Marc Sedam

It pains me a little as their former communications lead to admit it, but this is the best story written on Recursion to-date. STAT reporter Allison DeAngelis nailed it; the early skepticism, Founder-CEO Chris Gibson's "intense" and indomitable spirit, and importantly, the differences between Recursion's first shots on goal and the rest of the pipeline to come. Excerpt: ---The market, which initially had stratospheric expectations for AI drug development, has become somewhat skeptical of this first generation of candidates following early failures at Exscientia and another firm called Benevolent AI. Powers, the ZS Associates partner, said that Recursion has likely been stressing in public statements that it has 10 data readouts planned for the next 18 months so that it isn’t judged too harshly on the first two or three. “Of course we’re hedging,” Gibson said. “I’m ready for the volatility that will inevitably come…. Nobody’s going to get 10 out of 10.”--- A must read for anyone in the #AI #pharma sector.

After her interesting (and fun!) presentation at Stanford University entitled “Harnessing AI to Enrich Patient Care”, Yaa Kumah-Crystal, MD MPH FAMIA and I discussed whether MDs/NPs are going to be more liable for using AI to make decisions (and making a mistake) or NOT using AI to make decisions (and making a mistake). Thoughts? Stanford Department of Medicine Functional Medicine Research and Technology Center #AI #Healthcare #Ethics #DecisionMaking Grayson Dimick

I'm delighted to share news of this new AI-focused drug discovery company, Xaira, built on foundational technology from David Baker and led by Marc Tessier-Lavigne. The company applies AI tools to unlock opportunities in drug discovery for aspects of biology that we believe are not readily obtainable with conventional methods. I co-led NEA's investment in Xaira, along with my NEA partner and the firm’s co-CEO Mohamad Makhzoumi, and I will be joining Xaira’s board. Our enthusiasm for Xaira based on our belief that applying AI and large language models to biology holds immense promise and is still in its early stages. Currently, the application of AI to biology relies on model architectures borrowed from the tech world. A lack of well-curated clinical training sets hinders building and training these models effectively. This limits the advancement of AI in solving biological problems compared to other fields. Xaira aims to bridge this gap. We now have a clear understanding of the data needed to answer fundamental biological questions. By iterating on leading life science models and using focused perturbation data generated through our large-scale experiments, Xaira will generate data specifically suited to building advanced model architectures that are optimized for biology -- and hopefully, unlock therapeutic opportunities for patients who are not being optimally served by existing therapeutics.

There is a model for non-profits to create and advance innovation: America's research institutions and universities. Most of this research depends on federal government support and so is subject to the provisions of the Bayh-Dole act. While there is some question about whether federal dollars receive sufficient benefit from ultimate commercialization of research institution innovations, given the remote distance from discovery to product and the massive investment required to bridge that gap, encumbering early discoveries with financial obligations may discourage innovation too early. This is different for hospitals. While it makes sense to encourage hospital innovation, the failure risk is much lower, and thus the research dollars much more effective. Taxpayer and philanthropic funding of late stage innovations should have the same expectation of return as other venture investing. So far the federal, state, and local governments treat taxpayers as dupes, failing to get a fair return on private sector investment (this applies to tax breaks and other funding for sports or to attract employers -- private investors in teams and companies expect a return on invested capital; no reason governments and philanthropists should not). Hospitals could also act as capitalists by making smart investments. For example, a group of hospitals, along with philanthropists, invested to create CivicaRx to ensure a steady supply of high quality hospital generic medicines in response to stock outs from quality problems or private equity capturing sole generic products and raising prices by many multiples. So I would have no problem with hospitals investing in sourcing high quality innovative drugs that would be priced affordably. At the end of the day, governments on behalf of taxpayers and philanthropists need to actively condition their investments in hospitals (and research and development or other investments) on outcomes (affordable patient benefit) and a share of upside resulting from innovation -- again, just as conventional investors in the private sector demand. The difference of course is that governments and philanthropists prioritize outcomes that benefit everyone ahead of profits that benefit a few.

Get ready to hear a lot more about "Founder Mode" most of what we've been told/taught about building and scaling companies is wrong. "Founders feel like they're being gaslit from both sides — by the people telling them they have to run their companies like managers, and by the people working for them when they do. Usually when everyone around you disagrees with you, your default assumption should be that you're mistaken. But this is one of the rare exceptions. VCs who haven't been founders themselves don't know how founders should run companies, and C-level execs, as a class, include some of the most skillful liars in the world."

Government funding mechanisms for science need to evolve in the age of AI. 🤖 💰 To that end, check out our Day One memo on how to repurpose 'Center' grants to fund large dataset acquisition.

Anne Wojcicki, CEO of 23andMe, has announced plans to take the genetic testing company private. This strategic move aims to provide more flexibility in navigating regulatory challenges and to accelerate growth opportunities. The decision follows a trend of health tech companies seeking private ownership to focus on long-term objectives. Wojcicki highlighted the importance of this shift to maintain the company's commitment to innovation and customer-centric services. Taking 23andMe private reflects a bold step towards enhancing its position in the rapidly evolving genomics industry. Read more about this exciting development here: https://lnkd.in/gdrC3a64 #genomics #IPO #privatisation #23andMe

Thrilled to share my recent conversation on the #BuckPodcast with Gordon Lithgow at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging! 🧬 In this episode, we dove deep into the future of health care, the power of AI in predicting health outcomes, and the exciting developments in aging research. One of the key points we discussed was the importance of extending life rather than merely extending death, a concept eloquently articulated by Seneca some 2,000 years ago. As I transition into my new role as a professor at the Buck Institute, our conversation feels even more relevant. The work we’re doing here is not just about adding years to life, but about adding healthy, vibrant years. This aligns perfectly with the vision Lee Hood and I laid out in our book, The Age of Scientific Wellness, where we explore how dense, longitudinal data can help increase health span and prevent disease. We also talked about the concept of digital twins—an innovative approach that allows us to simulate and optimize individual health trajectories, making personalized medicine a reality. These advancements are crucial as we tackle the complexities of aging and aim to significantly improve the quality of life for future generations. 🔗 If you're interested in the future of health care, AI, and aging research, I highly recommend giving this episode a listen. Thank you, Gordon, for the engaging discussion and for the incredible work being done at the Buck Institute. So excited to be joining you there. Exciting times are ahead! #AgingResearch #AI #DigitalTwins #ScientificWellness #HealthCareInnovation #TheBuckInstitute https://lnkd.in/exaBjNJ6

Grant revenue is not revenue. I'm all for non-dilutive funding, if and only if the SBIR/STTR-funded project accelerates your strategy with development of a product that will be sold (so science fair projects). However... *grant revenue is not validation dollars on the top line.* What you have shown is an ability to write grants, the basis for the research that led to the startup (in the case of academic spin-outs) in the first place. What you have not shown is 💸 the desire for customers to purchase your product(s) ➡ an ability to articulate a go-to-market plan, or 🔐 a down in the trenches understanding of product-market fit. Startups are a game of the quick and dead -- take the time and money you would spend writing these grants early in the life of your company and hit the road, listen to your customers, learn where and how your products fit, and start selling. Your P&L shows me your real progress there -- As an investor and advisor, I would rather see $10,000 in revenue from sales from a handful of customers in 2 quarters than a X% chance you get a $1M grant in 9 months.

Another bombshell complaint against Illumina/GRAIL filed in Delaware. Eighty pages with a lot of new information from legal discovery, will probably take a few posts to cover. Key points: - Filed by the Comptroller of New York, a good reminder that these lawsuits aren't the usual shareholder-lawsuit blackmailers looking for some corporate ransom spare change to go away. These are serious, deep pocketed folks loaded for bear. - Defendants include the usual deSouza et al group but for the first time includes Illumina's general counsel Dadswell; he's mentioned 28 times in the complaint, and is the only officer-defendant still employed by the company. Interestingly, my sources noted that Chuck came into court with his own legal representation, separate from that being used by all the other defendants. Can't be a comforting thing for them to see - not a lawyer (🤣) but from law & order I know this is what you do if you're planning to turn on your co-defendants 🤔. - Very detailed breakdown of the extraordinary conflicts of interest present in the negotiation of the acquisition deal 🤯 - Focus on the resignation of Jay Flatley from the board of Illumina 🤔 - This complaint comes as legal action is accelerating: I'm hearing of another major amended complaint filed next week and that the SEC investigation personnel interviews have ramped up sharply 😳 Part 1: Conflicted Deal Process "GRAIL was co-founded by Alex Aravanis. On May 4, 2020, Illumina announced the appointment of Aravanis as CTO reporting directly to deSouza. At the same time, Illumina’s former CTO, Mostafa Ronaghi... joined the GRAIL Board of Directors. At the time he became Illumina’s CTO, Aravanis held GRAIL stock worth approximately $10 million. There is no indication that Aravanis’s GRAIL holdings were ever disclosed to the Board or that anyone on the Board inquired as to his ownership in GRAIL." "On August 5, 2020, shortly after he left GRAIL to rejoin Illumina, and despite his self-interest in securing a high price for GRAIL, Aravanis was tasked with presenting a potential GRAIL acquisition to the Board. Notably...deSouza made a $6 billion offer to acquire GRAIL on August 3, 2020, before the Board could give him authorization to pursue a GRAIL transaction." "The presentation put together for this meeting was authored and presented to the Board by Aravanis and two other members of management. The presentation portrayed GRAIL as “poised to revolutionize oncology screening and monitoring” and stated that “an acquisition is the best way to enter this market. It stated GRAIL was “the best target given it is the furthest along (2021 screening test launch),”priced a deal between $8 billion and $10 billion, and requested that management (including Aravanis) receive “approval to engage". [Out of space, much more to come, some good weekend reading 🧐 ]

Shout out to Clark Valberg at Tiferes Ventures for sharing this article in his weekly AI briefing. "When clinicians are analyzing brain or tumor scans, instead of only looking at one patient’s image, they can now compare it simultaneously with those from millions of other patients...The cancer types that will derive the most benefit from AI assistance are those dealing with imaging data or high-dimensional data" https://lnkd.in/ec8UTJCn

𝗦𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲! BioNTech has agreed to pay the NIH $𝟳𝟵𝟭.𝟱 𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 and the University of Pennsylvania up to $𝟰𝟲𝟳 𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 to resolve royalty disputes related to the Comirnaty COVID-19 vaccine. BioNTech said partner Pfizer will reimburse it for up to $𝟭𝟳𝟬 𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 of the royalties payable to Penn and $𝟯𝟲𝟰.𝟱 𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻 of the royalties paid to the National Institutes of Health (NIH)for 2020-2023 vaccine sales. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘕𝘐𝘏 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘗𝘦𝘯𝘯, 𝘢𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘢𝘺 𝘢 𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦-𝘥𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘷𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴. These agreements cover past royalties and establish ongoing payments based on net sales. This highlights the complex financial landscape of pharmaceutical innovation and the importance of protecting intellectual property. https://lnkd.in/e-UaK-eu https://lnkd.in/eccs5Bvz Do you believe these settlements will set a precedent for future royalty agreements in the pharmaceutical industry? Given the scale of the Comirnaty vaccine and the high-profile nature of these settlements, it's likely they will have some influence on future royalty agreements, especially in cases involving publicly funded research. While every case is unique, these settlements highlight the importance of clear and comprehensive agreements from the outset. This news follows on from the ongoing legal battles between other companies in the mRNA space, as discussed in my previous post: https://lnkd.in/edUThmkS #PharmaFinance #BioNTech #Pfizer #NIH #UniversityofPennsylvania #Comirnaty #Royalties #IntellectualProperty #VaccineIndustry

AI and Med Tech in Focus   AI System Developed to Identify Pathology in Tissues Engineers at Washington State University have developed an AI tool that uses images of human and animal tissue to detect abnormalities faster and more accurately than people. The AI algorithm was trained using images from past studies that involved kidney, testes, ovarian, prostate, breast and lymph node abnormalities. The new model detected disease in minutes—current processes take humans several hours and require specialized teams to check each other’s work. It was also found to be more accurate, sometimes detecting instances that humans had missed. The engineers designed the system to handle the processing load of the high-resolution gigapixel images by breaking them down into smaller tiles but still retaining the overall context of the tissue sample—akin to the zoom feature on a microscope or phone camera. Aside from getting diagnostic results more accurately and quickly, the new system also shows promise in epigenetics (the study of molecular processes that change gene behavior without changing underlying DNA). Epigenetic researchers can perform analyses and get results that used to take a year or more in just a couple of weeks. VC Investors are always adjusting their "Play Book" with a variety of options for investing. Mikal Ventures is one of those alternatives, offering curated solutions to real world problems. Reach out if you have questions on how we can be of assistance and bookmark https://mikalventures.com/ for additional insights and information.

💭 How do I scale help? 🎓📚 Over the past three years, hundreds of students and recent graduates reached out via the social medias to ask me about careers and neurotech. 🧶 I remembered challenges from times as a student at the University of Michigan. The neuroscience community at UMich was close-knit, yet Ann Arbor felt geographically far from where most neurotech companies are based. 🧊 Between this and the winter weather, it was ice-olated from the neurotech industry! Nevertheless, I found ways to connect with people in the field and become active in the broader neurotech ecosystem. I appreciate how before I knew much about neurotech, many people helped me before I could do much for them. I took calls with trainees and recent grads to help when possible. I sometimes found myself with 7 calls in a day outside of work. Became overwhelmed. To help more people faster than in 1:1 calls, I used lots of vacation time this year to travel and meet with trainees at universities. As a bonus, I had the chance to reconnect with family and longtime colleagues and friends. Good times of preparendipity: the cross between preparedness and serendipity! --- There were two months when I kind of disappeared off of the social medias. What happened? --- ☀️ It was a nice sunny morning of a productive week! 🚴🏻‍♀️ Seemed perfect for a bike ride! I pedaled for a few miles! 💥 WHAM! I was hit by a car. 🏥 For the next three days, I was stuck in the hospital. I still need assistive devices to walk today. During this time of reduced bandwidth, I had to rethink: How can I scale help so trainees and recent grads still receive what they need and I do not become overwhelmed? Perhaps by using generative AI! 👩🏻‍💻💬 I created a custom GPT, one people can have a conversation with anytime and is particularly adept at answering questions about neurotech and careers. The intention is that when people need to talk, this can meet them where they are. Thus presenting... Sharena GPT! ✨ This is like me, except always available and does not need sleep!: https://lnkd.in/gtSMYuMv You will need a ChatGPT account to use this. It is free! Sharena GPT is based on OpenAI's latest o1-preview architecture. People with the free tier of ChatGPT might only be able to receive responses to a few questions every two hours, and people with the Pro or Team ChatGPT will have a much higher usage cap. Now and in the future, I am working to expand what humans, machines, and narratives can do together. Thank you, everyone who has given feedback on Sharena GPT thus far. Thank you, everyone who has improved this time of recovery. It will take time. Yet I believe I will heal fully. The best is still to come! 🛣️ It is good car-ma to drive with care. Bikes don't come with airbags. Please be kind to vulnerable road users. 📈 Share this post to scale help! #stemcareers #neurotech #students #trainees #neuroscience #grad #gpt

A nice overview of Alzheimer's One question-- should trials be large just because diseases are large? I think Peter Kolchinsky's philosophy (? hopefully I am not stating it wrong) which seemed quite intriguing is that there are subsets of rare disease within the common disease. Maybe in an AI/ML sense defining some of the most severe populations and then rolling it back to less severe populations if it seems to work there. (Not sure if there is a path forward for that). (Note that I say this--but it doesn't necessarily seem easy). Since Alzheimer's, for instance, seems to have such diverse behavior across different genetic populations, then populations selected may influence the trial outcomes and make signals hard to decipher. Anyway Alzheimer's is so challenging because trials are likely to take a long time. And many other factors.

this is a very challenging area-- interesting to see which approaches work or make progress there ------ When I was at Caltech (a long time ago) interacting with neurons and membrane protein structure determination seemed like "holy Grail" problems that were described in one of my classes. Though at that time McKinnon had already solved the structure of an ion channel and Agre would do so for aquaporin not long after. (This was early 2000s). Understanding the sense of smell was another area of interest, that would also go on to receive the Noble prize shortly thereafterm. The ability to interact with neurons still seems hard (Now 2024). One of the jobs I applied to during senior year was at a foundation trying to solve this problem (also for spinal cord injury). I am curious whether the solution developed will ultimately be electronic or biological. Hard to say right now. There are animals in which such injuries can heal, but we will see what happens. #WhatDoCaltechProfsThinkIsExcitingNow? #TheyAlwaysKnowWhatIsHot #NotAllProblemsMoveQuicklyThough

A timely editorial opinion piece in The Washington Post “The emergence of AI has provoked great alarm in recent years, and for good reason. The technology could disrupt the economy, upending industries in unpredictable ways. Its awesome power deserves caution, but not fear. Americans can take comfort in the fact that, when it comes to medicine, this bit of human ingenuity has been a force for good — and will probably continue to be.” … “AI is still in its infancy, yet it is already promising to transform how physicians do their jobs. Take, for example, cancer screenings…. The benefit here is twofold: The technology can help detect cancer at earlier stages, making it easier to treat. It is also better atdetermining which tumors are benign, limiting the number of unnecessary and expensive biopsies that patients must endure (as well as the anxiety that comes with the procedures). The purpose is not to eliminate humans in medicine; it is to give them better tools to help their patients. Then again, as AI models improve, it’s possible to imagine a future in which physicians are required to use them in screenings, and doctors devote more and more of their time to doing things AI is less suited to do, such as interacting with patients, explaining the medicine, and thinking through unusual or unexpected circumstances.”… “Incorporating this technology into medicine will no doubt run into bumps. Many people are likely to be skeptical of it, and some might fear it will make visits to the doctor even less personal than they already are. But it could free up physicians’ time dedicated to mundane tasks and cut seemingly interminable wait times at medical practices.”… “Arguably, AI’s greatest promise is the one that’s hardest to see: its potential to turbocharge medical research. For instance, AlphaFold2, the artificial intelligence program developed by Google DeepMind, has started to crack the code on how proteins take their specific shapes, a question that has confounded scientists for decades. This is important because the shape of proteins governs virtually every task carried out in the body, from delivering oxygen through the blood to controlling a person’s appetite. In the past century, understanding these complex molecules took years of painstaking work. Machine learning is reducing that time frame to a tiny fraction. Such research power could uncover clues to therapies for an enormous variety of diseases.”…. https://lnkd.in/e8a3k6n9

Excited to announce Frist Cressey Ventures' investment in Qualified Health and privileged to partner w/ SignalFire, Healthier Capital, Town Hall Ventures and others!   Healthcare costs are increasing at a faster rate than ever before, with the US spending nearly twice as other wealthy countries and still ranking bottom in outcomes. It's a story you've all heard - - US healthcare is known for astronomical inefficiencies, waste, workforce supply constraints, fragmented access, appalling patient experiences, and driving patients and businesses into debt.   Yes these problems present opportunities. But opportunities are limited to the system's appetite for change, desire and incentive to try something new and the innovation available. At FCV we believe we've hit the trifecta with Generative AI. Generative AI has given us truly transformational tools in the toolkit and the healthcare ecosystem is demanding to absorb its benefits. This perfect collision of supply and demand means healthcare is poised for big change.   Generative AI is everywhere, it's buzzy, it dangles hope and opportunity. But many things need to be true for the Gen AI transformation in healthcare to take hold, such as but not limited to:   💡 Patient lives and data need to remain safe: We believe in a highly regulated and human life-touching sector such as healthcare we must ensure Gen AI can drive to unrivalled savings and improvements in the quality of care WHILE not putting patient lives or data at risk.   💡 Systems need to own their utilization of Gen AI: We believe systems will use some hybrid of external partners and homegrown solutions but importantly will want full control of data provisioning and utilization as well as the ability to solve an unlimited number of nuanced issues and not cookie cutter algorithms.   💡 Costs need to be looked at on an enterprise level: We believe the speed of innovation in Gen AI means costs will continue decreasing dramatically but at an enterprise level this will still not be a small detail. Systems will want the ability to understand costs and delegate as needed for the outcomes desired at the organizational level.   Enter Qualified.   We knew when we met Justin Norden, MD, MBA, MPhil and team we were standing in front of changemakers. These individuals have lived and breathed the true application and implementation of Generative AI far before we were asking ChatGPT to write our emails. In fact, if you’ve ever driven in a Waymo you’ve benefited from past products this team has built.   Qualified Health is on a mission to enforce governance in Gen AI, allow systems to rapidly build for their needs, monitor and make decisions for all GenAI (homegrown and external) and accelerate the value the sector can glean from these new technologies.   Huge shout out to William T., Tommaso Auerbach and Jamie Kuntz for their hard work!

Just as the Medici family were heralded as the Godfathers of the Renaissance for fostering an era of unparalleled cultural prosperity in Florence, today, Robert Nelsen and David Baker are laying the groundwork for a new age of health prosperity—the bio-renaissance. This is reminiscent of the Renaissance as multiple disciplines: AI x biology collide, enabled by big bets from financiers. Their latest venture, Xaira Therapeutics, has just launched with an unprecedented $1BN to revolutionize drug discovery through AI. May this be the day we look back as one that catalyzed the bio-renaissance. Here’s to hoping this initiative spawns drugs faster than ever before. The patients cannot wait. #BioRenaissance #Innovation #Healthcare #Biotechnology Vik Bajaj, Foresite Capital, Scott Gottlieb, New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Lux Capital, F-Prime Capital, Sequoia Capital, Lightspeed, Menlo Ventures, Two Sigma, SV Angel https://lnkd.in/gv5XXEsH