The World In A Grain Of Sand

KdT Ventures presents The World in a Grain of Sand, where we break down an S1 from a recent biotech IPO and share insights on the science, business models, and financials. In this episode, Ketan Yerneni and Mack Healy discuss Verve Therapeutics, a gene editing biotech tackling one of the most common chronic diseases: cardiovascular disease. We dive into:

• Base editing, and its advantages over traditional (potentially error-prone) CRISPR.
• Verve’s pipeline, including their strategy of starting with genetically well-defined diseases like familial hypercholesterolemia and then expanding to the general population of patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.
• Verve’s approach for predicting off-target gene editing, a key challenge for the gene editing field.
• Verve’s unique licensing strategy with Beam, Acuitas, and the Broad to secure several foundational technologies.
• The competitive landscape and target product profile tradeoffs for one-and-done gene editing approaches vs other therapeutic modalities.
• and more.

KdT Ventures presents The World in a Grain of Sand, where we break down an S1 from a recent biotech IPO and share insights on the science, business models, and financials. In this episode, Patrick Malone and Mack Healy discuss the biopharma software juggernaut, Schrödinger. We dive into:

• Schrödinger's biophysics-based drug discovery platform, and the distinction from machine learning approaches
• A dissection of Schrödinger's software business, as well as co-development partnerships and internal therapeutic programs
• The story of Schrödinger collaboration with Nimbus on a TYK2 program, resulting in a $4B+ acquisition by Takeda
• and more

KdT Ventures Partners, Mack Healy & Rima Chakrabarti take a deep dive into a specific S-1 filing from a company that has or is hoping to go public within the biology realm. This episode, Amylyx Pharmaceuticals, a neuro biotech founded in a dorm room by two scrappy Brown undergrads. We discuss:

• the mechanism of action of Amylyx’s lead disease-modifying asset, and competitive positioning relative to other treatments for neurodegeneration such as aducanumab 

• Amylyx’s capital efficiency, and reaching PhII trials without a single institutional investor

• Amylyx’s unique engagement of ALS patients from the earliest days of the company, helping ensure a strong commercial launch of their ALS therapy

• and more