapies, its initial assets in-licensed from the Singapore Eye Research Institute, and how it identifies early-stage candidates with high potential.
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An AI Collaborative that Welcomes All into the Fold
OpenFold, an open-source, collaborative initiative founded in 2022 to address the challenges of protein structure prediction and design using artificial intelligence, emerged as a response to the restricted commercial access to DeepMind’s AlphaFold platform. Leveraging public datasets and using a pre-competitive consortium model, OpenFold seeks to democratize cutting-edge protein engineering tools for both industry and academia. We spoke to Brian Weitzner, director of computational and structural biology at Outpace Bio and co-founder of OpenFold, about the creation of the collaborative effort, how its open licensing model ensures broad accessibility, and how it stacks up against AlphaFold.
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Hitting the Reset Button on Cellular Aging
Transcription factors control the genetic programs that maintain cellular balance, but while they have been seen as compelling targets for aging-related disease, they have long been considered “undruggable.” Junevity’s RESET platform leverages large-scale human omics data and AI models to pinpoint key transcriptional drivers of disease and to design siRNA therapies that restore healthy gene expression. We spoke to John Hoekman, co-founder and CEO of Junevity, about the role of transcription factors in healthy biology and aging-related disease, the company’s AI-driven platform for identifying dysregulated transcription factors, and its lead programs targeting type 2 diabetes and obesity.
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Changing the Ovarian Cancer Treatment Landscape with a DNA-Mediated Immunotherapy
Ovarian cancer remains one of the deadliest cancers affecting women, and it is expected to claim nearly 13,000 lives in the United States in 2025. Despite progress in survival rates, nearly 80 percent of patients are still diagnosed at advanced stages, when the disease has already spread and is difficult to treat. Imunon’s experimental DNA-mediated immunotherapy is designed to deliver interleukin-12 directly into the tumor. A phase 2 study demonstrated that the experimental therapy, when combined with the standard of care, provided a 13-month survival benefit compared to women receiving only the standard of care. We spoke to Stacy Lindborg, CEO of Imunon, about the company’s DNA-mediated immunotherapy, how it avoids the systemic toxicities that undermined earlier IL-12 approaches, and how it could change the treatment landscape for the disease.
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Why the United States Must Fall in Love with Biotechnology, or Take a Back Seat to China
China’s emergence as a biotech superpower may have appeared to happen suddenly, but it reflected a long-term vision and policies over many years that enabled its success. As biotechnology transforms not only medicine but also industries such as food, fuel, and materials, the competition between China and the United States to shape the future bioeconomy is intensifying. We spoke to Drew Endy, associate professor of bioengineering and senior fellow of the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, about China’s all-of-nation strategy, how the United States has misallocated research dollars, and why a cultural embrace of biotechnology will be critical for the success of either country.
The Bio Report podcast, hosted by award-winning journalist Daniel Levine, focuses on the intersection of biotechnology with business, science, and policy.
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