Client 1 Challenge:
A seed-stage therapeutics company focused on fibrosis needed to build a computational biology team, set up single-cell analysis tools in the cloud, and nominate its initial set of targets for antibody-based therapeutic development.
To meet this challenge, we:
Created a hybrid short-term/long-term strategy to hit the ground running with a team of contract-based bioinformaticians while sourcing and screening candidate for full-time comp bio roles.
Sourced and screened several contractor single-cell data analysts and pipeline developers to build a single-cell RNA-seq analysis workflow, establish version-controlled, collaboratively developed source code, and set up AWS systems for the team to use. This allowed the startup to quickly nominate its initial set of targets from patient-derived single-cell data.
Helped the founding team source and screen candidates for full-time comp bio positions. We also helped determine how many positions and what the appropriate “phenotype” (data analyst, software engineer, algorithm developer, etc.) of each team member should be.
Served as interim Head of Computational Biology, meeting regularly with the computational team members to review results and code, answer technical questions, and provide guidance on next steps. Coordinated across team members to ensure timely delivery of work products.
Actively participated in leadership meetings to provide our perspective on target nomination, computational tools, and overall team building and management.
Engagement length & time commitment: The engagement lasted one year, and averaged ~25% time commitment each month.
Results:
The client was able to generate its initial target list within a few months, initiate preclinical studies within nine months, build its full-time comp bio team within eight months*, and generate key proof-of-concept data to enable the next round of fundraising and potential partnerships with pharma companies.
*This was during peak labor market in early 2022. Today (early 2023) it would likely take half as long to hire an FTE.
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Client 2 Challenge:
A seed-stage therapeutics company with a synthetic-biology-based small molecule discovery platform needed help prioritizing oncology targets to enable its lead optimization and development strategy, and further fundraising.
To meet this challenge, we:
Leveraged our oncology domain knowledge and drug development expertise to develop target ranking criteria and a scoring scheme based on: Precision Medicine fit, Target Validation, Preclinical Development Path, Clinical and Competitive Landscape.
Led deep dives into ‘omics data sets (e.g., DepMap, TCGA, Human Protein Atlas), clinical data sets, and scientific literature and other resources used to score targets.
Met weekly with the client’s leadership team to review progress on target evaluations. Met ad hoc with individual team members to help educate on key data sets, tools, and resources.
At the end of the two-month engagement, delivered a detailed report with evaluations, key supporting data, and rankings for the top 20 targets.
Engagement length & time commitment: The engagement lasted two months, and averaged ~30% time commitment each month.
Results:
The client used our report to enable key strategic decisions for its platform, lead compound development, and the next round of fundraising. We remained available to client for ad hoc check-ins as needed.