RealPharma: Conversations with Pharma Pathfinders

🎧 Hosts: Na-Ri Oh & Ian Wendt🎓 Special Guests: Emma Cousin (PhD Candidate, Choice Institute – UW), Amos Fung (RealPharma Intern & Student Pharmacist) 🔍 Episode Summary: In this thought-provoking episode, hosts Na-Ri Oh and Ian Wendt sit down with Emma Cousin, a PhD candidate at the Choice Institute, University of Washington, to unpack the real-world implications of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)—particularly the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program. Joining them is Amos Fung, a RealPharma intern who brings a front-line pharmacy perspective to the policy conversation. Together, they discuss: 📜 A primer on the IRA’s healthcare provisions—what it is, how it came to be, and why it matters now. 💊 How CMS selects drugs for Medicare negotiation and whether this process constitutes true “negotiation.” 👩‍⚕️ The ripple effects on pharmacists, pharmacies, and patient care. 💸 The looming concerns around cashflow, operational readiness, and access as the 2026 implementation date approaches. 🧠 How researchers like Emma are modeling long-term effects—and what metrics we’ll need to track to assess the IRA’s success. 🔄 Unintended consequences and who might be left behind—especially independent pharmacies and vulnerable communities. 📈 A candid discussion on myths around drug pricing and why “good intentions” in policy still need strong evidence and thoughtful execution. 🎯 Key Takeaways: The IRA marks the first time Medicare can directly negotiate drug prices—albeit in a tightly structured format that raises questions about the fairness of “negotiation.” Pharmacies face operational and financial strain, particularly smaller or independent ones, due to rebate lags and implementation complexities. Patients will benefit from caps on out-of-pocket costs, but awareness and education are lacking—many don’t realize what the law offers. Stakeholders like pharmacists, researchers, and policy influencers need better communication and clearer technical standards from CMS. Evidence-based policy should be the north star for drug pricing reforms, but real-world implementation remains messy and evolving. 🧠 Resources & Mentions: Brian Reid & Adam Fein – Top newsletters to follow for updates on drug pricing policy. CMS Guidance Documents – Frequently updated, but often inaccessible to non-policy experts. National Pharmaceutical Council, Milliman, Portal (Harvard) – Organizations doing forward-looking modeling and policy impact research.

Reinventing Cell Therapy with Acoustics, Microfluidics & High-Throughput Engineering In this episode, hosts Na-Ri Oh and Ian Wendt sit down with Dr. Andrew Gray — immune cell engineer, biotech founder, venture capitalist, and CEO of CellEcho — to explore how a new acoustic-powered gene-delivery platform may redefine the boundaries of cell therapy. The conversation spans the current state of the cell therapy landscape, the persistent barriers to scalability, and why CellEcho’s ASOP platform (Acoustically Stabilized Oscillatory Pockets) could unlock a new era of faster, cheaper, and more effective cell engineering. 🔬 Episode Highlights 1. The State of Cell Therapy: Breakthroughs & Bottlenecks Despite scientific success, many pharma companies are exiting cell therapy due to cost, complexity, and manufacturing burdens. Conversely, major players like BMS continue doubling down, acquiring companies such as Orbital Therapeutics. Autologous therapies remain logistically overwhelming and expensive—often ~$400k per dose. 2. Why Cell Therapy Is So Hard to Scale “Vein-to-vein” timelines are still measured in weeks, not days. Manufacturing is bespoke: each patient’s cells must be extracted, engineered, expanded, frozen, shipped, and reinfused. Viral vectors and current non-viral delivery methods introduce cost, complexity, and biological limits. 3. The Next Frontier: In Vivo, Allogeneic & Beyond Allogeneic CAR-Ts remain challenging due to immune rejection and complex engineering. In vivo CAR-T offers promise but is limited by the small genetic “payload capacity” of lipid nanoparticles. Solid tumors remain particularly difficult: only ~9% response rates in some indications. 4. Introducing CellEcho & the ASOP Platform CellEcho’s technology emerged from UC Irvine’s microfluidics program. By applying precision acoustic energy, the platform can: Hold cells in place using thousands of stable micro-eddies Open controlled, programmable “portals” in cell membranes Sequentially deliver multiple genetic payloads with high efficiency Achieve 1 billion cells/hour processing rates Reduce dose production costs by ~100× Enable high-throughput engineering, not just manufacturing This unlocks the ability to test dozens to hundreds of engineered CAR-T variants in days—rather than the years needed today. One academic lab spent 6 years evaluating 11 CAR-T variants.CellEcho tested 8 variants in under 48 hours — and aims for 100+ per week. 5. From Better Manufacturing to Better Medicines While CellEcho originally targeted faster manufacturing, Andrew shares that the bigger opportunity is designing entirely better therapies, not simply making today’s ones faster. This includes: Engineering CAR-Ts with multiple CAR constructs Arming cells with resistance to tumor suppression signals Precise control over expression levels (avoiding under- or over-expression) Unlocking new indications: autoimmunity, neurodegeneration, regenerative medicine 6. Personal Motivation & Mission Andrew shares how his mother's struggle with myasthenia gravis sparked his lifelong journey in immunology. His 20-year career investigating immune evasion, Tregs, and tumor microenvironments culminated in his conviction that next-generation cell engineering is essential. 7. What’s Next for CellEcho Currently initiating pre-seed fundraising Supported by multiple federal grants (including NSF SBIR) Expanding early partnerships with Stanford, Mass General Brigham, and industry collaborators Building a fully automated, AI-augmented cell therapy design platform Dual strategy: Cell-therapy-development-as-a-service Proprietary therapeutic pipeline in select indications 💡 Key Takeaways Cell therapy works — but not broadly or efficiently enough. Engineering complexity, not biology alone, is the rate-limiting step. Acoustic microfluidics enables a scalable, programmable, non-viral way to engineer livin

👩‍🔬👨‍⚕️ Hosts: Na-Ri Oh & Ian Wendt 🎧 Guest: Dr. Ron Shigeta – Biotech visionary, co-founder of IndieBio, and food innovation expert. 🧬 Episode Summary: In this deeply insightful and refreshingly candid episode, Ian and Nari welcome back biotech veteran Dr. Ron Shigeta to explore the evolving landscape where food, health, and biotech collide. From the collapse of the lab-grown meat hype cycle to the challenges of democratizing access to functional food, Ron brings hard truths, historical context, and cautious optimism to the table. As the U.S. federal government embraces its Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) agenda—reforming food policy to prioritize public health—the conversation asks:👉 Can we finally treat food as medicine, and make it scalable, credible, and affordable?👉 What went wrong with cultured meat—and what comes next?👉 Why does Ron really hate the term “food tech”? If you’ve ever wondered whether the future of wellness lies in your fridge, your pharmacy, or your feed, this one’s for you. 🔑 Key Topics Covered: MAHA & Food Policy Shifts:What the government’s new approach to food says about public health—and why it matters. Cultured Meat's Cautionary Tale:Why the dream of lab-grown meat stumbled—and how the next wave of companies might succeed. Ultra-Processed vs. Ultra-Useful:A frank conversation on consumer trust, marketing blunders, and what “processed” really means. Food as Preventative Medicine:From diabetes to GLP-1s to micronutrients—why we’re ignoring the obvious. Pharma’s Cost Spiral & Innovation Trap:$2M gene therapies, $500K cancer cures, and why food might be the only scalable solution left. The Neuroscience of Eating:Food isn’t just fuel—it’s identity, emotion, and the deepest form of human behavior. Why “Food Tech” is Bad Branding:Ron’s passionate take on why the tech world misunderstands how people eat. 🧠 Memorable Quotes: “Technology for the public will always win—because once people use it, they can’t let it go.” – Ron Shigeta “We’ve invented healthcare Americans can’t afford.” – Ron Shigeta “Nobody buys food because it’s high-tech. Nobody. That’s not how trust is built.” – Ron Shigeta 📚 Mentioned in This Episode: MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) policy initiative GLP-1s and the rise of preventative obesity drugs Blue zones and the elusive science of longevity Golden rice and biotech’s public trust problem OneSkin and peptide-based functional cosmetics Ron’s upcoming book on food, neuroscience, and the future of health  

  🎙 Episode Title: From Job Search to Power Move: How Top Talent’s Playing 2025🧠 Guests: Kristiaan Rawlings, Executive Director at EPM Scientific🎧 Hosts: Na-Ri Oh & Ian Wendt Episode SummaryLayoffs. AI. Resume black holes. The biopharma hiring market feels noisy—and not in a good way. But beneath the doomscrolling, there’s a more nuanced story unfolding. In this episode, Kristiaan Rawlings returns to RealPharma to deliver a data-backed pulse check on the state of hiring across the industry. Drawing from hundreds of hours of direct conversations with execs, talent leaders, and hiring managers, Kristiaan unpacks: 📈 Which therapy areas and functions are hiring (and which are not) 🧠 How AI is actually being used in recruitment—and where it falls short 👀 Why 70% of senior roles are now confidential 🤝 The traits that are getting candidates hired in 2025 💸 Sign-on bonuses: who’s getting them, how to ask, and what to watch out for Whether you're job hunting, hiring, or just trying to read the market right—this conversation brings the clarity. Resources & Links🔗 Connect with Kristiaan Rawlings on LinkedIn🌐 Explore non-confidential roles at EPM Scientific

  Where Policy Meets the Pharmacy Counter Featuring Congressman Jake Auchincloss Episode SummaryIn this episode of RealPharma, hosts Na-Ri Oh and Ian Wendt sit down with Congressman Jake Auchincloss (MA-04) to dissect the tangled web of policy, profit, and politics driving America’s drug pricing system. From pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) to the politics of tariffs, this discussion explores the push for transparency, fair competition, and sustainable reform in healthcare. Auchincloss, a Marine veteran and member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, brings a rare combination of policy depth and industry fluency. Together, they unpack how entrenched middlemen have distorted the system—and what bipartisan solutions could finally restore balance between innovation and access. What You’ll Learn: Why PBM reform has momentum but keeps stalling in Congress How the Pharmacists Fight Back Act could level the playing field for independent pharmacies The purpose of the Patients Before Monopolies Act and how it targets vertical integration Auchincloss’s vision for a “biotech social contract” that links innovation, IP protection, and insurance design The real story behind drug import tariffs and the risks of chaotic trade policy How U.S. innovation compares to China’s rapidly advancing biotech ecosystem The importance of aligning drug pricing reform with patient access and national competitiveness Memorable Moments: “PBMs deserve to be bulldozed for their behavior over the last two decades.”“There’s no moral hazard in getting sick—no one fakes chemotherapy to get free drugs.”“The most expensive thing in the world is what hasn’t been invented yet.” Why It Matters:As drug costs rise and innovation races ahead, the U.S. faces a defining choice: will healthcare policy reward breakthroughs or bureaucracy? Congressman Auchincloss argues that reform is not just about prices—it’s about preserving America’s leadership in biomedical innovation while ensuring patients can actually access the medicines that save lives. Guest:Congressman Jake AuchinclossU.S. Representative for Massachusetts’ 4th DistrictMember, House Committee on Energy and Commerce Hosts:Na-Ri Oh & Ian Wendt