🧬 Jason C. Foster - Part 1 | From Paper Routes to Pharma | Navigating the Dot-Com Bubble | Building a $1B Addiction Medicine Business in 4 Years

The Biotech Startups Podcast

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Part 1 of 2: My guest today is Jason C. Foster, CEO and Executive Director of Ori Biotech. Ori is revolutionizing Cell and Gene Therapy manufacturing through the development of its proprietary platform, IRO®. By automating and standardizing Cell and Gene Therapy manufacturing, Ori and IRO® offer scientists the tools they need to streamline development and support widespread patient access to life-saving treatments.

Jason's experience prior to Ori includes more than 20 years of life science leadership in operations, sales, marketing, technology, and investing, during which he developed deep expertise in commercial strategy and a thorough understanding of healthcare markets across the UK, US, and EU.

In this episode, you'll hear about:

• Jason Foster's early entrepreneurship, from paper routes to creative ventures
• His transformative time at Columbia Business School, learning valuable lessons about decision-making and international perspectives
• Jason's entry into healthcare through Merck-Medco
• His experience growing a small pharmaceutical company from 5 to 400 employees, focusing on addiction medicine
• The decision to move his family to London to start the European branch of the business
  

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Find Our Guest, Jason Foster, at these links:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasoncfoster/

https://oribiotech.com/

Find Our Host, Jon Chee, at these links:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonchee

https://www.excedr.com

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Podcast Website: https://www.thebiotechstartupspodcast.com/

Enriched Notes:

Topics Mentioned:

University of Virginia https://www.virginia.edu/

Columbia University https://www.columbia.edu/

Merck https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merck_%26_Co.

Medco https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medco_Health_Solutions

How to Spin Out of Academia https://www.excedr.com/resources/how-to-spin-out-of-academia-and-into-a-startup

How VC-Backed Startups Win When They Lease https://www.excedr.com/blog/how-vc-backed-startups-win-when-they-lease

Marketing & Sales Strategies for Startups https://www.excedr.com/blog/marketing-sales-strategies-for-biotechs

People Mentioned:

Larry Sabato https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Sabato

Emma Walmsley https://www.linkedin.com/in/emmawalmsleygsk/?originalSubdomain=uk

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro

04:51 Early years and entrepreneurial experiences

10:10 College decision process and time at the University of Virginia

18:05 Jason's experience in Washington D.C. and introduction to healthcare policy

20:57 Jason's decision to pursue an MBA at Columbia University

25:04 Memorable lessons from Columbia MBA program

30:47 Jason's transition to the private sector and joining Merck Medco

36:41 Insights on effective sales techniques in the pharmaceutical industry

43:19 Jason's career progression after Columbia and joining Medco Health Solutions

51:02 Jason's move to a small pharmaceutical company in Richmond, Virginia

54:59 Outro

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