pharmaphorum Podcast

Why everyone should care about longevity, with Boyang Wang

Longevity and healthspan have emerged rapidly as an increasingly serious category of healthcare study and investment. But there are a lot of ideas inside the industry and out about exactly what the goal is. Is it about extending lifespans as much as possible? Are we trying to live forever? Or do we just want to experience less physical and cognitive decline as we age?
In today’s episode of the pharmaphorum podcast, host Jonah Comstock speaks with Boyang Wang, the founder of Immortal Dragons, a $40 million Singapore-based fund focusing exclusively on moonshot longevity innovations.
In a broad-ranging conversation, they talk about popular misconceptions about the longevity space and why it’s something that everyone should care about. They talk a bit about specific areas of investment for Immortal Dragons like organ synthesis and gene therapy. And they try to look ahead into the future of a space which is all about getting us to that future alive and well.

A philosophical look at market turn in the Age of AI, with John Holodnak

Today, the life sciences sector is prioritising recruitment of leaders who can scale efficiently in capital-constrained environments, as well as focusing on hybrid operator-strategists who can integrate AI into R&D, clinical, and commercial workflows.
In a new pharmaphorum podcast, web editor Nicole Raleigh spoke with John Holodnak, co-founder of Occam, about how AI is beginning to reshape career paths across life sciences.
Holodnak discusses AI’s transformation of functional roles in life sciences, such as regulatory, market access, and business development, and explores the breakdown of linear career paths and way ahead for biotech and pharma professionals tomorrow.
You can listen to episode 257 of the pharmaphorum podcast in the player below, download the episode to your computer, or find it – and subscribe to the rest of the series – on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Podbean, and pretty much wherever else you download your other podcasts from.

Providing patient access to new therapies, with Dean Erhardt

Pharma and tech companies are working more closely together than ever. As proven by the news of Merck and NVidia’s new partnership, for example. But while the idea of using AI for drug discovery has been around for a while now, patient access has an awfully long way to catch up to the promise of these new therapies.
In a new pharmaphorum podcast, web editor Nicole Raleigh speaks with Dean Erhardt, founder of D2 Solutions, an end-to-end strategic partner delivering industry-leading consulting and purpose-built technologies to pharma manufacturers, hospitals, pharmacies, payers & PBMs.
The conversation focuses on the disconnect between distributions, reimbursements, and patient services, particularly when it comes to speciality medicines, as well as patient access today versus the state of patient access tomorrow, and the benefit or otherwise of price protection guarantees with PBMs, when it comes to new therapies.
You can listen to episode 256 of the pharmaphorum podcast in the player below, download the episode to your computer, or find it – and subscribe to the rest of the series – on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Podbean, and pretty much wherever else you download your other podcasts from.

Pushing through barriers to commercial launch success, with Amanjeet Singh Saluja

Despite billions spent on new technology and improving data analytics, companies continue to struggle with commercial launch success, with around 35% of launches missing expectations since 2012.
Why is launch underperformance such a big problem, and why isn’t technology alone offering a sufficient solution? In a special episode of the pharmaphorum podcast, sponsored by Axtria, we spoke with Amanjeet Singh Saluja, a Principal at Axtria, about the current state of affairs in launch success.
In our conversation, Singh Saluja digs into the strategic and institutional causes of failed launches and what strategies can help redeem them. He also discusses some of the external forces that have reshaped the pharma commercialisation industry, and how to keep pace with those trends and changes.
Finally, of course, we talk about agentic AI. Even though it may not be a silver bullet, when used correctly, in the right strategic context, it can make a big difference.
Meet Singh Saluja and other senior life sciences commercialisation leaders at Axtria Ignite 2026, an invitation-only event where the industry works through these challenges and more. June 10-11th in Princeton, NJ. Register here.
 
About the Interviewee
Amanjeet Singh Saluja is a seasoned leader in AI, analytics, and cloud software. He currently heads a Strategic Business Unit at Axtria Inc., a leading global provider of AI and cloud solutions to the life sciences industry. Singh Saluja has built, scaled, and exited three successful ventures, and is the original inventor of a US patent for collection cycle optimisation through advanced analytics. He brings 26 years of experience advising Fortune 500 clients in financial services, life sciences, and MedTech on risk management, commercial strategies, and artificial intelligence. He has been recognised in Marquis Who’s Who in 2025.
Singh Saluja is particularly skilled at driving growth, improving sales efficiency, optimising costs, cultivating high-performing teams, and fostering a culture of collaboration and excellence through executive leadership. He began his career in process re-engineering and strategy roles at KPMG and Andersen. Singh Saluja holds a degree from the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur and an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. He is passionate about leveraging AI and analytics to drive business success. 
About Axtria
Axtria helps life sciences companies harness the potential of data science and software to improve patient outcomes by connecting the right therapies to the right patients at the right time. The company is a leading global provider of award-winning cloud software and data analytics to the life sciences industry. We’re proud to deliver proven solutions that help pharmaceutical, medical device, and diagnostics companies complete their journey from data to insights to action, enabling them to earn superior returns on their investments. As a participant in the United Nations Global Compact, Axtria is committed to aligning strategies and operations with universal principles on human rights, labor, environment, and anti-corruption, and taking actions that advance societal goals. For more information, please visit www.axtria.com.

Every drug is a story, with Thomas Goetz

Here at pharmaphorum we tend to focus on the latest developments in the pharmaceutical space. And to be fair, that’s quite a lot to keep us busy. But the history of pharma is full of incredible stories that might just be new to a lot of people, even those inside the industry.
On today’s episode of the pharmaphorum podcast, host Jonah Comstock speaks with Thomas Goetz, former executive editor of Wired; co-founder of Iodine, a drug data company that was acquired by GoodRx; and, most recently, creator and host of the Drug Story podcast.
Each episode of Drug Story dives into the story behind a particular drug and the condition that it treats, unlocking fascinating morsels of history and, indeed, current controversies along the way.
Goetz discusses the inspiration for the show and what he hopes listeners will take away from it. He also talks about how his perspective is neither pro- nor anti-pharma, but about recognising pharmaceutical medicine as the socially and morally complex market that it is.
Take a listen for a taste of how every drug contains a multitude of stories, and then check out season 1 of Drug Story if you want a little more.

Looking to gene therapy for ocular diseases, with Lance Baldo

In a new episode of the pharmaphorum podcast, web editor Nicole Raleigh spoke with Lance Baldo, CEO of Beacon Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotechnology company harnessing the transformative power of gene therapy to deliver meaningful outcomes for severe ocular diseases.
Baldo discusses the ocular disease landscape, as well as Beacon’s work targeting X-linked retinitis pigmentosa (XLRP) and geographic atrophy (GA), and what the future could look like in terms of innovation in this field.
You can listen to episode 253 of the pharmaphorum podcast in the player below, download the episode to your computer, or find it – and subscribe to the rest of the series – on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Podbean, and pretty much wherever else you download your other podcasts from.

Creating what nature has not from AI and computational molecular biophysics with Kashif Sadiq

In a new episode of the pharmaphorum podcast, recorded at BIO-Europe Spring in Lisbon, Portugal, web editor Nicole Raleigh spoke with Kashif Sadiq, founder and CEO of DenovAI Biotech, a company that believes humanity is on the cusp of a protein design revolution that stands to transform both human health and the world around us.
Sadiq discusses the company's springboard from AION Labs - with a first-of-its-kind alliance of AstraZeneca, Merck, Pfizer, Teva, the Israel Biotech Fund, Amiti Ventures, and Amazon Web Services, powered by BioMed X with the support of the Israeli Government.
He also explores harnessing the power of artificial intelligence and computational molecular biophysics, developing foundational technology platforms that can design proteins de novo, and describes the trends and insights from the conference itself this year.

On collaboration, computational chemistry, and cutting-edge AI – with Olga Nissan

At BIO-Europe Spring 2026 in Lisbon, Portugal, web editor Nicole Raleigh spoke with Dr Olga Nissan, vice president of business development at Evogene, a computational chemistry company, specialising in the generative design of small molecules for the pharmaceutical and agricultural industries.
Nissan discusses recent developments at Evogene, including its extended collaboration with Google Cloud to develop and integrate AI agents into Evogene’s ChemPass AI platform, as well as its collaboration with Queensland University of Technology in the non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) space. She also speaks to where industry is at in its integration of cutting-edge AI into scientific research.

Making AI work where it matters, with Rob DiCicco

In a new pharmaphorum podcast, web editor Nicole Raleigh was joined by Rob DiCicco, vice president of portfolio management at Transcelerate Biopharma Inc, for a conversation on the barriers and the breakthroughs in making AI work in drug development and clinical trials.
DiCicco discusses why AI adoption in clinical trials is so different from preclinical research and development, as well as how synthetic control arms and in silico modelling reshape trial design, and he touches upon the need for making AI solutions meet not just regulatory and scientific standards, but ethical standards, also.
You can listen to episode 250 of the pharmaphorum podcast in the player below, download the episode to your computer, or find it - and subscribe to the rest of the series – on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Podbean, and pretty much wherever else you download your other podcasts from.

Treating genetic disease at scale with tRNA, with Michelle Werner

Genetic diseases are notoriously challenging to treat, especially when each condition requires a tailored approach. With over 10,000 known genetic disorders, developing individual therapies for each one has been an immense hurdle, particularly for rare diseases affecting small patient populations. But what if there was a way to address multiple conditions simultaneously, using a single, universal approach?
In today’s episode of the pharmaphorum podcast, Michelle Werner, CEO of Alltrna, discusses her company’s approach of leveraging transfer RNA (tRNA) to shift the paradigm in genetic medicine. This approach has the potential to offer hope to millions of patients with rare and ultra-rare diseases, bypassing traditional one-disease-at-a-time models.
Werner discusses how engineered tRNA works, how this technology slots into existing regulatory frameworks, and why this could be a game changer for pharmaceutical development.
You can listen to episode 249 of the pharmaphorum podcast in the player below, download the episode to your computer, or find it - and subscribe to the rest of the series – on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Podbean, and pretty much wherever else you download your other podcasts from.