EP 178: Expanding the human proteome to facilitate drug discovery with John Lepore of ProFound Therapeutics

This week on The Genetics Podcast, Patrick is joined by Dr. John Lepore, physician-scientist and CEO of ProFound Therapeutics. They discuss ProFound Tx’s mission to expand the proteome to identify novel drug targets – which resulted in the ProFoundry atlas – and the ways in which John’s diverse experiences inform his approach as a leader.Show Notes: 0:00 Intro to The Genetics Podcast00:59 Welcome to John02:01 John’s background at GSK and his transition to drug discovery05:45 Establishing ProFound Therapeutics to expand the proteome and identify novel drug targets 08:27 Genomic origins of newly-identified proteins and the process of finding them09:49 Developing the ProFoundry atlas and integrating data across assays 15:27 Different approaches to inferring protein links and association to disease17:13 Collaboration with Pfizer to find regulators in the context of obesity18:04 Developing novel antibody-drug conjugates for cancer treatment20:27 Clarifying causality in proteomic data21:59 Approaching novel targets while considering industrial and business factors25:19 John’s background as a cardiologist and how that impacts his current work27:26 Tips for biotech companies looking to be noticed by pharma for collaborations30:30 Considerations for investigating new and different therapeutic modalities and techniques33:39 How John consistently reinforces the translational angle as a business leader36:24 Closing remarks and future direction for ProFound TherapeuticsFind out moreProFound Therapeutics (https://www.profoundtx.com/)Please consider rating and reviewing us on your chosen podcast listening platform! https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Bp2_wVNSzntTs_zuoizU8bX1dvao4jfj/view?usp=share_link

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Exploring all things genetics. Dr Patrick Short, University of Cambridge alumnus and CEO of Sano Genetics, analyses the science, interviews the experts, and discusses the latest findings and breakthroughs in genetic research. To find out more about Sano Genetics and its mission to accelerate the future of precision medicine visit: www.sanogenetics.com