Leen Kawas is an experienced leader in the biotechnology industry. She recently shared insights on the sector’s expansion and AI’s growing influence in biotech.
Kawas is currently the Managing General Partner at Propel Bio Partners. She has an extensive background in biotechnology and regularly evaluates innovations.
In a recent interview, Kawas outlined current trends in biotech. She sees the industry advancing in two ways – through new therapeutic developments and integrating technology like AI. Kawas believes these two forces will shape the future of biotech.
According to Kawas, three notable trends are emerging in 2023:
Increased Biomanufacturing Capabilities
The biotech sector is facing a backlog in biomanufacturing. Transitioning research into real-world products requires scaled production. Manual recordkeeping has slowed this process down. Kawas sees promise in shareable digital records to improve manufacturing efficiency by 40%.
Migration of Tech Professionals to Biotech
Over 150,000 technology professionals have recently left big tech companies. Many are moving into biotech, drawn by interesting challenges and meaningful work. Their expertise could significantly advance areas like software development, machine learning, and data science.
Growth of AI-Enabled Drug
AI has recently achieved significant milestones in drug discovery. As pharmaceutical companies invest billions into AI partnerships, they need biotech talent to implement AI meaningfully. Robust data frameworks and access to quality data at-scale are also vital for AI success.
Kawas strongly believes AI will be a significant driver of biotat scalestry growth. She explains that AI excels at analyzing the large, complex data sets common in biology and drug development. This can lead to improved clinical trial design, personalized medicine, and higher success rates.
For example, she highlights Inherent Biosciences, a company using AI for infertility diagnostics. In 30% of cases, the cause of infertility is unknown. Inherent is working to improve on limited male fertility testing by analyzing epigenetic signatures that impact pregnancy success. Their findings could give couples valuable insights and help them avoid pain and costs.
In her role at Propel Bio Partners, Kawas integrates their investment philosophy when selecting biotech partners. They seek transformative technologies paired with solid teams. She believes combining private and public biotech investments provides unique market insights.
Kawas remains optimistic about biotech’s future, even amidst current challenges. She is excited by the industry’s ongoing therapeutic innovations and sees AI as an accelerating force that will unlock new capabilities. As an experienced executive, Kawas is committed to advancing meaningful technologies that improve lives.
