5/12/2025

Obinutuzumab's Approval, CDK9 Trial Regret, CRO Reliance, and Building Respectful Cultures

"If the company has no respect for you, they don’t deserve you."

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Joseph (Joe) Birkett, Executive Director of Medical Affairs at Aura Biosciences, joined our podcast to share what he’s learned over two decades in oncology drug development, including the career-defining moments and the painful missteps that shaped his approach.

Joe speaks openly about his proudest contribution—helping lead Obinutuzumab to regulatory approval—and contrasts it with one of his lowest points: watching leadership ignore safety concerns around a CDK9 inhibitor that ultimately failed in the clinic.

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Here's what you're in:

How Joe helped lead Obinutuzumab to Phase III and approval.
The fallout of pushing a CDK9 inhibitor with flawed preclinical data.
His experience as a CEO and the lessons he carries forward.
Why in-house expertise beats CRO dependence.
What makes a great recruiter (and most aren't doing it right).
Walking away from toxicity—and why it’s sometimes the best option.
Why Aura Biosciences' culture keeps him inspired.

Timestamps:

02:22 Working on Obinutuzumab and its approval

04:51 Dealing with toxic leadership and moving on

07:18 Introducing Aura Biosciences

15:01 What Joe looks for when hiring at Aura

19:32 Why companies rely too much on CROs

24:44 The problem with safe bets and risk-averse R&D

29:47 Quickfire round

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Catch the full conversation on A Dose of Reality – Joseph Birkett.

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About Joe

Joseph Birkett is the Executive Director of Medical Affairs at Aura Biosciences, a clinical-stage biotech company developing virus-like drug conjugates (VDCs) to treat cancers such as uveal melanoma.
Joe has 25 years of oncology drug development experience, contributing to the approval of seven oncology drugs across multiple disease areas.
Prior to joining Aura Biosciences, he served as CEO of a stealth-mode EU biotech and is the founder of Crest Pharma.
He holds a PhD in Psychiatric Medicine from King’s College London, and his passion extends beyond drug development to longevity, health, and wellness.

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Connect with Joe

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joseph-birkett-14572410/

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About Aura Biosciences

A clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing a pipeline of virus-like drug conjugate, or VDC, therapeutic candidates for high unmet need cancers that either have no approved drugs available or are poorly managed with currently available treatments.
The company is focusing on the initial development of its virus-like drug conjugate (VDC) technology platform to treat tumors with high unmet needs in ocular and urologic oncology.
Belzupacap sarotalocan (bel-sar), the first VDC candidate, is being developed for the first-line treatment of early-stage choroidal melanoma, a rare disease with no approved drugs.
In addition to early-stage choroidal melanoma, the company is developing bel-sar for other ocular oncology indications, including choroidal metastasis.
Leveraging the broad tumor-targeting capabilities of its VDCs, the company has also initiated a clinical program in bladder cancer, marking its first non-ocular solid tumor indication.

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Company Website: https://www.aurabiosciences.com/

Pipeline: https://www.aurabiosciences.com/pipeline-programs/pipeline/

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About me

My name is Charles Spence and I lead Discera. After many years working in the life-science recruitment world, I decided to work for myself.
Before doing recruitment I graduated with a biomedical degree, have worked in hospitals (including translation work in Seoul, South Korea), and also spent a year working in diabetes research in Stockholm.
After doing research and travel, a career in business and science felt the most appropriate.
In 2023, I decided to launch my firm - Discera Search. A firm committed to solving the biggest talent needs of early clinical stage SME biotechs on the East Coast and DACH.

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Connect with me:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charles-spence-clinical/

Website: https://www.discera-search.com/

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