DNA as Data Storage with Vijay Pande

Philip Tagari, Chief Scientific Officer of insitro, joins Vijay Pande, founding general partner at a16z Bio + Health.Together, they discuss the transformative power of drugs in changing human health—and history. They also reflect on the evolution of the drug discovery process as it shifts from serendipitous discovery to AI-enabled engineering. Finally, they chat about where the industry is headed, and how AI might change the competition landscape.

Vijay Pande, founding general partner of a16z Bio + Health, chats with the builders (and siblings) behind Devoted Health, Ed and Todd Park. The Park brothers, with decades of expertise in healthcare and policy, including as EVP and COO at athenahealth (Ed) and Chief Technology Officer of the United States (Todd),  started Devoted with the idea of building a healthcare model from scratch. Together, their discussion underscores the sector's urgent need for technological innovation and the game-changing role of AI.This episode was recorded live at a16z's LP Summit.

Vijay Pande, founding general partner, and Julie Yoo, general partner at a16z Bio + Health, come together to talk through the grand challenges facing healthcare AI today.The discussion covers the implications of AI integration in healthcare workflows, AI as a potential catalyst for value-based care, and the potential for innovation in clinical trials. They also talk about the AI startup they each wish would walk through the door. 

Greg Meyers, EVP and Chief Digital and Technology Officer at Bristol Myers Squibb (or BMS), joins a16z Bio + Health general partner Jorge Conde.Together, they talk about how AI could transform drug discovery and development at a large biopharma company—and how a company might have to adapt to harness AI; modalities they’re excited about; and Greg’s do’s and don’ts for startups looking to partner with a company like BMS.

As any healthcare founder knows, it can be difficult to get into a room with the executives making purchase decisions for payors and providers—so we’re bringing the executives to you.This episode features interviews with payor and provider leaders about what they’re seeing and how they’re thinking about AI. Guided by Julie Yoo, general partner, and Jay Rughani, investment partner at a16z Bio + Health, you'll hear from the executives about how they're utilizing AI, the KPIs they use to gauge effectiveness, and what they consider a good partnership.Julie and Jay also authored an in-depth guide to commercializing AI in healthcare based on these interviews, available here. All of our go-to-market playbooks are available on our Digital Health Builders page. 

"There is a revolution unfolding in biotech. The confluence of new biological methods like CRISPR, virtually unlimited computational capacity, and machine learning has fundamentally transformed our ability to engineer biology for wide-ranging applications."Vijay Pande, founding general partner at a16z Bio + Health, joins the Software Engineering Daily podcast to talk about innovation in biotech and healthcare, the biotech startup landscape, the impact of AI, and much more.You can see a transcript of the episode and more information about Software Engineering Daily here.

Rosana Kapeller, CEO of Rome Therapeutics, and Marty Taylor, physician-scientist at Harvard Medical School, join Vineeta Agarwala, general partner, and Bryan Faust, investment partner at a16z Bio + Health.Together, they discuss Rosana and Marty's recent publication regarding a virus-like element in our genome known as LINE-1. LINE-1, part of our "dark genome," was ignored as junk DNA for years, but is increasingly recognized to contribute to the pathology of autoimmunity, cancer, neurodegeneration, and aging. Rosana and Marty discuss how the discovery was made as well as how Rome Therapeutics is developing a platform to target LINE-1 and other factors that are part of the "dark genome" for the treatment of disease.Additional reading:Structures, functions and adaptations of the human LINE-1 protein

Vijay Pande, founding partner of a16z Bio + Health, dives deep with a16z Podcast host Steph Smith into the potential of DNA as a data storage mechanism.This episode, a cross-post with the a16z Podcast, draws parallels between Moore's Law and the race for "Moore's Law for DNA." Vijay discusses the density, longevity, and ubiquity of DNA, and how this could be leveraged into a data storage solution. Vijay and Steph mix technical advancements with futuristic speculation as they talk about what the future of biotech might look like.

Julie Klapstein, founding CEO of Availity, long-time healthcare executive, and a16z Bio + Health's newest advisory partner, joins Julie Yoo, general partner at a16z Bio + Health.Together, they delve into Julie Klapstein's rich career journey, which has spanned several decades of progress in healthcare. They also discussed building Availity, her time at MultiPlan, and the network effects undergirding both businesses. Finally, they talk about how AI could impact healthcare—for payors, providers, and the network businesses in between.

Scribe Therapeutics cofounder and CEO Benjamin Oakes, PhD, joins a16z Bio + Health founding general partner Vijay Pande.In this episode, Benjamin traces his journey from PhD student to pioneering CEO in genome editing. Benjamin discusses his early exposure to CRISPR technologies, his hands-on experience of transforming these bacterial immune systems into "genome editing scalpels," and the founding of Scribe. The conversation sheds light on the challenges of engineering these molecules, as well as the potential for life-changing therapeutics.