Early-stage drug discovery can take years and requires deep expertise in computational chemistry that most biologists don't have. This creates a massive bottleneck in getting new therapies from concept to testing.

In this episode, Ayush Mishra sits down with Javier Tordable, Founder & CEO of Pauling.AI, to explore how AI is automating the most time-intensive parts of drug discovery and why adoption remains the industry's biggest challenge.

You will hear insights on:

• Why he left 16 years at Google to focus entirely on pharmaceutical AI
• How rational drug design works and where the traditional process breaks down
• What Pauling.AI does differently, an AI agent that handles target identification, molecular design, and binding predictions like ChatGPT handles text
• The real resistance AI faces from veteran scientists and the uncomfortable truth about generational change in pharma
• When we can expect to see the first fully AI-designed drugs receive FDA approval
• Where emerging market founders can find datasets when premium pharmaceutical data is locked behind paywalls
• What human scientists will always do better than AI, and why that matters
• His brutally honest take on the "science advances one funeral at a time" phenomenon
• Practical advice for biotech entrepreneurs building AI healthcare companies in Asia and Africa

If you work in pharma R&D, drug discovery, biotech innovation, computational chemistry, or clinical development strategy, this conversation offers an unfiltered view of where AI is actually taking pharmaceutical research.

Javier Tordable's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jtordable/

Ayush Mishra's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayushmishra/

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Dr. Ned Swanson walked away from surgery residency to commercialize technology that regenerates human tissue. What started with mouse studies is now helping real patients heal wounds that traditional medicine couldn't solve.

But here's the twist: the science wasn't the hardest part.

In this episode, Dr. Ned Swanson (President & CMO at Polarity Bio) sits down with Ayush Mishra to reveal the brutal truths about building biotech, navigating healthcare's broken reimbursement systems, and separating AI signal from noise in wound care.

IN THIS EPISODE:

The Career Gamble

• Why he left surgery residency mid-training
• The moment he realized biotech could help patients faster than academia
• Grant money vs VC funding: which path offers more creative freedom
• Taking a company public while still thinking like a resident

Building Biotech: The Brutal Reality

• The #1 challenge that blindsided him (it's not what you think)
• Moving technology from mouse studies to human patients
• Navigating FDA approval processes
• Why hiring the right people is harder than everything else
• Patient stories that made the risk worth it

Healthcare's Uncomfortable Truths

• How cost and reimbursement drive medical decisions more than evidence
• The "pure medicine" illusion every resident experiences
• Why the same products are priced $100 vs $5,000 per square centimeter
• What breaks when you step outside the hospital walls

AI in Healthcare: Reality Check

• Where AI genuinely helps in wound care: imaging, monitoring, real-world evidence
• Smart boots tracking diabetic ulcers and patient compliance
• How platforms like Open Evidence are changing clinical decisions
• Why AI won't replace RCTs but will expand their impact
• The future of wound care in 5-10 years

Regenerative Medicine Explained

• How SkinTE technology actually works
• Why 95% of traditional skin grafts fail
• From lab bench to patient bedside: the real timeline
• Expanded access programs and their impact

If you work in pharma, clinical operations, wound care, or research strategy, this conversation offers a clear view of where the future of healthcare is heading.

Dr. Ned Swanson LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ned-swanson-md-9612b120/

Ayush Mishra's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayushmishra/

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The pharmaceutical industry doesn’t struggle with scientific innovation, it struggles with execution. Feasibility, enrollment, evidence generation, and regulatory confidence remain the biggest constraints on getting medicines to patients faster.

In this episode of The Best AI Show on Pharma, Ayush Mishra speaks with Chandi Kodthiwada, Vice President, Product Management, Komodo Health, whose work sits at the intersection of real-world data, clinical development, and AI strategy across the life sciences ecosystem.

While for more than a decade building data products for biopharma, Chandi explains why most AI initiatives stall, why clinical trial operations remain deeply inefficient, and why real-world evidence is becoming a strategic lever rather than a research afterthought. From feasibility to enrollment to post-market monitoring, we explore how data is reshaping drug development and where the industry is actually seeing ROI.

This is not a futurist conversation, it’s a grounded look at what’s working today, what still breaks, and what needs to change for AI to truly matter in biopharma. Also get ready to know some deets on the recent partnership that happened between Komodo Health and Anervea.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• Why AI pilots struggle inside pharma organizations
• Why 30% of clinical trial sites never enroll a patient
• Recent partnership that happened between Komodo Health and Anervea
• Why RWE is gaining regulatory traction beyond publications
• Why consulting isn’t going away, but the slide work is
• Why trial bottlenecks are now operational, not scientific
• Why structured context beats model complexity in real use cases
• Why execution is the new competitive edge in drug development
• Why startups need ecosystem fluency, not just technology

If you’re involved in clinical development, RWE, regulatory, digital, medical, or commercial strategy, this episode offers a clear lens into where the industry is headed, and what’s required to get there.

Connect with Ayush Mishra

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

Connect with Chandi Kotriwada

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

Watch on YouTube

https://youtu.be/XIHNrAbE5N4

Watch Now on YouTube