In this bonus episode, which concludes the first series of the ‘Life Sci Fantastic’, Eliot steps back from examining the science of biotech to look at the business of this rapidly developing industry.

Eliot asks, what is driving those entrepreneurs to bring new treatments to patients, and what are the financial challenges in bringing these drugs to market?

Answering those questions is Bill Hicks, who has brokered deals and helped numerous companies and individuals chart the legal and financial challenges in the industry.

As co-chair of the life sciences practice at the US law firm Mintz, Bill has ridden the highs and lows of drug development, finance, stock market fluctuations, and more. In his conversation with Eliot, he reflects upon the business of bio-tech.

Host: Eliot Forster

Production team: Andy Coulson and Jane Sankey (Coulson Partners) and Richard Miron (Earshot Strategies)

With special thanks to Mintz - https://www.mintz.com

Across the world, people can now expect to live longer. These advances are thanks to better sanitation, vaccination, access to food and healthcare. But aging inevitably involves decline in many of our biological functions, making people more susceptible to disease. What - if anything - can be done to address the underlying mechanisms of aging to both prevent and treat illness? Can aging be ‘cured’?

That is the focus of cutting edge research being undertaken by a company called Juvenescence. Its CEO, Richard Marshall, is a highly distinguished doctor and scientist who is leading efforts to understand aging, and developing drugs that can treat its consequences. 

In this episode Eliot finds out what his work involves and what are the chances of success?

Host: Eliot Forster

Production team: Andy Coulson and Jane Sankey (Coulson Partners) and Richard Miron (Earshot Strategies)

With special thanks to Mintz - https://www.mintz.com

In an age of rapid technological development in medical science, how does a new treatment come about? What is the process by which it goes from the mind of the scientist at the laboratory bench to the patient’s bedside?

In this episode Eliot meets someone who has travelled that path. Simon Westbrook is the founder of Levicept - a company that has developed a breakthrough medicine for osteoarthritis. It’s a disease that affects about one in six people in the UK, and hundreds of millions around the world.

There has not been a breakthrough in its treatment for almost fifty years. So how did Simon come up with his drug and what has been his path to success?

Host: Eliot Forster

Production team: Andy Coulson and Jane Sankey (Coulson Partners) and Richard Miron (Earshot Strategies)

With special thanks to Mintz - https://www.mintz.com