🧬 The Competitive Threat Reshaping US Drug Discovery Strategy | Richard Yu (Part 4/4)
March 26, 2026
In this episode of The Biotech Startups Podcast, co-founder and CEO of Abalone Bio, Richard Yu reflects on how processing grief after losing his co-founder, Gustavo Pesce, brought clarity and renewed focus — stripping away the inessential and driving him forward at Abalone Bio. He unpacks the strategic thinking behind the pipeline, from developing CB2 agonist antibodies that reverse fibrosis and reduce neuropathy, to deciding which programs to partner versus develop internally based on value inflection points. Richard also reflects on hitting his 400th VC rejection, why the West Coast's frontier mentality fuels entrepreneurial resilience, how the rise of China's biotech ecosystem is pushing US startups toward novel targets as a competitive moat, and how AI has transformed once-impossible problems — from protein folding to natural language — into solved challenges that are fundamentally reshaping drug discovery.
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"The only way through is through. You have to actually go through some of this stuff."
In this episode of The Biotech Startups Podcast, co-founder and CEO of Abalone Bio, Richard Yu reflects on how processing grief after losing his co-founder, Gustavo Pesce, brought clarity and renewed focus — stripping away the inessential and driving him forward at Abalone Bio. He unpacks the strategic thinking behind the pipeline, from developing CB2 agonist antibodies that reverse fibrosis and reduce neuropathy, to deciding which programs to partner versus develop internally based on value inflection points. Richard also reflects on hitting his 400th VC rejection, why the West Coast's frontier mentality fuels entrepreneurial resilience, how the rise of China's biotech ecosystem is pushing US startups toward novel targets as a competitive moat, and how AI has transformed once-impossible problems — from protein folding to natural language — into solved challenges that are fundamentally reshaping drug discovery.
Key topics covered:
- Processing Grief & Finding Clarity: How Gustavo's passing reframed Richard's perspective on mortality, gratitude, and what truly matters
- Pipeline Strategy: Using value inflection points to decide what to partner versus build internally
- VC Resilience: 400 rejections and why the West Coast frontier mentality keeps founders going
- US vs. China Biotech Landscape: How China's biotech rise is forcing US startups to bet on novel targets
- AI & the Future of Drug Discovery: How AI turned yesterday's impossible problems into today's solved ones, and what's next for Abalone Bio
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Find our guest, Richard Yu at these links:
Website: https://www.abalonebio.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:
Range: How Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52390465-range
Waking Up App (Sam Harris): https://www.wakingup.com
Internal Family Systems (IFS): https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapy-types/internal-family-systems-therapy
Enneagram of Personality: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enneagram_of_Personality
GPCR Drug Discovery & Novel Targets: https://www.nature.com/articles/nrd.2017.178
The Pharma Patent Cliff (2026–2030): https://www.drugpatentwatch.com/blog/the-data-driven-guide-to-winning-the-2026-patent-cliff/
Companies, Universities, & People mentioned:
Y Combinator: https://www.ycombinator.com/
QB3: https://qb3.org/
Gustavo Pesce - in memoriam https://www.abalonebio.com/about
​David Epstein https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-epstein-5a37ba25
Sam Harris https://www.wakingup.com/about
​Lindsay Briner https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindsaybriner
Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
02:22 Resilience, Perseverance, and the "I Will Not Quit" Mentality
05:19 Pipeline Strategy: When to Partner vs. Develop Internally
07:17 Navigating the Rise of China in Biotech and the Case for Novel Targets
11:35 Abalone Bio's One-to-Five Year Vision
16:53 The Entrepreneurial "Sickness": Why Founders Keep Starting Companies
17:43 West Coast Frontier Mentality vs. East Coast Agricultural Mindset
20:47 Authenticity in Fundraising: Seeking vs. Filtering
23:35 The Value of Experience in a Youth-Obsessed Silicon Valley Culture
26:28 Shout-Outs: Family, Co-Founder Gustavo Pesce, and Key Mentors
30:45 Portfolio Construction Thinking in Life Sciences
32:37 The Power of Breadth: How Diverse Experiences Drive Success
34:32 Outro
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.