Brian Finrow, CEO of Lumen Bioscience
“This whole world of opportunity blossomed from that one random meeting, which we almost didn’t take.”
- Brian Finrow
Brian Finrow is the CEO of Lumen Bioscience, where they are reinventing how biologic drugs are made. Unlike to a lot of Bioscience CEO’s, Brian comes from the legal industry having spent over 8 years at Cooley. Lumen's patented technology allows them to use the well-known food algae spirulina to deliver therapeutic proteins.
Key Takeaways:
Adapt, fast. Lumen had a hedge fund ready to co-lead a round of financing to set them up on the path towards IPO; then Russia invaded Ukraine and the markets tanked and their funding came to a screeching halt. So they pivoted, raised a smaller round, and “put the hammer down on business development and non-traditional funding and succeeded above all their wildest expectations.”
Listen to the whispers of your own intuition. The easy thing is to do the obvious thing and there is safety around that. But Brian found that listening to that very quiet voice of an unconventional idea led to a breakthrough for Lumen Bioscience.
Topics Covered:
Attorney to Life Science CEO - Brian Finrow, CEO of Lumen Bioscience 0:00
The founding story of Lumen Bioscience 0:56
The company’s focus 1:47
How Brian went from being an attorney to a Bioscience CEO 4:18
What Lumen Bioscience is currently working on at this stage of the company 10:57
Lumen Bio's Unique Funding Strategy and Advantages in the Challenging Biotech Market of 2022 11:40
How Lumen Bio Pivoted and Found Success in Untraditional Funding when Markets Shut Down 15:04
Advice to other CEO’s 18:44
Brian’s ultimate vision for Lumen Bio 20:40
