Diversity in Biotechnology: Breaking Barriers and Driving Innovation
Studies have shown that companies that are more diverse tend to be more successful. While there have been improvements in gender equality and diversity in various sectors, the biotechnology industry has remained dominated by White men. Furthermore, the venture capitalists that fund that industry tend to also be undiverse, resulting in the “pale, male, and Yale” stereotype, which shows that the VC industry is populated by White men from prestigious schools, particularly the Ivy League. Industry statistics have shown that only 4% of venture capitalists are Black, and just over 1% of VC-funded companies have a Black founder. Over the past few years, there has been a push to diversify these sectors by getting more women and more racially diverse founders the opportunity to participate in this field. The biotechnology industry has also hit several plateaus, with breakthroughs in cancer and diabetes becoming fewer and farther in between.
According to Dr. Stanley Lewis, MD, MPH, Founder of A28 Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of cancer treatments, the biotechnology and venture capital sectors would benefit from being desegregated by bringing in more diverse people and ideas to the table, allowing science to move beyond those plateaus, producing real breakthroughs when it comes to tackling some of the healthcare challenges of our time. With venture capital funders being mostly White men, most of the funding naturally goes to entrepreneurs who resemble them. Dr. Lewis, who is Black, believes that this situation is less about racism but, rather, more an issue of familiarity. Venture capitalists are likely to invest in people they are familiar with, who are usually someone from the same school or same community.
Dr. Lewis says there are several ways to narrow the gender and ethnicity gap in VC funding, such as having blind pitches, removing the conscious and unconscious biases of VC funders and allowing them to decide solely on the idea’s merit. Efforts to increase minority participation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields must also be encouraged. These should start early, such as in primary school. By having more women and people of color in STEM, this makes people more familiar with them, increasing the chances for them receiving venture capital funding later.
“What’s been happening is not only unfair, it’s also not working. We should try something different, if for no other reason than to stop ourselves from being foolish and continue trying the same thing and expecting a different result,” Dr. Lewis says. “Just looking in one direction results in a pool of mostly White men, ending up with a lot less opportunities and missing out on so many bright ideas. It definitely won’t hurt to pick a few women or BIPOC-led companies to invest in. We can’t do any worse than we’re already doing. We need more Black, Brown, and female rock stars in STEM, particularly in the drug development arena.”
He adds that increased diversity in the medical and pharmaceutical fields will also improve healthcare outcomes of minority patients, which have long lagged behind their White male counterparts, especially in critical illnesses such as diabetes, stroke, and cancer. This diversity extends beyond professionals, but also in clinical trial participants, where minorities are often underrepresented. By resolving this, it ensures that there is sufficient data on how treatments being developed affect minorities.
Dr. Lewis is an internal medicine physician who trained and taught at the University of Texas’ medical school in Houston. He was later invited to lead a program developing a drug for HIV. That program was acquired by a large biotech company, but it decided not to continue the program, leading him to bring his work to another company, becoming its chief medical officer. Eventually, the drug was approved in 2018 for treatment of multi-drug resistant HIV.
In late 2021, he founded A28 Therapeutics, whose flagship product is AT-101, a targeted lytic peptide for the treatment of multiple cancer types which is currently in late-stage development. AT-101 has a simple mechanism of action, targeting cancer cells due to their unique characteristics – an overexpression of LHRH receptors and a negatively charged cell membrane. These characteristics aren’t present in healthy cells, resulting in limited toxicity and relatively mild side effects compared to conventional treatments like chemotherapy.
“In my work with both HIV and cancer, many of the treatments were so toxic for the patients that it felt like I was violating my physician’s oath to do no harm,” Dr. Lewis says. “A28 Therapeutics’ vision is simple – a world where patients no longer need to fear cancer or its treatments. We are working hard to bring AT-101 to the market as soon as possible. Patients are counting on our industry to develop new solutions for unmet medical needs. To achieve this, we must welcome diverse voices and novel approaches, allowing innovation to soar to new heights.”
Analyst comment
Positive news: Studies have shown that companies with more diversity are more successful. Dr. Stanley Lewis believes that diversifying the biotechnology and venture capital sectors will lead to breakthroughs in healthcare. Efforts to increase minority participation in STEM fields and remove biases in VC funding are crucial. Increased diversity in medical and pharmaceutical fields will improve healthcare outcomes for minorities. Dr. Lewis’s company, A28 Therapeutics, aims to bring AT-101, a targeted lytic peptide for cancer treatment, to the market soon. Diverse voices and approaches are needed for innovation in healthcare.
