Chris Moxham - Part 1: A Researcher's Journey from Long Island to Big Pharma

Intro - 00:00:01: Welcome to the The Biotech Startups podcast by Excedr. Join us as we speak with first-time founders, serial entrepreneurs, and experienced investors about the challenges and triumphs of running a biotech startup from pre-seed to IPO with your host, Jon Chee. 

Jon - 00:00:23: My guest today is Chris Moxham, co-founder, CEO, and CSO of Transcripta Bio, a pioneering biotech company that is charting a faster path in drug discovery to create better lives for people around the world. With data from hundreds of millions of experiments, Transcripta has mapped the effects of thousands of compounds on gene expression to discover new therapies. Their Drug Gene Atlas maps molecular structure and drug action to the whole cell transcriptome, revealing therapeutic candidates that rebalance gene expression to treat disease. Transcripta's proprietary artificial intelligence modeling suite, Conductor AI, uses their Drug Gene Atlas to discover and predict the effects of new drugs at transcriptome scale. As for Chris, he earned his PhD in molecular and cellular pharmacology at Stony Brook University and is a seasoned veteran with over 25 years of drug discovery experience, having spent two decades at Eli Lilly, where he was instrumental in advancing over 10 molecules in clinical trials across multiple therapeutic areas in both small and large molecule modalities. Chris has a wealth of knowledge and his commitment to both scientific advancement and team growth makes his insights invaluable for aspiring leaders in biotech. Over the next four episodes, we explore Chris's journey from his childhood on Long Island to becoming a drug discovery leader. We delve into his early influences and academic years at Cornell, where he transitioned from medicine to research. We also cover his multi-decade career progression at Wyeth and Eli Lilly, highlighting cultural contrasts in leadership development. We then follow his transition to the startup life, exploring the challenges of working with investors and communicating science in a business context. Finally, we examine Chris's work at Transcripta Bio, where he's developing an innovative approach to drug discovery combining AI, genetics, and high throughput data, as well as his insights on building partnerships in the industry. Today, we'll chat with Chris about growing up as the youngest of seven and how his father's engineering background, as well as his own experience with early heart surgery, sparked a fascination with science that led to a lengthy career in drug discovery. We'll also dive into his lab experiences at Cornell, where he pivoted to bench research from medicine, and hear about the mentors who shaped his unique impression leadership and drug discovery. Without further ado, let's dive into this episode of the The Biotech Startups podcast. 

Jon - 00:02:26: Chris, it's so good to see you again. Thank you for coming on the podcast.

Chris - 00:02:29: Great to see you. And thanks so much for the invite. I really appreciate it. 

Jon - 00:02:32: Yeah, I've really been looking forward to this. And whenever we have guests, we like to do our homework beforehand. And as we were kind of going through the chronological kind of at least written arc that we've read, I'm really excited to turn back the hands of time and start at your earliest days and really start digging in and unpacking what influenced your leadership style, what influenced your business philosophy, and ultimately, how did you get into science? So can you go back and just tell us a little bit about your upbringing?

Chris - 00:03:01: Yeah, I mean, I grew up on Long Island. I am the youngest of seven kids, six boys, one girl. So being the youngest of seven, there's always something going on, right? There was always some activity that we had going on. And I certainly got to see a lot of things, right? In terms of either my older siblings or... You know, my parents, my dad was an electrical engineer, very, you know, analytical and quiet, but also very thoughtful. And my mom was a business teacher, a school teacher. And so I really think I had like a perfect childhood growing up, frankly, like the neighborhood I grew up in on Long Island. You could just go out in the street and play with the kids on the street. And it was right on the water as well. And so we did a lot of fishing and things like that. So it was just, as I reflect back on that, it was really just a great place to grow up and a great experience. And, you know, my interest in science. Certainly for me, I remember back like in fourth or fifth grade, we had to do a book report or something. And I ended up picking a science book that, you know, had chapters about sort of Leuvenhoek and the discovery of the microscope. Right. And how the heart works. And I just got really interested. And actually, it was then I was like, you know, I think I want to be a doctor. Be a physician. And I think it also just stems from like, you know, my father being an engineer, just like the problem solving aspect kind of comes through. And so I really love connecting the dots, right? And understanding how something works. And so for me, understanding how science worked, whether it was an organ or a cell later on in life, it just became really attractive to me and something. That I wanted to do. And also... When I was 12, it was discovered that I had this birth defect in my aorta. And so I actually had heart surgery when I was 12, which also kind of spurred me on in terms of cardiology. And so that's, you know, I would say my early leadership style comes from my parents. And my parents were great leaders in their own right, sort of leading a family of seven kids and successful careers. But I also say like, you know, they weren't the loudest people in the room, right? My father, like me, was probably an introvert, right? And that's fine. Just a quiet, solid leader, thoughtful, and did a great job. And I see that in my siblings as well. And I think that's... What I was surrounded by growing up.

Jon - 00:05:18: That's amazing. And I think something to at least in the Bay Area for maybe maybe the past 10 years, there's kind of the loud, boisterous leader where like you don't get as much shine in media coverage for being a kind of more a quieter leader. You kind of get you kind of get more attention when you're kind of loud and boisterous. So I love hearing that, too, because I think for me, I owe it. Maybe I was like pretending when I was younger that I was an extrovert because that's kind of what everyone's like. That's what it is. That's what it takes. But now I'm like, I feel much more comfortable in my skin knowing that it is possible to be a leader as well with a different just a different style. So that's I love hearing that. And when you were at home and, you know, having conversations like dinner, dinner conversations with your your father, your mother. Was it I realized science, it seemed to me, came from your schooling in that early the early formative experience. Did you guys like with dinner or dinnertime chat like ever about science or was it kind of just like free reign, kind of like there was no pressure to do anything?

Chris - 00:06:24: I mean, it was free reign, right? On one hand, you have to imagine like seven kids down at a dinner table. The goal is to get everybody fed and not have drinks spilled and get through it.

Jon - 00:06:37: Yeah.

Chris - 00:06:38: But, you know, the conversations were either. Typically, like what's going on in school? Yep. We all played different sports. I was in literally baseball. So what's going on with our teams? What was going on? I was surrounded by aunts and uncles. And so, you know, what was going on with them? What my dad was doing at work. He was working on cool things with a defense contractor and certainly wouldn't share, you know, confidential stuff, but just, you know, generally what he was doing. Yeah. But it was generally, I would say, dinner was a time to like ordinate who's doing what. And just make sure everyone's on the same page. And also, there was always an expectation of doing well in school. And so who had homework to do or, you know, book reports due? Or I was thinking back the other day, like even when school, the school year would start, you would get all your books. And there was an expectation that you would cover your books, right? And, you know, you could either buy book covers or you could use like a paper bag that you would get to grow. And. I was just thinking back for my parents, like with, you know, seven kids come home from school. And at least four of us probably need help covering our books. So like between four kids with like six books each, that's like 24 books. Like I really admire my parents for everything they did. And just like the scale.

Jon - 00:07:57: Yeah, that's amazing. My wife and I don't have children yet, but our friends are starting families or have started families. And we get to kind of like live vicariously. And one of our friends is about to have their third child. And I'm just like imagining, you know, seven, that's like about 2x, a little bit more than 2x. And already, I remember going into like just recently visiting them and going into their house. We saw their house before kids. It was pristine. It was pristine. It was pristine. And then, you know, a couple of years later, we, we come, we come visit again and you're just like, Holy moly. We're talking about tornadoes before hitting recording. It was like a tornado, you know, just like, you know, markers everywhere, tortilla chips, like in the vents, just like, it's a complete, you know, just like chaos, but actually amazing that your parents were able to hold it together and like with, with, you know, such a large family. And I think, you know, I don't always comment. Like I always like thinking about families who are able to do that all. I'm just like. That's like just 

Chris - 00:09:03: yeah i mean there's a real yeah there's a real sense of um I would say on my parents' part, particularly my mom, about raising good kids. Yeah. Who did well in school and, you know, treated people with respect. I have four kids and they're great kids. Four is not as hectic as seven, but four can get hectic as well. Yeah. But yeah, my upbringing was, I would say, rooted in... You know, respect for people, being a good person. Doing well in school, being responsible, and staying out of trouble.

Jon - 00:09:38: Absolutely. Yeah, exactly. That's just like, please don't your parents like don't go to jail. Like it's like, please don't get arrested. At least I know for my parents, when I was a rebellious teenager, that was like something they're like going to stay out of trouble. 

Chris - 00:09:50: Yeah. A common refrain from my mother was remember who you represent.

Jon - 00:09:54: Exactly. You need to remember this. So as you were, you know, getting through school, it sounds like you found that early spark for science via that book report. I know you ended up at Cornell for your undergraduate. How did you choose Cornell? And, you know, it sounds like biology and pre-med was kind of on, you know, on the horizon. Can you talk a little bit about choosing Cornell and the pre-med track and how that was for you?

Chris - 00:10:17: Yeah, I mean, you know, obviously a great school, right? And being a New York resident, there was also a financial benefit to my parents, which was, you know, through the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, I could attend Cornell. You're in Cornell University, but as a New York resident, you have a discounted tuition. And again, my parents were appreciative of the fact that having put seven kids through college, that the last one could get some discount. Yeah. You know, it was certainly in state and, you know, probably four hours away from home, but that had something to do it as well. Great reputation. And I ended up... Majoring in molecular and cellular biology. And really went with the goal of going to medical school. Was at Cornell between my junior and senior years, I got a summer fellowship from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and did a summer fellowship at UMass in Worcester in a lab that was a premier lab for studying insulin signaling. And it was really there that I made a decision to switch and go into research. I really just... Got exposed to not only the research that they were doing and studying how insulin resistance came about in type 2 diabetes, but then got exposed to physicians who were then, you know, how do you translate these discoveries in the lab into potential medicines? And at the same time, my oldest brother, Carrie, had got his PhD in pharmacology and was now working at Burroughs Wellcome. And going down that road, and probably saw him as a role model, certainly for me. So all of those things came together. And then in my senior year at Cornell, I ended up working in a lab doing undergraduate research in the lab of Ephraim Racker. And so at that time... Was 76 years old. He was a National Academy member. He was from the old school, hardcore biochemist, was known for discovering the F1 ATP complex in mitochondria, and was like, did not fool around. I remember going into his office one time just to see him. He's like, well, do you have any data? Actually, no, I just went. He's like, well, if you don't have data, I don't want to talk to you. But he was a phenomenal mentor and just a person of great standing. But the other thing that was really cool is that during lunch, it was Ephraim Racker, National Academy member. Next door was a guy named Leon Heppel, who made seminal discoveries in terms of regulation of protein kinase A. He was a National Academy member. And so these two amazing scientists would just be going at it in terms of talking about science. And I just had that, I was there, I was like a bystander just to listen to how they talked about science. And then you just had other truly great scientists coming through, Gunter Blobel and others, just, you know, giants in the field of the early days of cell biology and enzymology and biochemistry, who just were coming through and were friends with FM Racker. And so... We did really interesting work, but it was just, again, his work ethic, his scientific ethic, was just a great way for me to build a strong foundation as a scientist.

Jon - 00:13:24: That's amazing. That sounds like an Avengers cast for an undergraduate lab experience. Yeah. It's like, oh my God, like celebrities like everywhere.

Chris - 00:13:33: It was a lot of fun, frankly. But again, it had this element of disrespect, right? And it was a great experience.

Jon - 00:13:41: That's awesome. And I guess two follow up questions to those. How did like I'm always curious about this is like, how did you end up like actually securing those roles at the fellowship and your undergraduate with like a phone call? 

Chris - 00:13:54: I was encouraged to apply to the fellowship by my academic advisor at Cornell. And then the lab I worked in at UMass Worcester might check. He's like, oh, I know F. And he said, oh, I'll make a phone call. And then I ended up talking to F. I can remember the phone call. And he's like, you got a fellowship to Mike Chek's lab? I was like, yeah. He's like, okay, well, then you can work in my lab. 

Jon - 00:14:14: That's so cool.

Chris - 00:14:15: You know, F was, he had a sort of a hard kind of shell to him. But when you got to know him, he was just a really phenomenal guy.

Jon - 00:14:23: Love that and i think it's something that i you know i kind of see as like through lines like putting yourself out there and you don't know kind of what doors might open to you it's kind of like it's impossible to know you're kind of like you'll be looking into a crystal ball but like there's like these inflection points that just like the book report inflection point applying to the fellowship, which then opens another door. But I guess what I take away from it, maybe just like for me, it's just like being open to new experiences and just like being open to whatever the world may present to you after that and just saying yes. And so that's very, very cool. And so it sounds like you had a phenomenal undergraduate lab experience. Did you know that your PhD was on the horizon? Was it kind of like almost like I might want to be an academic and become a professor? Tell me about your thought process. 

Chris - 00:15:12: Yeah, I knew I wanted to get a PhD and in pharmacology and wasn't sure if I wanted to go to academia. It was probably more leaning towards industry just because of my brother's experience. But certainly, you know, went into my graduate experience, eyes wide open in terms of potential optionality. And I ended up doing, you know, going to SUNY Stony Brook and I ended up getting my PhD in the same lab that my older brother got his PhD in.

Jon - 00:15:38: Oh, wow.

Chris - 00:15:39: Yeah. You know, he's eight years older than me, but this was Craig Malbon's lab. And Craig was a luminary and had a world class lab in GPCR research structure and function and was just a great, again, another just great environment where Craig was so supportive, but also, again, kind of no nonsense at times in terms of, look, we're here to do innovative work. This is a competitive space and created a great thesis project for me. We can talk about that, but it was full of many great postdocs who also had known my older brother because they were just starting when he was leaving. So everybody kind of knew me. So it was a very comfortable environment. But it was also just one that was so inspiring as a budding scientist to get that education, both in the Department of Pharmacology, but from Craig in particular. I really, really credit him with a lot of my success in my career.

Jon - 00:16:32: Awesome. Yeah, I'd love to learn more about your thesis and like how that unfolded for you.

Chris - 00:16:36: Yeah, this was a time when, you know, everybody was cloning all of these G proteins and G protein subunits. And so the super family was really growing. And Craig's, you know, really had an interest in, well, let's try to understand what they are doing individually and not just in cells. So my thesis project was to actually create transgenic mice where we would selectively knock down different G protein alpha subunits in selective tissues. And then we would characterize those effects both at the whole animal level, organism level, as well as the cellular level. And so we actually have two patents that we developed where we built a system to, in a tissue-specific fashion, express antisense RNA targeting GI-alpha-2, for example. And characterized the effects of that both in terms of, yes, GI-alpha-2 controls regulation of cyclic AMP production. But also these mice developed insulin resistance, which I had to characterize both in the liver and fat cells. In muscle. So it really was, you know, kind of a tour de force in the end of building a system, characterizing these mice, ended up with science and nature publications, which was great. Yeah. And I remember it was a Saturday. I come into the lab and Craig was sitting there at his computer and I was doing some work at my desk. And it's like the very earliest days of this project. We were just talking about the project and he turned to me, said, he's like, I'm going to make you famous. And it didn't like hit me at the time but as like that's how he thought about things like just uh really trying to push the envelope and do things that weren't just kind of me too but actually would really move the needle and be impactful And that has stuck with me throughout my career. I'm not interested in even in industry, like publishing, like the next sort of minimal research unit. To me, it really had to be something impactful. And that's what I learned from Craig as well. But it was just a really supportive environment. That project did very well. But there were just great postdocs there who, again, were just phenomenal role models in terms of scientists who were constantly reading the literature, but also understood pharmacology and understood the methodology. And, you know, what challenged me as I was going through my class is like, well, what did you learn today? Why? And or when I was studying for my qualifying exam, were really supportive. And I'm still friends with several of those people today. And I've actually worked with a couple of them during my career.

Jon - 00:19:04: That's awesome. Yeah. I always think about that too. How much of like having right mentors can really just put gas on the fire and just like really take you to the moon. My lab wasn't that large, but there's definitely a couple of postdocs that were pivotal in like shaping how I think. And I can still have these like very specific memories where they, at the moment I was like, dang, I'm dumb. Like that's what, like, that's what sharp is. I was like, and so it was kind of this thing where getting the kind of critical, hard feedback, at least for me was what in the moment, my ego was hurt, but I was like, Oh, this is how to get to the next level. 

Chris - 00:19:42: Yeah, I think it was like nurturing at the same, but also humbling, right? You have that experience, but it kept you focused, right? And they were just, again, a great advisory board, almost in a way of peers and colleagues.

Jon - 00:19:55: Very cool. And in Craig's lab, was Craig's lab kind of, I guess, I know some labs are kind of like more freewheeling, where it's kind of like not as hands-on. Was Craig's lab more hands-on?

Chris - 00:20:07: Yeah, I mean, there were discrete, you know, he had two RO1s, main RO1s, but ultimately three or four of them. But there was like understanding beta adrenergic receptor structure and function and regulation. And then there was the G protein side in terms of studying G protein function primarily. And so there were like two major themes that, you know, also intersected. So it wasn't sort of willy nilly, like pick a thing. And yeah, and I think, again, that was a great learning experience thinking about leadership style and just it just stuck with me. And I still apply it today here at Transcript. It was like deliver results now, focus and deliver as well as build for the future. And if I think about, you know, Craig has been immensely successful. And I think it was because he really kept people focused on delivering results, publications, as well as looking at new technologies and building for the future of where you need to go.

Jon - 00:20:57: Yeah. And I think that balance is definitely incredibly important, but also just like hard to do. I try my best to try to keep that balance at Exeter, but I can always sometimes feel myself going like one way or the other. It almost feels like kind of different ends of the spectrum sometimes when you're just like, it's easy for, at least for me to get heads down into something and just get lost in the detail. And then people, you know, you come up for air and people are like, wait. There's some long-term stuff we need to also be focusing on. And then I'm like, okay, okay, okay. And then we go on the long-term. So for me, it's kind of like this oscillating thing, but always trying to not just stay in one lane and not shift gears. But that's a good reminder that you've got to do both. 

Chris - 00:21:40: You do have to do both. And he did a really good job of holding people's feet to the fire in terms of publications and delivering the results that were part of what he said he would do with his grants. But also. Really picking his head up and then looking around and seeing where things need to go and who the competition were. It's really great time. Really grateful for having that opportunity.

Jon - 00:22:00: That's awesome. And I can, I can also see, despite this being an academic experience, Excedr is not a publicly traded company, but just like an observation of, of publicly traded companies where you can just see management, like getting torn in like those directions, like Wall Street, like we need results now. And then you're like, okay, I need to, I need to make sure that happens, but then it can sometimes be at the expense of kind of the long-term planning. So you're just looking torn at the seams. And obviously that's in the private sector, but.

Chris - 00:22:34: Yeah, I think it's probably true of any kind of business, if you will. Right. And. And Craig certainly wanted me to go into academia. And at this point, I was, he'd asked me, like, you know, what do you want to do? And I said, you know, going into academia, I could see, like, doing the research and doing what he's done. But I said, that feels like running your own business. Like I have to write grants to get the money to do the thing I want to do. Versus if I... Going to pharma, right? I'm trying to make drugs. That's a really great thing to try to do. I can do the science that I'm really excited about, but the company, you know, has the budget, right? And it's taking care of that in a way. So I ended up going down the pharma route. Now, you know, my brother was already down that route. There was another postdoc in the lab who I really admired who just went down into the pharma route. So, you know, Craig was really good at training high quality scientists and had certainly scientists that went into academia as well. But for me, it was really the opportunity to just get going and do the work you wanted to do. But of course, also just being part of this really noble endeavor of trying to find medicines to help people.

Jon - 00:23:37: Absolutely. And so you've made the decision to go into industry. Can you talk about how you got your first opportunity in industry?

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Chris - 00:23:46: Yeah, I mean, it was because... One of the former postdocs in Craig's lab, John Hadcock, who's a phenomenal scientist as well, went to Wyeth Ayerst and was working in their diabetes and obesity group. And my graduate and postdoc work in Craig's lab was characterizing these mice and discovered that PTP1B was induced in counter-regulating producing this insulin resistance. And John said, hey, we've got an opening here at Wyeth Ayerst in the diabetes group. Do you want to come and interview? And so I interviewed and gave a presentation and ended up getting the job. And like most people's experience, and certainly mine throughout my career, knowing someone on the inside, having that inside connection is more often than not the way that you end up getting a role. And so I just had a champion on the inside who knew me, knew the science that I was doing, and also thought that I could add value. And it was great to jump in. It was actually kind of weird when I started at Wyeth Ayerst, the PhD scientists were required to wear ties every day.

Jon - 00:24:44: Oh, wow. 

Chris - 00:24:45: Yeah. So here I am working at the bench wearing a tie. It's just so weird.

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Jon - 00:24:50: The image in my head is so funny. Because I was also, as you're saying about like, you're, you know, you're like coming in an interview. I remember my first set of interviews right out of the lab and I just not having any interview. Like I didn't have formal wear. I was like in like t-shirts and just like casual wear. And so I had to ask my, my dad, I was like, can I borrow, can I borrow some of yours? And he's, he's bigger than me. So it just was like draped on me. And I was just looking, I don't know, probably like a penguin or something, just going into this interview.

Chris - 00:25:27: Yeah, even in the interview, right? Again, you're not trained to go in interviews, right? Nor are you even trained to manage people. So during my interview, I was interviewing for a position where I would have three associates reporting to me. Coming out of my postdoc where I had nobody report. And actually one of the associates asked me, like, given that you have no managerial experience. How do you propose you're going to manage us? And I said, look, I treat people with respect, right? We're going to work on a plan together. We're going to work as a team. And I didn't have any of the other lingo about performance management or. Mm-hmm. And I think it's just like, for me, thinking back, like just those fundamental elements of respect and teamwork and getting buy in on a plan. Right. And we're going to work on it together and we have goals. And will deliver on those goals. Even at that stage, right, I think... That was a great answer, actually, looking back. But it's also one of those things where you can be successful in something, even if you don't have all of the formal training, right? But if you have, I think, the strong foundations to get there, you know, you can do it.

Jon - 00:26:33: Absolutely. And I love that because I think you're exactly right. Like the foundational elements, you're kind of like thinking from first principles. And. I think almost, I want to say that you don't have the kind of like the baggage of like formal training. Cause like, you know, sometimes there's like, there's like in the nineties, management styles were very, like in MBAs were taught very differently than what you're taught now. But if you get back to the heart of it, it's like managing, it's just like, how do you work well with people? How do you motivate people? How do you energize them? And, you know, part of that is like exactly what you said. It's like. Treating people with respect, dignity, giving them, you know, enough rope to that they can like do their own thing and be self-sufficient. And maybe I'm just biased here, but I also was not formally trained in management, but I was like. Okay. It's kind of like the golden rule. How would I want to be treated? And if you can be empathetic in that way, I think you can, you know, you can go the distance, honestly.

Chris - 00:27:33: Yeah. And so at Wyatt Thayerst, I jumped straight into a more mature program, a PTP1B inhibitor program. It had like 12 to 15 chemists on it. The true lead optimization effort. And I am now the new project leader. And I think it was great because I jumped right into the deep end. I had really supportive medicinal chemists who, and I will say throughout my career, medicinal chemists have been probably some of the best mentors I've ever had. And, but these chemists were just, you know, got me up to speed on the program, but also helped me start to understand like, what is this drug discovery thing about? Yeah. People from the toxicology group also just sat me down and helped me under, but I had to learn quickly on the job. Right. We ended up getting our development candidate and that molecule moved and went all the way to a phase two. So it was just, you know, in three years, I got an immense education in drug discovery. And at YF, Airst eventually shut down their obesity and diabetes groups. And that's when I moved on to Eli Lilly. Again, you know, the head of the diabetes group, Kurt Steiner, was just, again, another kind of quiet but really good scientist, a great leader, great role model. And it was just, again, I've been lucky to have really good experiences. 

Jon - 00:28:46: That's amazing. I mean, right out of the gate, out of academia and then getting into a program that goes to phase two. That's awesome. Like that. I feel like that's a rarity.

Chris - 00:28:56: Yeah, I mean, just making these presentations around the development candidate and why we should, it was just, again, I got, I'm really glad I got thrown into the deep end like that.

Jon - 00:29:04: Yeah. And sometimes that's what like, I find that when I get thrown into the deep end, that's when I truly start soaking things up and learning. And also kind of like a cousin to that too. It's just kind of like that trial by fire. It's also just like, you're feeling your way around. And just like it sometimes there is no like, I think there is no secret to it. It's just like a lot of things it's trial and error, you just got to go try and kind of what you're talking about, like the medicinal chemists, maybe be like, hey, like, don't make a right there. Like maybe make a left that way, and kind of leaning on them.

Chris - 00:29:37: Yeah, it was, we had a lot of people taking the time just to help me learn the ropes of drug discovery. Right. And, you know, eventually, again, in 99. Why they shut down their diabetes and obesity groups. And I had an offer from Pfizer and an offer from Eli Lilly. And just Eli Lilly, from the moment I interviewed there to the time I had the offer, they just really made me feel like they wanted me there. And the company has just such a phenomenal and rich history. Again, growing up on Long Island, if somebody said to me, Chris, one day you're going to live in the Midwest in Indianapolis, I would be like, no way.

Jon - 00:30:14: Yeah, no way. 

Chris - 00:30:15: But, you know, it's a great place to live. Certainly, it's a great place to raise a family, both in terms of economically as well as just a great place to be. And I ended up spending 20 years at Eli Lilly and Company. And I'm forever grateful for the education, the experience, the learnings, the opportunities they gave me.

Outro - 00:30:36: That's all for this episode of the The Biotech Startups podcast. We hope you enjoyed our discussion with Chris Moxon. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave us a review and share it with your friends. Thanks for listening. And we look forward to having you join us again for part two of our conversation with Chris. The The Biotech Startups podcast is produced by Excedr. Don't want to miss an episode? Search for the The Biotech Startups podcast wherever you get your podcasts and click subscribe. Excedr provides research labs with equipment leases on founder-friendly terms to support paths to exceptional outcomes. To learn more, visit our website, https://www.excedr.com. On behalf of the team here at Excedr, thanks for listening. The The Biotech Startups podcast provides general insights into the life science sector through the experiences of its guests. The use of information on this podcast or materials linked from the podcast is at the user's own risk. The views expressed by the participants are their own and are not the views of Excedr or sponsors. No reference to any product, service or company in the podcast is an endorsement by Excedr or its guests.

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