EP 166: Developing targeted therapies for ALS with Eric Green from Trace Neuroscience, Maze Therapeutics, and Stanford University
December 19, 2024
This week we’re joined by Eric Green, Founder and CEO of Trace Neuroscience, Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer at Maze Therapeutics, and Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor at Stanford University School of Medicine. Eric and Patrick discuss Eric’s transition from cardiology to the world of entrepreneurship, the role of highly focused biotechs in creating precision therapies, and the development of high-impact gene therapies for people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
0:00 Intro to The Genetics Podcast
01:00 Welcome to Eric, his background in cardiology, and how he got into biotech
05:20 Eric’s experience incubating and spinning out early-stage companies with Third Rock Ventures and developing Maze Therapeutics
08:10 Eric’s decision to transition from academia to the world of biotech
10:21 Building Maze Therapeutics and Eric’s focus on and genetic modifiers to discover new drugs
14:06 The growth of therapeutic modalities in the context of genetics and gene therapies
15:45 What led Eric to launch Trace Neuroscience and focus on ALS and other neurological disorders
22:10 Eric’s work on the UNC13A gene and bringing new hope to the development of ALS therapies
27:32 The process of getting Trace’s ALS therapies into the clinic
31:19 The identification of therapeutic value in low odds ratio genes
34:55 Eric’s view on the APOA1 gene target and its major effect size in kidney disease
39:00 How best to integrate genetics and genetic discovery into small and medium biotechs
40:47 Closing remarks
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