Benjamine Liu came up with the idea for TrialSpark with partner Linhao Zhang during a three-month stint at small-business startup accelerator Innovation Works’ AlphaLab in 2014. In the years since, the company set up headquarters in New York City and became a biotech unicorn, which means its total valuation of all assets exceeds $1 billion.
Now, Mr. Liu is back in Pittsburgh scouting for talent and drug candidates that he hopes could become tomorrow’s cures.
Only about 500 of 7,000 known diseases have a treatment. Testing drugs in people is a bottleneck in getting new therapies to market. The company aims to simplify the process of doing clinical trials, streamlining and accelerating a process that ordinarily takes many years and can cost up to $1 billion.
The company got its start overseeing clinical drug trials for the pharmaceutical industry but has shifted to becoming a next generation pharma company developing treatments in-house, which it says it can do faster and more efficiently than legacy outfits by setting up companies with Big Pharma partners. TrailSpark is also pursuing partnerships for therapies that involve both drugs and behavioral modification components.
Last year, the company partnered with global pharmaceutical giant Sanofi in clinical studies of breathing problems called chronic obstructive pulmonary disease — the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S.
TrialSpark employs 120 people and last year raised $156 million Series C funding led by individual investors Sam Altman and Lachy Groom.
Mr. Liu, 31, who will be in Pittsburgh on Tuesday to meet with local entrepreneurs at BioBreakfast, which is held at the Riviera Building in South Oakland, is a Rhodes Scholar with degrees from Oxford University, University of Cambridge and Yale University. His company’s partners include pharmaceutical heavyweights Pfizer, Novartis and Sanofi and investment giants Sequoia Capital and Thrive Capital are backing the company.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and length.
PG: What are your plans for your Pittsburgh visit?
A: We come back often. Our chief financial officer (James Leslie) lives in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh is one of the most exciting places, given the ecosystem, academic talents, world class researchers. We plan to grow in Pittsburgh and acquire drugs that are promising, to support the drug development process. We’re also looking for opportunities to acquire interesting drug assets.
PG: Will you be looking for talent to hire?
A: We’re looking for more and more remote hiring, hiring people from anywhere. We really want to invest in the life sciences community, supporting entrepreneurs who want to launch life sciences companies. We also want to get to know the community better.
PG: In 2019, TrialSpark partnered with consumer genetics company 23andMe in a request for clinical trial proposals for nine medical specialties, including dermatology, ophthalmology and neurology. What has happened since then?
A: We’re still finding ways to collaborate. We’re still looking for the right drug asset to push forward.
PG: Tell me about other TrialSpark partnerships.
A: Some larger pharma companies, which we can’t disclose the names of yet, are looking to give us assets that they can’t develop internally. We would stand up companies in partnership with them, using our engineering to develop them faster and better.
PG: What do you do in your down time?
A: I love what I’m doing, so in my spare time, I’m often thinking about the company. I love basketball, tennis. I used to follow sports more closely than I do now.
PG: What are the opportunities TrialSpark is pursuing with therapies that include drugs and behavioral modification?
A: Clinicians say they want to prescribe a program rather than a drug. Diabetes is an example; the treatment is not only a drug, but it can be a digital intervention as well. Neuropsychiatric disorders, like addiction, is another example. That’s a collaboration that we’re quite excited about.
PG: What kind of savings can TrailSpark offer clients for clinical trials?
A: Right now, we can run a trial at half the cost and half the time. When I was in grad school, we’d discover new drugs and we’d go to the pharmaceutical industry and say, “Hey, aren’t you guys excited about these new drugs?” And then they’d tell us about the costs.
PG: Pittsburgh’s startup ecosystem — what’s missing?
A: There’s a lot of really great ingredients there, but I always think about capital: angel investors, seed investors and funds that expand into all the stages of development. The Bay area, New York City, they have these investment platforms — angel, seed, serial rounds B, C, D, E, F. That could only enhance what’s already there. And the more successful exits, the better.
PG: What was your Pittsburgh experience like?
A: It was amazing. We actually started the company in Pittsburgh. What we so appreciated was the community, the encouragement. I remember we lived on Carson Street. Pittsburgh has so much raw talent, but there’s also culture, support, optimism and hard work.
Kris B. Mamula: kmamula@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1699
First Published: March 14, 2022, 10:00 a.m.
Updated: March 14, 2022, 4:14 p.m.
