Jeff Marrazzo - Compounding for a Cure - [Art of Investing, EP.7]

Our teacher today is Jeff Marrazzo, Co-Founder and former CEO of Spark Therapeutics. Under Jeff's leadership, this biotech company was the very first in history to receive FDA approval for a gene therapy. Spark has helped to ignite and expand the art of what's possible and how we will seek to treat and potentially cure hundreds of genetic conditions over the coming decades. Jeff provides us with an insider's overview of the biotechnology industry and shares the full story of Spark, from its humble origins in the labs of Children's Hospital of Philadelphia all the way through to its nearly $5 billion acquisition by Roche. I hope you enjoy our class with the inspiring Jeff Marrazzo.  For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here. ----- This episode is brought to you by Summus. Summus is a revolutionary health benefits solution, driving superior employee engagement while dramatically lowering your company's enterprise-level healthcare spend. They're completely transforming the world of health benefits by providing employers and their employees in any location, fast access to over 5,100 of the top medical specialists from America's very best medical centers for support across all health questions. If you're looking for a benefit that drives your employee engagement, truly takes care of your people in their most scary and vulnerable times, all while improving your healthcare ROI, visit GoSummus.info/AOI. This episode is brought to you by Hunt Club. Hunt Club unlocks relationships and helps companies grow. Whether it's recruiting your next hire, landing your next big partner, or financing your business, a trusted introduction always works more effectively. Hunt Club’s tech-enabled search model leverages the largest community of its kind to refer amazing talent on your behalf. Additionally, its software program, Atlas, helps organize the entire network of a company or fund and assists in streamlining the right introductions. If you're looking for the ideal solution for all of your talent needs, visit HuntClub.com/AOI. ----- Art of Investing is a property of Pine Grove Studios in collaboration with Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Art of Investing, visit staygrovey.com.  Stay up to date on all our podcasts by signing up to Colossus Weekly, our quick dive every Sunday highlighting the top business and investing concepts from our podcasts and the best of what we read that week. Sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @ArtofInvest | @Buhrman_Rick | @PaulBuser | @JoinColossus Show Notes (00:06:20) - [First question] - Witnessing the impact of aiding others (00:10:45) - The genesis of the vision for Spark Theraputics (00:15:11) - Securing FDA approval (00:20:22) - Navigating the venture capital landscape (00:27:26) - Confronting periods of doubt (00:33:21) - The significance of gene therapy in the US (00:38:40) - Drawing inspiration for interdisciplinary collaboration (00:43:58) - Guidance for youth seeking to capitalize on opportunities (00:50:20) - Anticipating advancements in life sciences and healthcare (00:54:34) - The role of AI in advancing gene therapy (00:58:38) - Ways to engage with biotechnology (01:04:55) - Simplifying the complexities of biotechnology investment