Why phage companies aren’t raising $400M rounds… yet | Paul Garofolo

“The thing everybody thinks is a tailwind for our space — the low financial barrier to get into a clinical trial — is actually one of the largest headwinds.”

Paul has spent 35 years in biopharma, and he has a sharp take on why phage therapy isn't pulling in the same kind of investment as other biotech sectors. Cheap, small trials have produced mediocre data that's spooked the money — and the field is paying for it.

In this episode, Paul walks us through what it actually takes to get phage drugs through the clinic, why his company believes intracellular pathogens are the next frontier, and how Locus went from a CRISPR-Cas3 startup to dosing patient 188 of 288 in what may be the largest phage clinical trial ever.

In this episode:

How Locus tested CRISPR-Cas3 delivery via phage, nanotech, and cell-penetrating peptides — and why phage won

The EpiBiome acquisition and the $800M Janssen partnership

Why Phase 0 trials are worth the investment

The problem with low-cost, underpowered clinical trials damaging the field’s reputation

Getting PKPD right before progressing — “the right drug at the wrong dose still fails”

Why intracellular pathogens could unlock phage therapy as a new field of medicine

The 5-year plan (engineered cocktails for MDR infections) and 15-year vision (anti-inflammatory, oncology, neurology)

Advice for researchers: work on payloads, chase government funding, and don’t give up on the microbiome

Guest: Paul Garofolo, CEO of Locus Biosciences (@locusbio)

Hosts: Jessica Sacher & Joe Campbell

Learn more: https://www.locus-bio.com/