🧬 Pfizer, AstraZeneca & Merck: Building Biotechs Within Big Pharma | Martin Brenner Rerelease (2/3)
May 11, 2026
In this episode of The Biotech Startups Podcast, Jon Chee continues his conversation with Martin Brenner, CEO and Chief Scientific Officer of iBio, tracing his career through Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and Merck. From re-engaging demoralized scientists after layoffs to a Moderna encounter when the company was just eight people strong, Martin offers a rare insider view of what it actually takes to drive innovation from within Big Pharma.
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"If you don't hurt letting people go — large amounts of people — if that doesn't hurt you anymore, it's time to get out."
"If you don't hurt letting people go — large amounts of people — if that doesn't hurt you anymore, it's time to get out."
In this episode of The Biotech Startups Podcast, Jon Chee continues his conversation with Martin Brenner, CEO and Chief Scientific Officer of iBio, tracing his career through Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and Merck. From re-engaging demoralized scientists after layoffs to a Moderna encounter when the company was just eight people strong, Martin offers a rare insider view of what it actually takes to drive innovation from within Big Pharma.
Key Topics Covered:
- Leaving Eli Lilly: A painful Hamburg site closure and the leadership instincts it forged.
- Pfizer vs. Lilly: Same targets, different machine — what the Wyeth acquisition revealed about scale.
- Cultural Fit: Why every rejection is a bullet dodged.
- Rebuilding After Layoffs: The biotech playbook Martin used at Pfizer Groton to re-engage scientists.
- The Moderna Spark: Eight-person Moderna outpacing AstraZeneca's 150-person team ignited Martin's biotech drive.
- Building a Biotech Inside Merck: The vision, the wins, the politics — and the Keytruda mic-drop that pushed him out.
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Subscribe to the Podcast:
Find our guest, Martin Brenner at these links:
Website: https://ibioinc.com/
Find our host, Jon Chee, at these links:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonchee/
Learn more about Excedr:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/excedr/
Website: https://www.excedr.com
Intro & Outro Songs Created by OkKyojin, Owned by Excedr:
Website: https://flow.page/kyojin
Resources & Articles:
Why Biotech Startups Struggle to Scale: https://www.excedr.com/resources/why-some-biotech-startups-struggle-to-scale
Common Biotech Startup Mistakes: https://www.excedr.com/blog/common-business-mistakes
When & How to Pivot a Biotech: https://www.excedr.com/blog/when-how-to-pivot-a-biotech-startup
Biotech vs. Big Pharma — Which Is the Better Place to Work?: https://www.biospace.com/biotech-vs-big-pharma-which-is-the-better-place-to-work
Chagas Heart Failure in Latin America: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5490952/
The History Behind Merck's Keytruda: https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidshaywitz/2017/07/26/the-startling-history-behind-mercks-new-cancer-blockbuster/
Companies, Universities & People Mentioned:
Eli Lilly: https://www.lilly.com
Pfizer / Wyeth: https://www.pfizer.com
AstraZeneca: https://www.astrazeneca.com
Merck: https://www.merck.com
Moderna: https://www.modernatx.com
iBio: https://ibioinc.com
Kobe University: https://www.kobe-u.ac.jp/en/
University of Tokyo: https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/en/
UT Southwestern: https://www.utsouthwestern.edu
Columbia University: https://www.columbia.edu
UC San Diego: https://ucsd.edu
Markus Schindler: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcus-schindler-phd
Saswata Talukdar: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saswata-talukdar-3b20942a
Roger Perlmutter: https://www.linkedin.com/in/roger-m-perlmutter-73033920a
Mark Ahern: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markeahern
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
01:44 The Hamburg Site Closure and What It Takes to Lead Through Loss
08:17 Pfizer vs. Lilly: Same Targets, Different Animals
10:04 Finding Cultural Fit: Why Rejections Are Bullets Dodged
12:11 Re-Engaging a Demoralized Team After a Layoff
17:23 Why Big Pharma Stumbles More Than You'd Think
18:35 AstraZeneca Gothenburg: Tearing Down Silos and Ringing the Cowbell
22:21 The Moderna Spark That Changed Everything
24:58 When Personal Life Forces a Professional Pivot
25:40 Building a Biotech Inside Merck
30:19 The Chagas Mic Drop: When Keytruda Killed a Promising Program
32:14 Smallest Teams, Bottom-Up Culture Change
The Biotech Startups Podcast gives you a front-row seat to the business and science of building a biotech. Hosted by Jon Chee, CEO of Excedr, the show features honest conversations with founders, execs, and investors about their work, their companies, and how they got there. From scientific breakthroughs to startup lessons, each episode explores what it really takes to grow a life science company—from pre-seed to IPO.