Name: Navigating the pathway to success in biotech
Uploaded: 2024-08-14T00:36:55.103Z
Duration: 632.73

Rebecca Edited.mp4

Rebecca Edited.vtt

Subtitles

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So I've been working in the

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biotech sector since I was 21.

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So that's a very

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long time ago.

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I won't give away my age,

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but in this role for a

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short time I think,in terms

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of success in the, in the

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biotech sector, really

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thinking about being a cutting

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edge with the technology.

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Has someone done it before?

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Can you make it better?

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and really asking yourself

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the tough questions

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about the technology

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is really important.

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Hi, everyone.

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Today we are with

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Rebecca McQualter.

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We're gonna talk about

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navigating success in biotech.

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To start with, Rebecca,

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you want to introduce

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yourself to our audience.

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So your name, who you are

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and what you do for work.

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Thank you so much

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for having me.

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So talking about your

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company, which is

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Chimeric Therapeutics.

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Yeah.

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And what have been the

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crucial Key milestones that

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have been,  , set up your

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success in the biotech sector.

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So, I guess a few key

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milestones for us have

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been really, having

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novel technology.

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So we have a first in

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class CAR T for cancer

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gastric, pancreatic

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and colorectal cancer.

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We have a first in class

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CAR T for a nasty brain

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cancer called glioblastoma.

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And we also have a first in

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class, natural killer cell

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platform, targeting a nasty

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blood cancer called AML.

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So you're the CEO of your

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company, which means they

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have a lot of responsibility.

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Yes.

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, and it can be a bit

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sometimes, you have a lot

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of things to deal with.

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Are you overcome especially,

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and this is a big question,

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because I think in the

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biotech sector, from what

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I'm understanding, sometimes

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challenges arise every day.

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So how did you overcome

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the challenges?

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So there's so many challenges,

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and I think I've only been

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in this role for a short

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time, and there's been a

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big fire and a small fire

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every single day to put out.

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And so what I've learnt

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is you've just got to

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be cool, and you've got

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to get through the fire

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really quickly and find the

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right people to help you.

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So I'm really lucky that

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even though we have a small

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team, in the US, there's

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five of them in the US.

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I know exactly who to

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go to, who can help

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me fix the problem.

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And we also outsource a lot

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of work here in Australia to

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make our model really lean.

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And so I've got a great

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CFO team that support me.

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So if it's a business

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operations, challenge

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We can overcome it.

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If it's a problem with our

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manufacturing, I've got

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someone who can get on a plane

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and be there really quickly.

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But I guess the biggest

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challenge for all baby

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biotechs like myself is money

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and, and capital raising.

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So, that's a challenge

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that we've all faced

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and, and hopefully things

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are turning around now.

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How do you raise money

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for biotech projects?

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Because that's.

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I know like stakeholders

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and people that want

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to invest money.

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They want something safe, you

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know, when, when they invest.

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Yeah, I think, I haven't

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done a capital raise yet,

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which is going to be really

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exciting for us coming up

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in the next few months.

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But, we've just got to be

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honest with what's going on

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in the business, showcase

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our novel technologies,

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where we're headed and our

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plans, the great partnerships

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that we have, the ones that

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we're going to form and then

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we'll work with probably

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two different brokers to

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help us raise the money.

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What are the technologies

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you're working

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with at the moment?

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Yeah, so three cell therapies.

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So with any cell therapies,

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that means they're expensive.

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And that's okay.

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We know that that's

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a known cost.

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, and so we're doing all of

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our best to keep the cash

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burn down so the first cell

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therapy is for gastric,

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pancreatic and bowel cancer.

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The second one is for

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brain cancer, and the third

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ones for blood cancer.

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And what  advancements that's

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gonna, they're gonna bring.

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into the healthcare space.

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Yeah, so particularly for

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the, stomach cancer and bowel

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cancer treatment, this will

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be the first time that this

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has ever been tried in humans.

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And so we're really excited

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to actually be pioneers

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in this space and it's the

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only CAR T with this target.

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that's in development

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currently in the world.

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And I keep refreshing

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my,  , Google, scholar

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searches to make sure that

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we're still the only one.

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So I'm very proud of

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that particular asset.

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But what it will do is we'll

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just add another piece for

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the clinicians to be able

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to treat these patients.

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And all of the patients

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we've seen, sadly, have

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been under the age of 35.

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So we've just screened a young

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gentleman who's 27 years old

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and has stage 4 bowel cancer.

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So he'll be first up to

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get our amazing therapy.

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So we hope we can make

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a difference to him.

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So it's basically helping

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people that are maybe in a

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later stage of the cancer to

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try to overcome this disease.

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And it's really about

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teaching the immune system

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to fight this cancer.

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And so that's basically

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what our technology is.

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And so once we can teach

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the immune system how to

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do it, hopefully it'll keep

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it away for a little bit

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longer than we anticipate.

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And do you, are you

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developing new technology

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about diagnosis on cancer?

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Because I know the

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pancreatic cancer is

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pretty hard to diagnosis

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and they always discover

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that at the later stage.

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Or you just like trying

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to cure the, when they

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go over a certain stage?

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Yeah.

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So we aren't working on

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any diagnostics, but we

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would be very happy to

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partner with anybody who is.

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, and I know there's a great

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company called Radio Farm

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Theranostics that are

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working on a pancreatic

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cancer diagnostic right

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now, which is very exciting.

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But for us, we're just

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looking to make an impact.

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So for patients with

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pancreatic cancer,

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for example, they get

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six weeks to live.

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So if we can double that

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or triple that, that

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will be a great help.

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outcome for those patients.

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Yeah.

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And so like now we know,

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like you've been working in

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the biotech sector for, you

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said, like a short amount

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of time, but, it's a bit of

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a tricky question to ask,

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but what do you think for

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this short amount of time

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you've been working in the

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biotech sector, what are

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the key factors to guarantee

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a long term, term success?

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So I've been working

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in the biotech sector

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sector since I was 21.

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So that's a very

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long time ago.

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I won't give away my age.

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But in this role for a

{{00:06:52}}
short time, I think, in

{{00:06:54}}
terms of success in the, in

{{00:06:56}}
the biotech sector, really

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thinking about being, cutting

{{00:07:00}}
edge with the technology,

{{00:07:01}}
has someone done it before?

{{00:07:02}}
Can you make it better?

{{00:07:04}}
and really asking yourself

{{00:07:05}}
the tough questions

{{00:07:06}}
about the technology

{{00:07:07}}
is really important.

{{00:07:09}}
and I also think just

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thinking about those patients

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every single morning to

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get you up and out of bed.

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You can hear me with

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my sinusitis today, but

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I thought about that

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27-year-old and I was like,

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I've gotta go to work today.

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'cause he needs me.

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So I think that's what

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differentiates Chimeric

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Therapeutics from a

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lot of other people.

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And, how does your

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company, and especially

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as a CEO, I think this

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is the best question to

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ask, especially to you.

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How do you stay?

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. Innovative and,  , you know,

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and like ahead of trends

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in the biotech sector.

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So I'm really lucky.

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I've got a very experienced

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team based in the U.

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S.

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and I'm the only one here

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in Melbourne, Australia.

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So everyone is based in the U.

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S.?

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Everyone's in the U.

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S., yeah.

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But what that means

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is they know how to

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navigate that system.

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They've got the

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right relationships.

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We've got a fast

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path to market.

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They were very clever

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with one of our trials.

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They got a phase one to

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approve, which means we can

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get to market very quickly.

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, so I've got a very clever

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team based in the US and for

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me here in Australia, I'm

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tapping back into my networks

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to make sure that we've got

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the right partnerships to set

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our business up for success.

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And I think leaning in

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on those relationships

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is really important.

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So for example, I grew up with

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a lot of people at university

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who now work at Peter Mac.

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So it's easy for me to

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walk in there and start to

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have a relationship in my

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new company's kind of way.

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But to stay right at the

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cutting edge is to really

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have those relationships

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to make sure you

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understand what's going on.

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So what are the advice

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you would give to biotech

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companies that are just

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starting out at the moment?

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How they can like navigate

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this whole process of

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starting a new idea to become

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successful with the idea?

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I think I have a couple

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of pieces of advice.

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I think really making sure

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that your tech's novel.

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You don't want to be a me too.

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You don't want to be

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something that's already

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been done and failed.

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You want to learn

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from what's happened.

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So really making sure that

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your technology is novel.

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Pay a little bit of

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money to make sure that

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you can validate that.

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And then like I

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said, don't give up.

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It's really hard, it's

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really easy to stay in bed,

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and if, and if running a

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biotech company was easy,

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then everyone would do it,

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and that's not the case.

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So don't give up, and  , I

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mean, that's what I'm

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facing every single

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day, as the newest team

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member for Chimeric.

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We just have to keep going,

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and remember that the

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patients really need us.

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Yeah, it's, it's, it's

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important as well.

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Probably to remind yourself

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that you're doing good,

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because your company's trying

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to, you know, help people that

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have a big problem, which is

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pancreatic cancer or other

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stage, late stage of cancer.

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And there is not really cure

{{00:09:51}}
for that at the moment, but

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you get up every morning to

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try and solve the problem.

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So you should be proud of

{{00:09:56}}
doing that every single day.

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Yeah, absolutely.

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And yeah.

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But thank you so

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much for your time.

{{00:10:03}}
I think our audience will take

{{00:10:04}}
a lot from this, you know,

{{00:10:05}}
also about what you're working

{{00:10:06}}
on with your company and

{{00:10:08}}
other biotech CEOs out there

{{00:10:10}}
are trying to make it in this

{{00:10:12}}
hard, hard space, especially

{{00:10:14}}
in the healthcare space.

{{00:10:16}}
But yeah, thank you

{{00:10:17}}
so much for your time.

{{00:10:18}}
I look forward to see how your

{{00:10:19}}
company will go in the future.

{{00:10:21}}
I hope the best for it.

{{00:10:22}}
And, and yeah, we

{{00:10:23}}
go, we go from there.

{{00:10:25}}
Thank you so much

{{00:10:27}}
for having me.

From Lab to Market: Stories of Biotech

Expert Insight

Join us for an insightful interview with Dr. Rebecca McQualter, the Chief Operating Officer and Acting CEO of Chimeric Therapeutics Ltd.

With a wealth of experience in the biotech sector, Dr. McQualter shares her journey from starting in the industry at 21 to leading a pioneering company in cell therapy.

Dr. McQualter also addresses the daily challenges of running a biotech company, the importance of staying at the cutting edge of technology, and her dedication to improving patient outcomes.

This interview offers valuable insights for anyone interested in biotech, healthcare, or entrepreneurship.


Biotech

Pharma/Biotech

Research & development

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Rebecca McQualter

Discover insights from other experts

Chief Operating Officer/Acting CEO

Overview of Chimeric Therapeutics

Key Milestones and Challenges

Technology and Innovation

 Staying Innovative and Future Outlook

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thumbnail_From Lab to Market Stories of Biotech (3).png

xsmall_From Lab to Market Stories of Biotech (3).png

From Lab to Market Stories of Biotech (3).png

Navigating the pathway to success in biotech

Biotech & Pharma