Episode 40
🧬 Terry Lo - Vizgen - Part 2 | Terry’s Move from Big Pharma to Diagnostics | Introduction to Spatial Biology | Navigating Regulatory & Reimbursement Challenges in Diagnostics | Balancing Multiple Roles in M&A Negotiations
Part 2 of 3. My guest for this week’s episode is Terry Lo, President and CEO of Vizgen. Vizgen is developing and commercializing the next generation of genomics tools to expand on the capabilities of spatially resolved transcriptomic. Terry is a pioneer in the emerging Spatial Biology market, with a proven track record of driving exceptional growth across global life science organizations, including Bristol-Myers Squibb, Roche, Hologic, and PerkinElmer. In addition to his two decades of experience scaling and building multinational biopharma and diagnostic groups, he is also an expert in developing business strategies for novel, innovative products.
The Biotech Startups Podcast · Excedr
April 10, 202430m 18s
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Show Notes
Part 2 of 3.
As a podcast listener, you can redeem exclusive discounts with a growing list of biotech vendors and get $500 off your first equipment lease by using promo code “TBSP” on https://www.excedr.com/rewards.
As a podcast listener, you can redeem exclusive discounts with a growing list of biotech vendors and get $500 off your first equipment lease by using promo code “TBSP” on https://www.excedr.com/rewards.
My guest for this week’s episode is Terry Lo, President and CEO of Vizgen. Vizgen is developing and commercializing the next generation of genomics tools to expand on the capabilities of spatially resolved transcriptomics.
Terry is a pioneer in the emerging Spatial Biology market, with a proven track record of driving exceptional growth across global life science organizations, including Bristol-Myers Squibb, Roche, Hologic, and PerkinElmer. In addition to his two decades of experience scaling and building multinational biopharma and diagnostic groups, he is also an expert in developing business strategies for novel, innovative products.
Join us for part 2 of our conversation with Terry, where we talk about his transition from Big Pharma to diagnostics, the challenges of moving into the diagnostics industry, and the contrasts between drug and diagnostic development processes. Terry also discusses his experience at Roche, his time with Akoya Biosciences after PerkinElmer, and his involvement in the M&A process while balancing multiple roles. Please enjoy my conversation with Terry Lo.
Find Our Guest, Terry Lo, at these links:
Find Our Guest, Terry Lo, at these links:
Find Our Host, Jon Chee, at these links:
Timestamps:
00:28 Intro
01:35 Leaving Bristol, joining Cytyc, and transitioning into International Strategy role
03:48 The contrasts between Diagnostics and Big Pharma
05:28 Drug development vs. diagnostics development processes
09:27 Moving to China and adapting to his role change from International Strategy to Managing Director
10:43 Adjusting to life in China with his pregnant wife
13:25 Moving back to the US and joining Roche Molecular in California
15:26 Transitioning to PerkinElmer and Terry’s intro to spatial biology
17:28 The challenges and triumphs in this new field
20:25 The challenges of regulatory agencies and reimbursement in Diagnostics and getting a product through the FDA
24:58 Merging with Akoya Biosciences after PerkinElmer to support Terry’s platform
26:51 Terry’s experience with M&A of Akoya by PerkinElmer, balancing multiple roles
29:13 Outro
Social & Website:
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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/excedr_inc
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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/excedr
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@excedr
Podcast Website: https://www.thebiotechstartupspodcast.com/
Topics Mentioned:
Corporate Business Development https://www.rontar.com/blog/corporate-development-vs-business-development/
International Strategy https://phrase.com/blog/posts/international-strategy/
Diagnostics vs. Pharmaceuticals https://tarikyildirim.com/blog/2019/1/21/pharma-vs-diagnostics
P&L statement https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/plstatement.asp
Drug development vs. diagnostics development https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK235489/
AI/ML in drug development https://www.fda.gov/science-research/science-and-research-special-topics/artificial-intelligence-and-machine-learning-aiml-drug-development
Protein folding https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein_folding
Protein therapeutics https://www.nature.com/articles/nrd2399
How Biotech & Big Pharma Partner to Support R&D https://www.excedr.com/blog/how-biotech-partnerships-support-research
Spatial Biology https://www.akoyabio.com/why-spatial-biology/
Regulatory and reimbursement impacts in Pharma https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK234312/
Drug approval with FDA
Regulatory and reimbursement impacts in Diagnostics https://www.lighthouselabservices.com/understanding-the-keys-to-diagnostic-reimbursement/
Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/mergersandacquisitions.asp
The Biotech Startups Podcast gives you a front-row seat to the business and science of building a biotech. Hosted by Jon Chee, CEO of Excedr, the show features honest conversations with founders, execs, and investors about their work, their companies, and how they got there. From scientific breakthroughs to startup lessons, each episode explores what it really takes to grow a life science company—from pre-seed to IPO.