Insights and advice from life sciences entrepreneur and CEO of ExpressCells Matt Handel.
Gene editing is one of the most exciting aspects of biotechnology. Having the power to alter our genome by improving and fixing it as desired has intriguing — and sometimes controversial — implications about the future of humanity. Nevertheless, current research in gene editing is vital in providing cures for currently incurable genetic diseases.
CRISPR-Cas9 is a novel technology that has sparked a lot of excitement in the gene editing world in recent years. By making use of an enzyme called Cas9 and guide RNA (gRNA), it enables researchers to edit, remove, and add to sections of the genome much more efficiently than previous methods.
Despite the innovation of CRISPR, the delivery of knock-in cell lines — in other words, cells with an added piece of foreign DNA — can take from a few months to over a year, which costs researchers a lot of time and impedes efficient progress. ExpressCells, as the name implies, is a highly successful biotech company at the forefront of delivering better and faster knock-in cell lines than companies that use conventional methods. It was founded in 2018 with the mission of enhancing biological research and drug development.
I had the opportunity to talk to one of the founders and current CEO of ExpressCells Matt Handel. I asked Matt about his insights on life sciences entrepreneurship, his personal journey in biotech and plans for ExpressCells, and his advice for young entrepreneurs.
Matt’s path to life sciences entrepreneurship is an interesting one, as he started on this path later in his career. There were two driving factors of his decision to get involved with ExpressCells: efficiency and cooperation with a trustworthy person. If anything, Matt’s story serves as inspiration that it is possible to get involved in any field as long as an entrepreneur maintains an open mind to collaboration and sticks to basic principles of entrepreneurship.
How did you get involved with ExpressCells as a life sciences entrepreneur?
“My partner from [my] first therapeutic company . . . pull[ed] me into a side room and spent half an hour showing me pictures of cells on his phone . . . I had no idea what he was talking about, I am not a genetic engineer, I was a politics major at Princeton! [But] two things really jumped out: one, this was a company that we could build up and start. As I like to joke, this was a normal company. We are not spending years for the FDA and clinical studies to tell us [what to do]. And the other [thing], which is vital, is Oscar, who is my co-founder and partner in the company. If you find someone you really like working with, keep working with that person if at all possible . . You want to work with people whom you trust.”
Matt also emphasized that an entrepreneur in the life sciences does not have to be a jack-of-all-trades. What’s more important than knowing the ins and outs of say, CRISPR, is being familiar with how the biotech industry works. The entrepreneur does not run the lab, but they have to be familiar with the lab environment. This ensures the entrepreneur is not out of touch with the industry.
What do you believe separates a good entrepreneur from the rest?
“It [is] really a matter of [asking] questions . . . why is this important? What did you mean about that? What does this term mean? A lot of people don’t do that. But [an] entrepreneur . . . doesn’t have to be an expert in everything. Now, if you’re running a software company, you don’t have to be a coder. But you do need to understand what coding looks like.”
When it comes to the future of ExpressCells, Matt’s plan is simple: grow the company.
Maximizing your company’s impact — in other words, growth — and becoming profitable are the fundamentals of entrepreneurship. And of course, you deserve some time off after accomplishing that.
What does the future of ExpressCells look like?
“[W]e’d like to grow the company . . . We’re raising money because we want to expand commercially, become profitable, [and] hopefully have an exit where we get acquired by a larger company. And then I would like to take some time off to sleep.”
Matt also warned against a self-centered mindset in entrepreneurship. Far more rewarding than chasing fame and attention is focusing on delegating responsibility to capable people and overseeing the success of your ventures. Matt brought up Bob Langer, a renowned chemical engineer and successful entrepreneur at MIT, who embodies these principles very well.
What traps or pitfalls must an entrepreneur avoid in order to have success?
“Bob Langer at MIT [has] probably spun out several dozen companies from his labs [by] empower[ing] the grad students and the postdocs . . . He [helps] raise money for promising ideas, and lets the person who actually drove that idea take it into the commercial world. I think that’s great because [he] has sparked the careers of these several dozen people along [his companies]. Entrepreneurs sometimes don’t know that, [since they fail to realize] that it’s not about having people put you on the cover of Inc., or Fortune or Fast Company . . . [I]f you really want your competent work, you need to have a good team of people and not sit there trying to make it all about you.”
Matt also wants young readers who are aspiring entrepreneurs to know that they have more time than they think. A career in life sciences entrepreneurship can seem especially daunting, which may induce a sense of dread that time is running out and one needs to get started as early as possible. However, any entrepreneur will benefit immensely from waiting until they are ready to pursue their original ideas.
Any last words of wisdom for an aspiring young entrepreneur?
“Just one thing to keep in mind. I know nowadays, everyone wants to come out and start a company. You don’t have to do it right away. I think one reason why I’ve been able to do what I’ve done is because I didn’t start as an entrepreneur and I was able to pick up information, learn [from] experience. Think of experience as . . . learning all the things so it becomes second nature to you. [Don’t feel] like ‘I better be an entrepreneur and successful by 25’. . . You got plenty of time.”
Matt’s honest advice provides a refreshing view of how a young entrepreneur interested in the life sciences can get involved. The most important takeaway is that there is no need to overcomplicate the process, as it all comes down to sticking to basic principles, taking your time, and finding people you trust. Life sciences can seem daunting at first, but it all comes down to asking questions and working with others, rather than chasing the spotlight and trying to do everything alone.
