Enoch Kariuki, Former CEO at Lengo Therapeutics, on Translating Science to Therapies

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Enoch Kariuki, Former CEO at Lengo Therapeutics

In this episode, we sat down with Dr. Enoch Kariuki — former CEO at Lengo Therapeutics, CFO at VelosBio, and SVP of Corporate Development at Synthorx. We explore Enoch’s upbringing in Kenya and how a family member’s battle with HIV inspired his pursuit of a career in healthcare. We also dive into Enoch’s journey as a biotech executive at three separate start-ups, all of which were acquired. Enoch is based in San Diego, CA.

In this conversation, Enoch and I discussed:

• How biotech, at its core, is about translating innovative science to transformative therapies and the patients whose lives can be positively impacted by them
• Where business and healthcare meet and how that understanding led him to build his career in various parts of the healthcare ecosystem — from CVS Healthcare as a Pharmacist, to H.I.G. Capital as a Private Equity Investor, and Lengo Therapeutics as CEO
• The value of having a business mind to help build, finance, and set the strategies for early-stage biotech companies to develop meaningful programs and products for patients
• The stories behind building Lengo Therapeutics, VelosBio, and Synthorx, and how all three were acquired
• San Diego’s status as a biotech hub where collaboration and having fun come first

Start to 3:30: Healthcare is a Hugely Personal Endeavor

• On growing up around business: Born in Loitokitok, Kenya, Enoch grew up around business. His parents, while not formally educated, were savvy businesspeople; his family owned trucking, beer distribution, and wholesale businesses, to name a few.
• On HIV / AIDS impact on his family: As a child, Enoch witnessed his aunt’s battle with HIV before she unfortunately passed away. It was this experience that moved him to realize how healthcare could be used as a tool to help people and motivated him to pursue his own career in the healthcare industry.

“I literally remember this vivacious, full of energy … shriveling away in front of the family’s eyes and us not being able to do much for her. That’s when I started thinking of how healthcare could be a tool for helping people.”

3:30 to 8:45: Merging Healthcare and Business with a Fellowship in Industry

• On studying pharmacy at Texas Southern University (TSU): Enoch moved to the U.S. to attend Texas Southern University, a historically black university in Houston, TX. At TSU, Enoch’s focus transitioned from business to pharmacy once he realized that pharmacy would be a great way to merge his interests of business and healthcare.
• On pursuing a postdoc fellowship in industry: Upon the recommendation of his professor, Enoch pursued a postdoctoral fellowship at Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), a large pharma company, in their R&D Strategy and Analytics team. At the time, BMS was undergoing a transformation from a diversified healthcare company into a more focused biopharma company, which meant that Enoch gained exposure to many strategic initiatives such as in- / out-licensing transactions, M&A, and spin-offs.

8:45 to 11:20: Early Career Learnings as an Investment Banker and Private Equity Investor

• On pivoting to healthcare investment banking: Enoch decided to pursue his MBA at Tuck partially motivated by his mentor at BMS. At Tuck, Enoch embarked on what began as a summer internship and ended as a four-year stint on Wall Street. Enoch refers to this experience as a period of deep learning, where he led a variety of deals from M&A to follow-on / debt offerings for healthcare companies.
• On transitioning to the buy-side: Enoch’s unique phenotype as a former practicing pharmacist, large pharma R&D strategist, and investment banker landed him his next gig at H.I.G. Capital, a multi-billion dollar private equity fund in Miami. Enoch’s role on the Life Science Investment Team at H.I.G. required him to draw knowledge from all points of his career in order to evaluate an investment.

11:20 to 31:50: Build It (i.e., good companies) and They (i.e., acquirers) Will Come

• On the value of operating experience: Up until this point, Enoch’s entire post-MBA experience was either as an advisor or investor but never as an operator. Enoch recognized the value of having operating experience when he began sitting on Boards on behalf of H.I.G., where he realized that those who’ve built companies before were especially helpful and empathetic to management teams and their challenges.
• On joining Synthorx: After initially meeting the company with the intention of investing on behalf of H.I.G., Enoch was recruited to join Synthorx, a biotech start-up developing an Extended Genetic Alphabet platform technology that expands the genetic code by adding a new DNA base pair and is designed to create optimized biologics. His business and deal-oriented background highly complemented the CEO, Laura Shawver’s, operational background and they decided to build the company together.

“You need somebody with a business mind to think through ‘How do we turn this exciting science or innovation into a product or service that then people want to invest in and will help patients down the line?’”

• On building Synthorx: As the business-minded leader, Enoch led the company through its IPO process (where he led drafting of the S-1), built the team (from 10 to 70 employees), and formulated the BD / partnership strategy. The team had a long-term vision for Synthorx but as partnering conversations with larger biopharma companies progressed, it became clear to many that it was in their best strategic interest to acquire Synthorx outright versus just partnering. Sanofi acquired Synthorx for $2.5B in December 2019.
• On addressing an unmet need in cancer with VelosBio: After Synthorx, Enoch became CFO at VelosBio, a biotech start-up developing ROR1-directed antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs). Despite the herculean advancements in novel modalities like cell therapy, the reality for most cancer patients remains chemotherapy or radiation as first-line treatment. ADCs involve a therapeutic payload attached to an antibody that targets specific antigens (in this case, ROR1) to deliver the payload to the tumor while avoiding the systemic side effects of traditional chemo- / radiotherapy. With a single ROR1-directed antibody, VelosBio derived multiple potential products in its pipeline by switching the payloads to attack different tumor types. Merck acquired VelosBio for $2.8B in November 2020.

“The early data that we had was astounding. In heme malignancies, you’d see patient scans [from patients] who’d been through six or seven lines of therapy … and we’d put them on VLS-101 and most of the time, they were clear [of cancer].”

• On being a first-time CEO at Lengo: After VelosBio, Enoch made the step to CEO at Lengo Therapeutics. Being a first-time CEO was a great experience given that Enoch was responsible for the entire strategic vision of the company in addition to the execution. Ultimately — you guessed it — Lengo was acquired by Blueprint Medicine in December 2021 in a structured deal that included $250M upfront and up to $215M in additional potential payments.

31:50 to End: Advice to the Next-Generation of Business Leaders

• On San Diego as a biotech ecosystem: Enoch has spent his entire operational career within San Diego-based companies. Enoch credits his upbringing in Kenya for his love for San Diego — an ecosystem where people work hard and have fun doing it together. There’s also tremendous talent in San Diego, both from an industry and academic perspective.

“This culture speaks to who I am. I want to do really great work and work really hard, but I want it to be fun and feel like it’s a collaborative environment.”

• On the pace of innovation in biotech: Enoch strongly believes that we’re sitting at the start of what’ll be a very exciting period for biotech. The pace of innovation is unprecedented with the introduction of new technologies and significant capital inflows into the industry. There’s no industry he’d rather be associated with and he highly encourages young professionals, especially those with a business mindset, to come to biotech!