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Andy and JC explore the murky world of cyberthreats to biopharma and biomanufacturing with Charles Fracchia, CEO of a Boston startup Black Mesa, currently in stealth mode and co-founder of BIO-ISAC, a BIO-Information Sharing and Analysis Center to educate about threat intelligence, vulnerability identification and mitigation strategies. Charles was previously CEO of BioBright, one of the first life science companies providing end-to-end encrypted data collection and analysis in the cloud.

The Spritz Veneziano (aka Aperol Spritz)

Ingredients:
2 Oz Aperol
3 Oz sparkling wine
1 Oz club soda.

Directions:
Add the ingredients to a large wine glass with plenty of ice, mix gently, and garnish with an orange wedge.

Amari that can replace the aperol:

Campari
Amaro nonino
Amaro montenegro
Averna

Check out the resources on BIO-ISAC here: https://www.isac.bio/

The Mixer music “Pour Me Another” courtesy of Smooth Moves!

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https://bit.ly/3YxRltJ. Andrew Lo, Charles E. & Susan T. Harris Professor of Finance and director of the Laboratory for Financial Engineering at the MIT Sloan School of Management, gives JC and Andy the skinny on his progress in finding new commercialization models for rare diseases. He also reveals plans on implementing his debt securitization megafund model, first described over a decade ago. Finally, he gives us some tips on how to prepare a delicious refreshing sparkling sake:

1) Mio sparkling sake
1 bottle Mio sake
1 freezer

DIRECTIONS:
From Andrew: "Store bottle of Mio at 58ºF (the recommended temperature of typical wine cellar). Move bottle to the freezer section of your refrigerator for about two hours before you're ready to consume it. The time is approximate, and depends on how cold your freezer is, so you may need to play around with this key parameter. After two hours, remove the bottle from the freezer; it should still be completely liquid inside (if it's partially frozen, you've kept it in too long and need to thaw it before opening).

Assuming that the sake is completely liquid, twist open the bottle and QUICKLY POUR OUT A SERVING INTO YOUR GLASS. The reason you have to pour quickly is that the sake is sparkling, which means the carbonation creates pressure in the bottle. Once this pressure is released, the liquid starts to foam and the foam will freeze, clogging the bottle and making it impossible to pour out any liquid. By pouring it quickly, the foam forms in the class, yielding the desired frozen treat. The remaining liquid in the bottle is blocked by the frozen foam in the neck, but this will melt while you enjoy the first pour, and should be ready to be poured out in just a few minutes (though the foam won't be quite as thick in the second glass).

This works best with Mio's individual 375ml bottles. It can be done with full 750ml bottles but it's hard to pour multiple glasses fast enough before the foam freezes in the neck (you have to line up your glasses and pour quickly in a straight line)."

Sources mentioned in the podcast:
Andrews new book:
Andrew W Lo and Shomesh E Chaudhuri. Healthcare Finance (Princeton University Press, Princeton, 2023)

Original paper describing megafund/securitization:
Fernandez, JM et al. Commercializing biomedical research through securitization techniques. Nat Biotechnol 30, 964–975 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt.2374

Paper describing methodology for assessing risk (likelihood of approval) of biomedical assets:
Siah, KW et al. Predicting drug approvals: The Novartis data science and artificial intelligence challenge. Patterns 2, 100312 (August 13, 2021).

EU approval of Agilis Biotherapeutics/PTC’s Upstaza AAV2 gene therapy for delivering dopa decarboxylase to patients with aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase (AADC) deficiency. As AAAC deficiency has an incidence of about 1 per 1,000,000 live newborns (332 potential US patients every year), a billion dollar return could theoretically be obtained in three years...in practice though the challenge for PTC is to find those patients!

The Mixer music “Pour Me Another” courtesy of Smooth Moves!

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Anne Wyllie, principal investigator at the Yale School of Public Health and pioneer of the Saliva Direct initiative, talks to JC and Andy about the potential of open and collaborative models to transform infectious disease diagnostics and pandemic preparedness.

1) The Gin & Tonic

1 cup ice cubes
2 Oz gin
~4 Oz Schweppes Tonic Water
1 slice Lime/lemon

DIRECTIONS:
Pour 2 Oz gin into your favorite glass, ideally a large goblet full of ice, as shown. Top with ~4 Oz tonic water, mix gently, and garnish with lime or lemon.

2) The Mediterranean Gin & Tonic

1 cup ice cubes
1.5 Oz Gin Mare (Spanish Gin)
0.5 Oz Dry Vermouth
0.5 Oz Sweet Vermouth
~4 Oz Fever Tree Tonic water
1 sprig Thyme
1 slice Lime/lemon

Fill your favorite glass with ice. Pour 1.5 Oz Gin Mare (Spanish gin), 0.5 Oz dry vermouth, 0.5 Oz sweet vermouth. Top with ~4 Oz Fever Tree Mediterranean Tonic and mix gently. Garnish with thyme and lime/lemon.

Sources mentioned in the podcast:

Paper comparing saliva test to nasal/nasopharyngeal test: Overmeire, Y et al. Equivalence of Saliva RT-qPCR Testing to Nasal-throat/Nasopharyngeal Swab Testing in the General Practitioner’s Setting to Detect SARS-CoV-2. J. Pediatr, Perinatol. Child Health 6, 042-053 (2022). doi: 10.26502/jppch.74050089

CDC COVID-19 testing guidelines (now including saliva)

The COVID-19 testing debacle Nat Biotechnol 38 653 (2020)

Saliva Direct and its test Emergency Use Authorization

BBC News story on kids adding soda to get false positives in COVID-19 tests

The Mixer music “Pour Me Another” courtesy of Smooth Moves!