Business Of Biotech Making Biologics Orally Available With Vivtex's Thomas von Erlach, Ph.D.
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Mar 2, 2026 Thomas von Erlach, Ph.D., co-founder and CEO of Vivtex and former Langer Lab postdoc, works on making biologics orally available. He discusses founding Vivtex from MIT work, using a GI-tract-on-a-chip platform, earning long-term pharma trust, and striking a major Novo Nordisk partnership. Conversations cover stealth development, translating assays to pills, and scaling from CSO to CEO.
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Hire Operations Expertise Early
- Hire experienced non-R&D leaders early to cover finance and operations so the scientific founder can focus on science and strategy.
- Thomas named Lena Fisher as the operations lead who lets him direct company and partner strategy.
Use Pharma Partnerships To Reduce Dilution
- Use a mix of private investors plus pharma collaborations to secure non-dilutive revenue and reduce reliance on investor funding.
- Vivtex obtained about 10 pharma partners which made the company revenue positive while scaling R&D.
Stealth Period Let Them Nail The Offering
- Stealth mode bought time to refine the platform and define the product offering before public exposure.
- Vivtex kept low profile until they could reliably create drug products partners would want.