Beyond Biotech - the podcast from Labiotech

Today, we're digging into a topic that's getting a lot more attention lately, how early decisions in cell therapy end up shaping or complicating everything that comes later. Our episode today is Freeze Variability, Not Progress, How to Strengthen Your Cell Therapy Supply Chain from the Start, and we're going to challenge a few long-held beliefs about how starting material should be handled. 
My guest today is Dominic Clarke, Vice President of Technical Operations for IntegriCell at Cryoport Systems. Dominic has spent years in the trenches building and scaling cell therapy processes from early development through commercialization. So, he's seen where things break and what actually works. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Dominic Clark.
01:07    Meet Dominic Clarke and Cryoport Systems
06:24   Fresh cells versus frozen cells
08:21    Why teams switch to cryopreservation late
12:37    The challenge of variability
16:47    IntegriCell when you already have a process in place
22:17    An argument for cryopreservation based on data
25:56   The future of IntegriCell and Cryoport Systems
This episode is brought to you with the support of Cryoport Systems.
Interested in being a sponsor of an episode of our podcast? Discover how you can get involved here! 
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To dive deeper into the topic: 
IntegriCell® Cryopreservation
Cryoport Systems on the state of the ATMP market and the importance of supply chain resilience
Cracking the code: Delivering biotherapeutics successfully across EMEA

Today, we dive into the future of lab management with Ryan Cawood, CEO and co-founder of Lab Thread. Ryan's journey spans groundbreaking work in virotherapy and gene delivery during his D.Phil at Oxford, to founding OXGENE, a cell and gene therapy innovator acquired by WuXi Advanced Therapies in 2021.
We'll explore the frustrations of fragmented lab tools that inspired Lab Thread's integrated digital solution—combining ELN, LIMS, molecular biology, and collaboration in one seamless platform. We’ll uncover how it boosts reproducibility, ensures compliance, and frees scientists for innovation, with accessible pricing for academics and biotechs.
I hope you enjoy Ryan’s insights on evolving digital workflows and accelerating breakthroughs in the lab.
01:51: Meet Ryan Cawood
02:31: Frustrations with early digital tools.
03:19: Daily lab organization challenges.
06:50: Time lost to admin tasks.
11:09: Genesis of the Lab Thread concept.
13:53: Integrated workflow functionality explained.
17:23: Enhancing experiment reproducibility methods.
20:37: Achieving compliance standards easily.
26:10: The future of digital lab management.
28:33: Accelerating scientific breakthroughs.
This episode is brought to you with the support of Lab Thread.
Interested in being a sponsor of an episode of our podcast? Discover how you can get involved here! 
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To dive deeper into the topic: 
Lab Thread - Your Lab, Connected
Hiding in plain sight: how to solve bioscience’s software problem
Lab chaos and digital dreams

This week we dive into the Beyond Biotech archive to bring you a discussion with Dr Stanley Qi, the founder of Epicrispr.
Epicrispr is an epigenetic editing company, leveraging the power of CRISPR without cutting DNA. The company’s proprietary Gene Expression Modulation System (GEMS) includes the smallest Cas protein known to work in human cells, enabling in vivo or ex vivo delivery via a single viral vector. 
In this episode we discuss epigenetic editing, why it’s reversible, and how it can treat FSHD and other conditions. 
01:43 Meet Stanley Qi
03:32 Founding Epicrispr
05:53 CRISPR interference and epigenome explained
10:04 Overview of GEMS gene modulation system
11:28 Reversibility and safety of epigenetic edits
18:42 Strategy for tackling multiple disease conditions
23:27 Clinical trial plans for EPI-321 candidate
30:06 Looking forward
This episode is brought to you with the support of MedChemExpress.
Interested in being a sponsor of an episode of our podcast? Discover how you can get involved here! 
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To dive deeper into the topic: 
Could CRISPR really cure these diseases?
10 gene therapy companies you should know about
CRISPR technology’s next wave: Ten companies to watch

Today we’re joined by Patrick Andre, Chief Scientific Officer at Diagonal Therapeutics.
A trained vascular biologist, Patrick’s career spans groundbreaking work at Pfizer, Acceleron, Pliant Therapeutics, and earlier companies, where he focused on TGF-β superfamily signaling and receptor pathways that keep blood vessels healthy. Now at Diagonal, he’s leading a bold mission: developing clustering antibodies that correct the root cause of serious genetic vasculopathies, rather than just managing symptoms.
In this episode, Patrick walks us through his personal journey into science, the company’s DIAGONAL platform, and their lead program DIAG723, which recently received Orphan Drug Designation for the rare disease HHT, and is advancing toward the clinic. We also discuss Diagonal’s oversubscribed $125 million Series B financing that closed in January 2026, and what clustering antibodies could mean for patients with HHT, pulmonary arterial hypertension, and beyond.
01:33 Meet Patrick Andre
08:01 Diagonal’s mission
11:39 What are clustering antibodies
16:05 Receptor clustering benefits for HHT and PAH
20:24 Preclinical data on preventing and reversing HHT pathology
22:39 The impact of the $125 Million Series B financing round
Interested in being a sponsor of an episode of our podcast? Discover how you can get involved here! 
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To dive deeper into the topic: 
Vaderis emerges from stealth to start HHT trial
Pulmonary hypertension after Winrevair: where GSK’s $950M bet fits
New treatment for pulmonary hypertension: what biotech holds in store?

Our guest today is Thierry Laugel, Managing Partner of Kurma & Chairman of Argobio. With a PharmD, PhD in pharmacology, and an INSEAD MBA, Thierry has spent more than two decades bridging cutting-edge science and commercial success—first in pharma R&D, then as co-founder of Kurma Partners, and now leading Argobio’s unique venture-builder model.
Since raising €50 million in 2021, Argobio has co-founded and accelerated several companies from top European academic labs. Three of them—Enodia, Laigo Bio, and Elkedonia—have already closed seed rounds totaling more than €43 million, advancing novel platforms in targeted protein degradation, precision membrane protein degraders, and non-hallucinogenic neuroplasticity enhancers for depression. 
Thierry shares how Argobio reduces execution risk, embeds operational expertise, and turns promising science into investable companies that can compete worldwide. 
04:02 Blending pharmacology expertise with business
07:50 Vision behind starting Kurma Partners
12:53 Launching Argobio to address gaps in European biotech 
17:40 What makes the Argobio operational venture builder model unique
25:02 Criteria for selecting academic scientific breakthroughs
27:34 Changing dynamics of commercializing European research
35:30 Europe vs US biotech investment climates
37:47 Role of venture studios in Europe’s biotech future
Interested in being a sponsor of an episode of our podcast? Discover how you can get involved here! 
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To dive deeper into the topic: 
M Ventures: pharma CVC and biotech innovation in 2026
Inside Flagship Pioneering's strategy: How this VC turns ideas into biotech giants
Venture capital co-creation: The next big thing in biotech investment?