Show notes
In this episode of the Nucleate Podcast, Dr. Jo Viney, co-founder, president, and CEO of Seismic Therapeutic, shares her trajectory from academic immunology training in London to major biotech companies and startup leadership. She discusses how early clinical lab exposure to autoimmune patients sparked her passion for translational science and highlights why the Boston ecosystem is an ideal place to launch biotech startups due to its unparalleled funding, incubator space, and collaborative peer networks. She also reflects on the lessons learned from co-funding Pandion Therapeutics—including how following surprising data led to a major asset acquisition by Merck—and describes the bittersweet feeling of handing off a company she helped build.
The conversation then explores Seismic Therapeutic's approach to tackling autoimmune diseases by integrating machine learning into protein drug discovery. Jo details how combining structural biology, machine learning, protein engineering, and immunology allows Seismic to accelerate drug design cycles, optimize enzyme therapeutics, and tackle complex agonist and cell-selective antibody design. She emphasizes that machine learning serves as a powerful tool guided by human hypothesis-driven research rather than a standalone cure-all. Jo closes with practical advice for emerging scientific founders, encouraging them to seek out diverse viewpoints, pressure-test their ideas with critics, and keep patient impact as their true North Star.
Here's a segment breakdown with timestamps:
00:27 – Academic beginnings to Startups
02:05 – International experience shaping perspective
03:03 – Location and choosing Boston
03:53 – Influences, mentors, & successful mentorship
04:54 – Biotech CEO Sisterhood
05:08 – Leading other scientists now
05:78 – Larger pharma versus the smaller biotechs
07:28 – Co-founder at Pandion, drug development, & inspiration to start the company
08:62 – Acquisition of company: success and navigation
10:12 – Initial Conversations
10:86 – Emotionally Tied Science & Company
11:28 – Seismic Therapeutic focus on autoimmune disease
12:73 – Structural biology & prediction technologies emerging
12:58 – Data & Technology
15:47 – Experiences with AI
15:77 – AI drug discovery engines
16:04 – Founding a company out of a venture creation firm
17:11 – The Founding Process
17:88 – Fundraising conversations with investors for an academic labs
18:43 – When to move on from an idea or keep investing
19:24 – Biggest mistakes from lab to startup
19:52 – Rapid Fire Questions
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