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On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech, we're speaking with Thomas von Erlach, Ph.D., Cofounder and CEO at Vivtex, a company spun out of the Langer Lab at MIT that's focused on developing orally available biologics. The company announced a deal in late February '26 with Novo Nordisk for up to $2.1 billion to develop next-gen oral drugs for obesity and diabetes, bringing the total number of Vivtex's partnerships to 10. Thomas shares his experiences working in the lab with Dr. Robert Langer, Ph.D., starting up Vivtex around his co-invention (a "GI tract on a chip"), building trust externally and securing the right partnerships, and using a strategic stealth period to refine Vivtex's platform technology before scaling it out.

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Get in touch with guest and topic suggestions: ben.comer@lifescienceleader.com

Find Ben Comer on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bencomer/

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On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech we speak with Monika Sumra, Ph.D., about how leadership, culture, and performance emerge from the environment and conditions inside an organization. Dr. Sumra, Founder and Managing Partner at Bunka, Inc., a management consulting firm and advisor to manufacturing-based organizations globally, explains how anthropology, CPIs, and rapid ethnography make culture measurable and operations faster, safer, and more reliable. Deploying a unique lens built on biosocial anthropology, she offers guidance on creating environments for sustainable performance in the complex life sciences industry.

Access this and hundreds of episodes of the Business of Biotech videocast under the Business of Biotech tab at lifescienceleader.com.

Subscribe to our monthly Business of Biotech newsletter.

Get in touch with guest and topic suggestions: ben.comer@lifescienceleader.com

Find Ben Comer on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bencomer/

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On this week's episode of the Business of Biotech, Jared Bauer, Cofounder and CEO at Seek Labs, talks about his adventures in company turnarounds, and setting up Seek Labs to improve patient diagnoses and to discover and develop new treatments for infectious diseases. Jared explains the technology convergence that was needed to build Seek Labs' AI diagnostic and CRISPR-based therapeutics platform, an African Swine Fever proof-of-concept study that reduced viremia in pigs, mapping pathogens for rapid target design, and engaging with the FDA and global regulatory agencies.

Access this and hundreds of episodes of the Business of Biotech videocast under the Business of Biotech tab at lifescienceleader.com.

Subscribe to our monthly Business of Biotech newsletter.

Get in touch with guest and topic suggestions: ben.comer@lifescienceleader.com

Find Ben Comer on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bencomer/