Optimum Perspectives

Episode 9 of Optimum Perspectives Podcast features Optimum's Richard Staines and Eva Haas, who discuss the hot areas for investment in the shifting biotech market – including antibody-drug conjugates, smart radiotherapies, mRNA and immune-oncology. Want us to explore a topic further? Let us know!

No-one is likely to forget the tragic events of 2020 and one company leading efforts to prepare for the next pandemic is Poolbeg Pharma. Optimum Strategic Communications’ Richard Staines interviewed CEO Jeremy Skillington to find out how Poolbeg is using AI to expedite discovery of new flu drugs.Poolbeg is working on a drug that aims to block some of the worst effects of influenza, neutralising the over-reaction from the body’s immune system known as a “cytokine storm” that produces many of the ill effects following a flu infection. 

A much-anticipated new potential drug for COPD moved a step closer to the market after Verona Pharma submitted its New Drug Application to the U.S. FDA, seeking approval of ensifentrine as a maintenance therapy. In its latest podcast, Optimum Strategic Communications caught up with Chris Martin, Senior Vice President of Commercial, who discussed how the company plans to launch this potential novel COPD medicine.

Today’s funding environment for small biotechs is tough. Valuations are down and money is tighter than it used to be – both for publicly listed and privately held firms.  In these circumstances, obtaining the right backing – both in terms of finance and managerial advice – is more important than ever. In the fifth Optimum Perspectives podcast experienced investor Søren Møller talks to Optimum’s Stephen Adams about Novo Holdings Seed Investments’ approach to working with biotechs and what early-stage companies should look for in a financing partner. 

How do you take a tiny private Swedish biotech and turn it into a successful, publicly-listed company operating on both sides of the Atlantic, in just six years? Listen to Renée Aguiar-Lucander, CEO of Calliditas Therapeutics, tell Optimum’s Richard Staines how they brought TARPEYO, the first FDA-approved drug for the rare kidney disease primary IgA nephropathy, to market.She describes her ‘incredible journey’ growing the firm from less than 10 staff to more than 200, taking it public in Europe and the US, running a global Phase III trial, and how Tarpeyo can help people with IgA nephropathy live more normal lives.https://www.optimumcomms.com/podcastFollow us and subscribe for new episodes highlighting the latest innovation and developments in life sciences, with industry leaders of the healthcare sector.Available on all major platforms: Apple, Spotify, Google, Amazon Music, Tune In, Castbox, Deezer and more! Follow and Subscribe today. #optimumperspectivespodcast

In this episode, our in-house IR expert, and ex-Fund Manager Eva Haas interviewed Dan Mahony, Chairman of the BioIndustry Association (BIA), following his appointment as UK Life Sciences Investment Envoy to hear his plans for championing the UK’s Life Sciences industry. Read the insight piece here: An interview with Dan Mahony, UK Government Life Sciences Envoy by Optimum’s Eva Haashttps://www.optimumcomms.com/podcastFollow us and subscribe for new episodes highlighting the latest innovation and developments in life sciences, with industry leaders of the healthcare sector.Available on all major platforms: Apple, Spotify, Google, Amazon Music, Tune In, Castbox, Deezer and more! Follow and Subscribe today. #optimumperspectivespodcast

Stress urinary incontinence (SUI) is a common and debilitating problem for many women, particularly after childbirth or in later years. Yet, despite this, treatment options are limited, held back by a lack of research into medical products focused on women’s health. Versameb, hopes to change this with a novel mRNA therapy that rebuilds the urinary sphincter and is about to enter clinical trials. In this podcast, Richard Staines from Optimum Strategic Communications caught up with the Versameb team to find out more. Read the insight piece here: Versameb: Revolutionizing SUI therapy with mRNA technologyhttps://www.optimumcomms.com/podcast / https://versameb.com/Follow us and subscribe for new episodes highlighting the latest innovation and developments in life sciences, with industry leaders of the healthcare sector.Available on all major platforms: Apple, Spotify, Google, Amazon Music, Tune In, Castbox, Deezer and more! Follow and Subscribe today. #optimumperspectivespodcast

Our host Richard Staines, Account Director at Optimum, discusses the latest clinical findings from inobrodib, an oral cancer therapy developed by the UK biotech CellCentric.In our first episode, we hear from Jan Ross, a patient who discusses the pressing need for new therapies for multiple myeloma with fewer side effects. We also talked to top cancer experts – Tim Somervaille of the Christie Hospital in Manchester, Karen Knudsen, Chief Executive of the American Cancer Society, Dr Leif Bergsagel, consultant in the Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona, and Will West, CEO of CellCentric.Despite recent medical advances, treating haematological cancer remains a considerable challenge. CAR-T cell therapies have shown incredible efficacy against some forms of blood cancer, but side-effects are fearsome, and they don’t always work. Conventional therapies may require injections and regular inconvenient visits to the hospital. And CAR-T cell therapies are hugely expensive for healthcare systems to buy and administer to patients because of the workload for staff monitoring side effects. A UK biotech, CellCentric has seen an opening for an oral therapy, based on a small molecule drug, that could treat multiple myeloma and could be taken by patients in their own home.https://www.optimumcomms.com/podcast / www.cellcentric.comFollow us and subscribe for new episodes highlighting the latest innovation and developments in life sciences, with industry leaders of the healthcare sector.Available on all major platforms: Apple, Spotify, Google, Amazon Music, Tune In, Castbox, Deezer and more! Follow and Subscribe today. #optimumperspectivespodcast