Hello. Welcome to another episode of the healthy enterprise. If you're a return listener, thanks for coming back. And if it's your first episode, then welcome. Today, I'm gonna be talking to Dr. Jessicca Rege.
Heath Fletcher:Yes. Just like the music. And this is a quote. She is passionate about transformative research that enables us to help the patients we all serve. She's the CEO at Seuss Clinicals where they have some innovative platforms using genetically modified pigs to bridge the gap between mice and human trials in cancer research.
Heath Fletcher:If that doesn't peak your interest, I don't know what will. But, this is gonna be a great chat, so let's get started. Jess, thank you for joining me today. I am excited to have you on this episode so you can share a well, share a lot with us about what you're doing and and your your expertise at Seuss Clinicals. I'm I'm curious to hear more, and I'm sure listeners are curious to hear more as well.
Heath Fletcher:So, yeah, just give us a bit about yourself and and introduce yourself and let us know. Fill us in.
Jessicca Rege:Yeah. Sure. So, you know, doctor Jessicca Rege, I I was trained on the bench. All of my years of of research has been in cancer research. I know everyone is always impacted, by this, type of disease, and and I I guess I got the itch really on, when I started working on my master's degree and even into my my PhD.
Jessicca Rege:And then, you know, postdoc as well as moving into industry, I've spent my entire career working on cancer and how to get better assets or products or we're gonna talk about SEWS clinicals, tools that will enable researchers to move their most promising assets into the clinic is what I'm working on now. So, you know, by training PhD in pharmaceutical sciences, spent over twenty five years developing drugs and leading r and d research organizations in the large pharmas as well as small biotech companies.
Heath Fletcher:Oh, interesting. So you're also a hematologist too. Right?
Jessicca Rege:So I I trained in my postdoc in hematology.
Heath Fletcher:Interesting. Quick side story. My wife, about a year and a half ago, had a stem cell transplant. Oh. Yes.
Heath Fletcher:Very interesting journey and spent a lot of time with hematologists over that time frame.
Jessicca Rege:I would be sure. And so it's it's great to hear that, you know, science has has helped her, it sounds like.
Heath Fletcher:So Incredible. Yeah. What a process and, you know, how where it's at today is, you know, very different than where it was at twenty, thirty years ago, but magic. And so I got immersed in this world for a year and a half of of, of during her journey. So it was for for people who have never really spent a lot of time in the hospital environment or in any kind of treatment, it was a pretty interesting, imbursement for us.
Heath Fletcher:So I have a whole new respect for the whole industry, for the whole process, and for people that understand what this is because, I mean, it's a huge part of oncology. Right?
Jessicca Rege:Yeah. Yeah. No. It it is. And and I I think, you know, from I'm as I mentioned, I I'm I'm really passionate about making an impact.
Jessicca Rege:You know, I always say when I leave this world, hopefully, that would be a long time from now, but I really want someone to be able to say, hey. She made a difference in either helping get a product to, you know, the finish line, helping aid a tool to get additional, assets or drugs to the finish line, helping build better leaders, or just overall making a difference in just helping people understand cancer because I think people like you, right, you are thrown into it. And Yeah. No one wants to choose that world, but cancer impacts all of us. And so to me, when someone says, you know, I have cancer or my friend was diagnosed with cancer, I you know, my first thing is empathy, but my second thing is let me help them through their journey in whatever way I can, whether it's through my academics and my research or if it's just being compassionate and breaking down these really tough words and acronyms.
Jessicca Rege:I mean
Heath Fletcher:Yeah.
Jessicca Rege:Sometimes, you know, we we hear the acronyms and or my son will tell me an acronym, and I'm I'm my first thought is I go to something cancer because that's been my whole world.
Heath Fletcher:And Yeah.
Jessicca Rege:He's talking about, you know, a new type of bubble gum or something. So it's it's, for me, it's just so different. So I just think it's always so important. You know, we have to, you know, put our empathy, and it's so complex. Right?
Jessicca Rege:It's so crazy. I've spent my entire life in it, so it's not that scary for me.
Heath Fletcher:Yeah. You're right. It's interesting because when you come into it sort of, like, out of you know, from a layman's perspective, it is like, wow. There is so much information being checked at you very quickly. In fact, I I think we were told so many times, oh, don't Google anything or don't go you know, it's like they want the less the less, you know, the better.
Heath Fletcher:But, you know, unfortunately, my wife is not that not designed that way, so she has to know everything. So before we she even got in there, she knew almost every drug that was gonna be administered and what all the different procedures were because she just could not. She could not. She kinda she went to the University for Biology, so she could not actually ignore it. She had to know what was happening to her.
Heath Fletcher:But at the same time, it was also still super overwhelming. So to to look at that from a patient perspective, it's like, yeah. It's how do you how do you get patients through that process, you know, in a more efficient
Jessicca Rege:Yeah. I I do. I mean, I think the the patients in the cancer world are far more knowledgeable than I, you know, I've I've seen in other therapies. And, again, I think part of it is because, you know, people still see it as a scary word, and so they're gonna research and and and do everything. But I find, you know, patients like your wife are the ones that are helping us on the science side get to a a better space, whether it's helping them understand or even helping to bring better, you know, assets or tools to to the clinic.
Jessicca Rege:So, good for her. I'm I'm glad that that she did that research before she comes in because no one should actually just automatically hand over, you know, their body, their treatment, and everything without having the questions and the dialogue that makes them feel comfortable.
Heath Fletcher:Exactly. Yeah. And, of course, that's frontline we're talking about, so patient treatment. But if you take it back, you know, several 100 or a thousand feet, you've got in the background all this research and development. I mean, we hear all the time, you know, cancer research, support cancer research, donate to cancer research.
Heath Fletcher:But I don't think anybody really understands what goes into cancer research, but that's where you live.
Jessicca Rege:Yes.
Heath Fletcher:So tell us about Seuss Clinicals and what you guys are doing there.
Jessicca Rege:Yeah. So we're becoming a leader in large animal oncology models. So we have an FDA cleared OncoPig, and this platform provides a highly translational preclinical model that enables cancer researchers to accelerate their most promising therapeutics or devices into human clinical trials. Now this is the only large animal research platform which can reliably replicate human cancers on demand. So we can actually what we can do within one animal system, we're able to test efficacy, so does the drug work, safety, so what are the side effects associated with that drug or that device, and then any metabolic effects.
Jessicca Rege:So how does the drug, metabolize or how is it eliminated, and and what does that cause? The other thing that our model does is we're able to actually look at comorbidities associated with cancer. So as you know, most most people these days don't just have cancer, but they may have cancer and diabetes or cancer and
Heath Fletcher:Right.
Jessicca Rege:And their liver cancer is associated with, like, a cirrhotic liver. And so we're able to also put comorbidities within our model. And all of this, one, is to enable researchers to move as quick as possible, but also reduce the cost and reduce the overall risk.
Heath Fletcher:Does this align so first, actually, I had another question. What did you say? Oncapig?
Jessicca Rege:Oncapig. Yes.
Heath Fletcher:O n c a, pig. Right?
Jessicca Rege:O n c o for oncology Okay.
Heath Fletcher:Gotcha. Okay. Gotcha. That's a great term. I just wanted to clarify that because I heard it, and I was like, I think I read it somewhere on your website, but I wanted to clarify what that was.
Heath Fletcher:Does this align somehow with precision medicine or custom medicines? Is that kind of where this sort of fits in really well?
Jessicca Rege:Yeah. So, you know, everything in oncology, I would say, is moving to precision based medicine. I mean, we've been, you know, understanding more and more throughout the years that I've been doing r and d. But, yes, this this OncoPig, does enable us to do precision medicine. Like, when we think about a certain protein that's driving the way your disease is is looking, you know, the best kind of examples that I can give that a lot of people know, like, breast cancers are associated with certain proteins, and those drugs that target the those proteins are depending on what you have is what what you'll be, prescribed, by your oncologist.
Jessicca Rege:So, yes, we're able to, within our Oncopig model, be able to, you know, put in a particular gene, or put in even a mutation of that gene in order for us to really understand what is happening when you put your therapeutic in. We also can just have a tumor, and maybe a device company wants to understand a new way of delivering a drug directly to the tumor, or they wanna understand if they can actually use a particular device to cut out the tumor better, and we can see that we have better margins for surgeons. So this is a platform based on the pig that enables any type of whether it be a therapeutic, a device, or maybe we're even, looking at a new type of biomarker or diagnostic, we can actually explore, helping them.
Heath Fletcher:And, also treatment outcomes too, like side effects, things like that. I think I read that. Right?
Jessicca Rege:Yeah. So the safety, so those side effects. And then the big thing and and the big differentiator of us, if you think about how we traditionally do r and d, is I like to tell everybody, I've cured a lot of mice in my career. I mean, a ton of mice in my career. But I've yet to see that translate into the clinic.
Jessicca Rege:Right. And and the reason that is is because, you know, we typically in cancer, we test efficacy in mice because those are our best models we have now.
Heath Fletcher:Right.
Jessicca Rege:And then we test safety in nonhuman primates or monkeys or dogs. The problem is we don't have one model system where we can test it all, the efficacy and the safety. And that's what we've been able to build with our transgenic Oncopig.
Heath Fletcher:Okay. Let's explain that. A transgenic Oncopig. Completely new set of words for me that I've never actually
Jessicca Rege:It's a I'll, I'll tell you, you know, the the best way to describe it because, you know, I I come from, you know, not a family of a ton of scientists, including my my son who is, gonna be a senior in high school next year. The best way to describe it, is how he describes my profession. He calls me a mutant pig farmer. And so what a transgenic pig is I know you're gonna go into a whole different set of conversations with that one. But what a transgenic oncopig is, what we've done so our cofounder and chief scientific officer, Larry Shook, he led the mapping of the pig genome back in 2012.
Jessicca Rege:And what he was able to show is that the pig has a 98% genetic map to a human. And so what we were able to do is in the human, there's particular genes that drive cancer very commonly. So what our transgenic oncopig is is we've been able to modify the genome and put these two genes into our pig, and then we put what we call a stop codon in front of these genes. So these pigs are walking around pigs that have the ability to generate cancer as soon as we inject a solution in them.
Heath Fletcher:Wow. And
Jessicca Rege:so that's what I mean by it's a genetically modified. So we've mapped the genome. We've added in two dominant genes that are associated with driving cancer. Mhmm. And then we add a solution, and that solution turns on the cancer in whatever organ we inject that solution in.
Heath Fletcher:Wow. That's fascinating.
Jessicca Rege:I know it's mind blowing, actually. When I I mean
Heath Fletcher:Yeah. That is my blood.
Jessicca Rege:Scientist, but, you know
Heath Fletcher:Now you're a mutant pig farmer.
Jessicca Rege:Now I am. And so the great part because we've been able to genetically modify these pigs, we've been able to show that it's this this construct is stable, and that's what we utilize to to work with the health authorities to ensure that we can actually sell these pigs for those researchers to ask those important questions. And as I mentioned earlier, we can answer all of those potential questions of, is it safe? Does it work? Right.
Jessicca Rege:And how how does it metabolize, or how do we get rid of it within our our body system? Because these are all really important questions before we put it in humans, that we need to understand.
Heath Fletcher:K. I have to ask. Do these pigs act like regular pigs?
Jessicca Rege:They they not only act like regular pigs. They are actually bred within the same facility. They just have to be housed in a different place because they are considered transgenic. We always need to make sure that they don't get into the food food chain.
Heath Fletcher:Oh, I see. Right. Right. Wow. So interesting.
Heath Fletcher:That is crazy. I did not expect this. Okay. So, I love the mutant pig farmer phrase. That's right.
Jessicca Rege:I I will tell you it's I I need to like, my son needs to be a marketer or something, but it was so funny when, one day, I think he was sitting there, and I don't know if someone asked him or or you know, usually, I'm thinking, oh, shouldn't my son be really proud of me being a CEO and, you know, I'm a doctor? Like, shouldn't this be really important? No. No. He just basically said, oh, my mom's a mutant pig farmer, and it's like, technically, he's right.
Heath Fletcher:He's right. And anywhere a a young person can use the word mutant in a phrase, well, he's that's that's a winning that's a winning combination.
Jessicca Rege:I I think so. So it is it's kinda my new thing now. Everyone's always like, I guess it's true. It's it's it's the best way, but he was exactly right. We do.
Jessicca Rege:We mutate the genome of the pig.
Heath Fletcher:Yep.
Jessicca Rege:And we breed pigs.
Heath Fletcher:So if ten years ago or fifteen years ago, someone was, you know, was, telling your fortunes and then was said, oh, one day, you're gonna be a mutant pig farmer, you probably wouldn't have believed them.
Jessicca Rege:I you know, it's funny. Never would I have believed them, particular you know, I grew up in Virginia, around farms and everything, and and everybody knows Virginia hams probably. So
Heath Fletcher:Right.
Jessicca Rege:Never would I have thought that I've come full circle from, you know, growing up eating Virginia ham to to now I'm genetically modifying pigs to help cancer research. So you you never know where your life is going to end or what you're gonna do to to make a difference in this world. So, hopefully, all of this is is was all meant to be.
Heath Fletcher:Yeah. Well, it sounds like. I mean, you came through your education and then and then were you practicing patient facing at some point at any point
Jessicca Rege:in your career? So I'm a PhD by training, but I did work within the hospital construct. I I put myself through grad school being the phlebotomist
Heath Fletcher:Oh, wow.
Jessicca Rege:Med tech. So, yeah, I've I've been a lot of patient facing
Heath Fletcher:Yeah.
Jessicca Rege:But but I'm not a trained medical oncologist.
Heath Fletcher:Right. Right. But that you've had that experience where you and and, of course, everyone, like you said, who there isn't anybody who hasn't had some sort of experience with cancer or with someone they love or experience that process in their life. So everyone's very familiar with it, but actually being front front line, knowing the patients and and that your, you know, your whole, framework is based on, you know, helping people, improving lives, saving lives, reducing treatment outcomes as far as impact on health and and recovery. So it's a when did you when did this come up?
Heath Fletcher:When did you kinda go, oh, this is where I wanna go, and how did you make that shift for yourself?
Jessicca Rege:You know what? I think it was it was relatively early in my graduate school years. I think I I became so fascinated with cancer and it it basically, we we all have, you know, it walking around if you think about inus. All it is is a a a mutated cell. Something got turned on.
Jessicca Rege:Something went haywire. Right? And I was just so fascinated by that going, how could something that gets triggered turn into something so impactful to us? And what can I do to make a difference? And so I started early on looking at different biomarkers.
Jessicca Rege:Could we detect things earlier? Did some research in prostate cancer. I then went on to glioblastoma work, which again, another deadly disease, and I was like, why? You know? And then I went on to and I think we talked about this earlier.
Jessicca Rege:I I did a postdoctoral fellowship in pediatric hematology. And I think I would say in those early years of my PhD and my postdoc, I was like, I need to do whatever I can to get better drugs to patients or speed the process, in getting these into the clinic or make better decisions when we're in the clinic because I'm really good at executing, and I'm really good at strategizing on how to get these drugs in and through the clinic. Right? Because Right. If you think about when you're treating a cancer patient and you probably experience this with your your wife, it's not just one doctor.
Jessicca Rege:It's a culmination of doctors, and it's kind of an orchestra. Right? It's not it's not just the flute section. It's well, you've got the radiologist. You've got the oncologist.
Jessicca Rege:You've got your general, you know, doctors. You've got you've got your surgical it's you've gotta orchestrate it all within within the interest of the patients. And I saw this, I would say, early on in my career. And then when I flipped over to the industry side, it's similar. Right?
Jessicca Rege:When when you're working in industry, well, you have a statistician. You have a regulatory person. You have a clinical person. You have a project manager. You have the drug supply people.
Jessicca Rege:I realized very early on in my career, I'm really good at orchestrating with the line of sight that the patient is the one we're all serving and working for because I just was like, okay. If someone would come to me I used to laugh when my team used to come to me and be like, Jess, the SOP says we've gotta do x y z, and you're doing x z y. Okay. I I get I'm not a rule breaker. I'm a I'm a very rule abiding, you know, citizen and and in even in the workplace.
Jessicca Rege:But it would fascinate me that people were more interested in the policies that we had versus there's a patient every minute that needs our drug that we can give them one more birthday or one more graduation or something that's impactful in their life. But we're worried about x y z versus x z y.
Heath Fletcher:Right.
Jessicca Rege:And so I realized what I'm really good at is orchestrating. I'm really good at being that conduct or and saying, okay. If you do this, you could do this, and you could do this. And that's really what allowed me to continue to kinda evolve throughout my career and ultimately to be where I'm at now. Because even when I look at the lens that I'm playing now, the reason I'm at the the perfect position is I know what it takes to get a drug into the clinic and through the clinic and ultimately approved.
Jessicca Rege:I started all my career on the bench working with animal research. I'm perfectly now aligned to bridge the two
Heath Fletcher:Right.
Jessicca Rege:To be able to say, hey. Have you thought about this? And this is a great model because of this. Right. And so I I find that that that becomes the most important aspect.
Jessicca Rege:And and, again, gonna go all the way back to the question how you started. You know, I I just got so interested in and it's not just a it's not just a simple disease.
Heath Fletcher:Right.
Jessicca Rege:And it's not going to be cured or impacted in any way if we also execute in a simplistic manner. And so I wanted to actually use both of those Mhmm. The sophistication of the science and understanding and then the sophistication of the execution. And that's allowed me to kind of really find my, I would say, you know, perfect little point being my mutant pig farmer self.
Heath Fletcher:Is that, yeah, MPF? You'd have to go after CEO.
Jessicca Rege:Yeah. Know. I could add extra letters to my name. You
Heath Fletcher:know? And everyone would always ask, what's MPF? And then you'd have to tell them. And then
Jessicca Rege:I like that idea. Maybe I'll do that. Maybe that's gonna be my next It
Heath Fletcher:might have to go on your business card, at least.
Jessicca Rege:Yeah. Well, it it's funny you say that, you know, AI. Right? AI is is super, super cool, and it's the hottest thing since sliced bread. And I love AI is is really, you know, impacting us everywhere, I would say, in in day to day, but it's it's really impactful on cancer.
Jessicca Rege:But Mhmm. The other day, I was talking to an investor, and I said, hey. I've been doing AI for long before it became this hot topic. So in order for us to generate our pigs, we use AI all the time. It's called artificial insemination.
Heath Fletcher:Oh. So,
Jessicca Rege:you know, you you just have to actually work and own what what a I I mean, everybody we were talking about acronyms earlier. Yes. They mean something different. My acronym are different.
Heath Fletcher:I love that. Are you guys so you are using AI? That is one of my questions, actually. You are in you are heavily using AI in
Jessicca Rege:So not necessarily with what mean,
Heath Fletcher:mean, AI is in artificial intelligence and artificial insemination.
Jessicca Rege:So We
Heath Fletcher:know you got the one. Do you got the other?
Jessicca Rege:Now within our current, I would say, business model, no. But within the cancer research space
Heath Fletcher:Sure.
Jessicca Rege:We do a lot of AI. And and I actually you know, my other, I would say, side project because, again, I'm passionate about, cancer research and and making an impact in general in the cancer space. I have another company where I work, as a a fractional, chief medical officer. Oh, really? And and it uses AI to do systematic literature reviews.
Jessicca Rege:So with a couple points and clicks of a button, you're able to actually have the latest and greatest of clinical trial in a very salient, digested, manner.
Heath Fletcher:Oh, wow. What's that company?
Jessicca Rege:That's called OncoScope AI.
Heath Fletcher:Oh, cool. And you're the CMO?
Jessicca Rege:I'm the chief medical officer. So I
Heath Fletcher:Oh, not the chief marketing officer.
Jessicca Rege:No. The the chief medical officer there. So I I work to ensure from the medical accuracy from the oncology side, it's correct. So the CEO there on a foresight, she's she's also another powerful female beast to reckon with, that that her and I have been working together for many years. We've known each other, you know, for almost twenty years now.
Heath Fletcher:Amazing. So you're now something you brought up before is that you, you know, x y zed, you're doing zed y x. And, you know, is that a is that a a quality of yours in your when you're wearing your CEO hat that you're questioning status quo, that you're wondering, you know, why do we do it this way when we could do it this way? Well, like you say, like, sometimes policies get made and processes get put in place, and everyone gets very comfortable with them and they work for a while until someone comes along and says, well, why do we do it that way? Why don't we do it this way?
Heath Fletcher:And everyone says, well, I don't know. We just do it that way and we know you know, is that a quality you think that you bring as a CEO that is critical in your in where you're at? And, you know, do you recognize that as a quality of yourself?
Jessicca Rege:Yeah. So I would say I am known as a disruptive leader. Oh, okay. And and and again
Heath Fletcher:That's a good thing too. Right? That's yeah.
Jessicca Rege:And again, you have to come in because you have to come in and, you know, look at every everything you have. I mean, you know, just because it's been done that way for the past ten years doesn't mean it's the right way. And I'm a firm believer of of also, I'm a, you know, very authentic leader as well, but I'm also an open door leader. I want the most junior level staff to bring me what they think is their greatest idea. Now maybe I'm not gonna be able to implement it, but maybe there are aspects of it that could make the business run more efficient or better.
Jessicca Rege:But, yeah, I would say I am well known as a disruptive leader. I don't necessarily think titles nor policies or or practices, not that they're wrong, but we should always look at them. And are there ways of doing them better? Mhmm. And I'm also one to, you know, not have a problem if my opinion is differing from, you know, someone at the top.
Jessicca Rege:I don't mind stating my opinion. Doesn't mean they have to take my opinion.
Heath Fletcher:Right.
Jessicca Rege:But I've always been one to say, okay. You know, I just thought I would offer this up. You're the CEO at the time, you know, when I was in that portion of my career. So I'm a I'm just a firm believer of, you know, you have to be disruptive. If not, you're gonna always be behind.
Heath Fletcher:Right. And when you made that when you made that shift into CEO role, what did you what was your what was your biggest challenges in that process, and how did you how did you kinda get through that? Because, I mean, it it's a transition for especially from where you came from to being a CEO of company. Yes. You're dealing with the same subject matter, but your day to day actually changes quite dramatically, doesn't it?
Jessicca Rege:Yeah. So, yes, sometimes I want to get way down in the weeds and realize, okay. That's not my job.
Heath Fletcher:You wanna put on the lab coat and
Jessicca Rege:Yeah. Yeah. I I think some sometimes it's a way of hiding. It's like, let's go back to to to that world that didn't seem so scary some days. You know, I think the the biggest challenge that I had, and and I think we all have this, but it's impostor syndrome.
Jessicca Rege:Mhmm. I I I know people don't like to talk about it, but I still have it. Day to day, I'm like,
Heath Fletcher:oh, I
Jessicca Rege:think I did that okay. Or I I I I think I can do this. I'm I'm not
Heath Fletcher:you know? And then you're, like, terrified to ask somebody, did I do this okay?
Jessicca Rege:I I know. And because you're like, oh my gosh. I'm I'm the I'm the top.
Heath Fletcher:Yeah. And they're like, oh, she just asked me if she did okay. Like, I'm just gonna tell her she did fine because I'm not telling her she did a shitty job.
Jessicca Rege:And and it is. I mean, and it's it's funny because some and I I do even now. I have a lot of one on ones with my team at at all levels of the organization. And and part of it is, one, I want to get to know them, but the other part is to kinda let them know that I am like them. Like, that I'm a person too.
Jessicca Rege:Just because just because I'm the CEO doesn't mean that I'm not normal. Right. Or and so I think, you know, the impostor syndrome is always gonna be with us. And I don't know. I I talked to some of my other, like, I would say, female friends.
Jessicca Rege:Sometimes I I do say that I'm I'm very confident in being in the CEO world, but the CEO world is not prolific with females sometimes. And sometimes I I go into meetings and I'm like, okay. There's only a couple of us here. So so sometimes I would say I use it to my advantage because I can use some humor or or joke about it for people to more you know, be aware. But then sometimes I'm like, would they listen to me, or would they interpret it differently if it came from someone that's saying the same thing as a male?
Jessicca Rege:You you just never know.
Heath Fletcher:No. Tragically, it's probably true, but, you know, maybe we're still we're still working through that, I think, as a society. It's like it's been you know, it's not I think it's generational. It's a part of our society that has just become that is that is who tends to sit in those seats is mostly men, and I think there should be more women personally. But
Jessicca Rege:And I think in some cases, COVID knocked us back a little bit. Yeah. And and I don't mean it in a bad a negative way. But if you think about it, we were all trapped up in our houses at home. And if we had young children, I mean, I remember my my kid when he was really young, he wasn't going to run to his daddy.
Jessicca Rege:He was always running to his his mom. And and, again, that's just kind of a natural age, not to say, you know, the the kids don't love or or bond with their father. It's just a different kind
Heath Fletcher:of role. Yeah.
Jessicca Rege:You know? And so I do think it it knocked us back because I think a lot of of females kinda had to, you know, play that role. And and, you know, it you just never know. I I I will tell you some days, I'm like, oh, look how far we've come. And then other days, I'm like, oh, it's just a generational.
Jessicca Rege:And then other days, I'm like, darn it. COVID didn't, you know Yeah. Leave us I mean, I think COVID did some great things for us in the sense of you know, even if I look at the company I'm at, our labs are in Chicago. We're incorporated in Ohio, and I sit in Massachusetts. Right.
Jessicca Rege:Wow. Look at what we've been able to do in generating and establishing and setting up a company all being in different geographies. So so there's a lot of pros too.
Heath Fletcher:Yeah. That's definitely a feather in the COVID cap for sure. Yeah. But, yeah, you're right. And we're we're scratching the surface on an issue that as that is got a lot more discussion behind it.
Heath Fletcher:But I think, you know, being a woman in in a in a role like yours, did you have you experienced any pushback or any sort of use do or do you seem like, you know, your ideas are embraced and your your concepts are embraced and, you know, you are you sensing any of that?
Jessicca Rege:I I would say even, you know, I've had very positive experiences throughout my career and even now, currently to this day. So I can't I can't say there's any negative impact. I will tell you, though, I spend a lot of time in in trying to to kinda cultivate those next generation of of female leaders.
Heath Fletcher:Nice.
Jessicca Rege:And I'm I am a little bit of a rare breed. My my mom and dad will definitely say I'm a rare breed. But I don't I don't mind that ever since I've been young, I've always stood up for what I think is right, or I don't mind vocalizing my opinion. And, again, it's not to say that I expect people to do what I but it's like, I'm used to being in a family in an environment where a healthy banter leads to a better outcome. Outcome.
Heath Fletcher:Mhmm.
Jessicca Rege:So for me to speak up, it's just me speaking up in the, hey. I'm gonna bring an idea. It may be good, but if we all talk about it, it can turn into something great.
Heath Fletcher:Right.
Jessicca Rege:And so I'm I'm used to that environment, but I'm very cognizant. And I would say, you know, this is probably three, four years ago. A young female was, you know, pregnant at the time, and I was helping to mentor her. And she was actually worried about going on maternity leave and coming back and not being offered particular projects. And it was funny because I'm going, oh my gosh.
Jessicca Rege:When I was your age, I could see that being a challenge, but that's not the case anymore, I would say now. But it's funny that still in her mindset, she had thought, well, she's gonna be out for eight to twelve weeks tending to, you know, her her newborn. But does that mean that Sat back to her.
Heath Fletcher:Yeah.
Jessicca Rege:You know, she's not gonna get the first priority over her peers because you know? So I I do think it's always in the back of a Yeah. It's a bit systemic.
Heath Fletcher:Yeah. Mind.
Jessicca Rege:For sure. And I and I hate to hear those things, and I I constantly tell, you know, people, I think you have to speak your mind and you have to be authentic. I mean, I talk about my son to to my teams or even in, you know, podcasts and stuff like this because I'm a mom first. I'm always gonna be a mom first. Yeah.
Jessicca Rege:And it it's never held me back or impacted anything in my career. I will tell you I missed some great opportunities when my child was younger to see some moments in his life that I will always regret, but I always make time to be a mom first.
Heath Fletcher:Great point. Now let's talk about so you're at the helm of the ship. How are you steering growth now, and and what does that look like for SEUS Clinicals? Like, is it you know, what where are you at in the trajectory of the company now and and it where you want it to be?
Jessicca Rege:So currently, we're, you know, we're trying to close out our seed round, which will enable us, you know, within the next about eighteen months to get to some proof points from our r and d pipeline because, my vision and and goal is to be the best large animal model based company. So we wanna continue to build models, that enable researchers to to answer their questions and build better and better models. I wanna continue to remain capital light. I'm not wanting to become the next CRO. I wanna have all the CROs utilizing our models with all the potential customers.
Jessicca Rege:To me, that will make the greatest impact, overall for the greater good, but as well for us as as an organization.
Heath Fletcher:Is there a lot of competition in your field, again, in your area, in large animal
Jessicca Rege:research? So there are large animal there are other large animal models such as dogs and nonhuman primates. Now we are one of the only large animal models that I mentioned that can actually produce tumors on demand
Heath Fletcher:Right.
Jessicca Rege:That is a big differentiating step of everyone else. There are within the other large animals, they can induce tumors.
Heath Fletcher:Right.
Jessicca Rege:It just takes a longer time, and their induction success rate is a lot lower. So we have a hundred percent success rate in being able to induce tumors in our pigs, where some of the other models, again, it may take six months, and they may have, like, a fifty percent success rate. So we don't have to induce 10 pigs to get one Wow. Pig, with a tumor. All of our pigs will have tumors, a hundred percent of them.
Jessicca Rege:Now if you want four lesions versus, you know, three lesions, we always just say inject five times. You'll have four tumors, you know, just to ensure that the the amount of tumors that you want within the organ, you have as many.
Heath Fletcher:So can you can you you know, are they breaking down the door? Can you keep up with demand? Is it if you're if you're the only one that can do this and and words getting out, you know, how do you how will you manage that growth?
Jessicca Rege:So part of part of me coming on board for the company was to kind of bridge that gap. Right? I talked about my background. I'd started in the preclinical arena, and and I've been taking drugs to the finish line and and doing been leading r and d organizations for about twenty five years. So part of our biggest challenge was and is adoption and awareness.
Jessicca Rege:So we have done no outbound marketing, and we were generating or we have generated over $4,000,000 in total revenue for our OncoPigs, $2,000,000 as Seuss Clinicals. Because prior to it being Seuss Clinicals, we had it out of the university. So we were selling OncoPigs out of the university.
Heath Fletcher:Oh, I see.
Jessicca Rege:So that being said, all of our revenue has been no outbound marketing. It was people coming to us.
Heath Fletcher:Right.
Jessicca Rege:Now we're pushing more of an outbound marketing and and trying to push for adoption and awareness. That's our biggest hurdle, right now. So we're trying to make sure that we're in front of the right conferences with regards to oncology conferences. So, you know, pharmaceutical companies as well as device companies are aware of us. And so we believe the uptake is is coming in.
Jessicca Rege:And then the other thing that I've shifted the organization to, what I just mentioned to, is we're using channel growth partners such as contract research organizations to be able to help us not only by doing the work with our customers, but also bringing new customers to the table with us. And so that's one of the, I would say, model shifts that I've I've done for the company because we were trying to take on all the work, and we only have one small lab. So now having that done by CROs, that's really been able to up uptake, in in the business, and and we're looking to continue to grow that as we move through the year.
Heath Fletcher:So I just wanna make sure I understand. So the are you you're doing the research as well for clients, or are like, I think you said something about buying the pig and taking the pig and and doing their own lab work with the pig, or is it all being in house?
Jessicca Rege:No. So we we focus in house to do our own r and d research to build better and better models.
Heath Fletcher:Okay. Gotcha.
Jessicca Rege:We use the contract research organization. So other CROs that
Heath Fletcher:Gotcha.
Jessicca Rege:They have the infrastructure, the staffing, and everything, all of those. And so what we do is we sell our pigs to the customers Right. Such as the pharmaceutical or the device companies, and then the CRO ends up being the the person that does the work The research. For them.
Heath Fletcher:And can do that in in a in a satellite lab somewhere else entirely. Okay. Yeah. So that was a good move on your part rather than because that's probably a a bit daunting to take on all that as well.
Jessicca Rege:Well, and then it's a lot it's a lot more money to be able to raise capital Yeah. Versus being able to, you know, come in. And then the other reason why we think it's really important not just to to remain capital light, if you think about it, it also allows us an opening with regards to exit strategies. Right? We could sell each of our different models to a different CRO
Heath Fletcher:Right.
Jessicca Rege:And or have the CRO actually fold us into their environment. So for us, we think it's actually a positive step forward.
Heath Fletcher:Very much so. Yeah. Very exciting. Very exciting. And that trajectory, what's your growth timeline here?
Heath Fletcher:Are you looking at you know, what's your five what's your five year outlook? Where you where are you where do you guys wanna be in five years from now?
Jessicca Rege:So good question. So I I always, as a small biotech, five years is so far away, but I will do my best.
Heath Fletcher:So Okay. You can go three.
Jessicca Rege:How's three? Is that better? Yeah. There you go. Three is always a a good one, but but I'll I'll tell you the three and the five year plan.
Jessicca Rege:So we, we are hoping to become a profitable company by 2027. And with that profitability, we actually believe we'll continue to be able to build better and and and more efficient models to be able to help. One of our models that we're, you know, building within our portfolio will allow us to build the first ever patient derived pig based model. So what I mean by that is we'll be able to take human cancer cells, so a human tumor, and put it directly into our pigs
Heath Fletcher:Wow.
Jessicca Rege:And then be able to test. And so one of our pipeline assets is is this. We've we've been able to figure out a way to overcome the immune system within the pigs so these tumors don't get rejected. And this is gonna be then the perfect, I would say, or the there's nothing perfect when it comes to animal models. No.
Jessicca Rege:But the best animal model system that will enable us to really test a human tumor within a model system. Because, again, the reason pigs are so much better models is because they're so similar to a human.
Heath Fletcher:Right. Yeah. Isn't that that's very interesting concept in itself, like, how how a monkey is not more like me than a pig. You know? It's it it just seems
Jessicca Rege:What's funny? So if you think genetically Yeah. A monkey is, like, 99% genetic map. A pig is 98%. We are you know, I it's it's funny.
Jessicca Rege:I I I never use this, but I I my my chairman of the board will will like this because he says this sometimes. Okay. But men are pigs. And and, technically, I'm not saying that. I'm I'm transmitting that through him.
Heath Fletcher:It's a quote. It's a direct quote.
Jessicca Rege:Yeah. But but it is true. So if you think of the animals that we typically use in clinical research, it's mice or or any rodent. Right. We use rabbits, dogs, and monkeys and pigs.
Jessicca Rege:So monkeys and pigs are the closest genetic map to us. Right. And if you think about it, right, pigs people have pig organs walking around in
Heath Fletcher:the animal. I was gonna say that that's the only animal we can actually and and take an organ from. Right?
Jessicca Rege:That's why it's a perfect model system. And so now it's just really building that adoption and awareness in the cancer space that this is a great model system that we've been able to build build here at Seuss Clinicals.
Heath Fletcher:Wow. You live an incredible world. It's crazy. I I it's been fascinating to hear this, all from you, and I really appreciate, Jess, you sharing everything with me. Any, you know, last comments, I think, maybe for you to somebody maybe walking in your shoes, you know, ten years ago, and if they see themselves in you and see themselves in, maybe sitting in your seat.
Heath Fletcher:Any words of advice or or suggestions for their journey?
Jessicca Rege:I my great greatest suggestion I have is always lead with the glass half full and look at the positive side because you get more nos, being a CEO than you get yeses. And it's those yeses that are really gonna make the difference not only in the patients we all serve, but the staff that we all serve. And and and, ultimately, you know, those are the moments that you remember. You don't remember all those noes.
Heath Fletcher:No. That's right. You're right. That's very good advice. That's very good point.
Heath Fletcher:You always remember the yeses, and you gotta celebrate the yeses when they happen.
Jessicca Rege:Yeah. And all the small yeses. I always tell the teams, hey. I know we don't think this is big, but we need to celebrate. This is a good thing for us.
Jessicca Rege:So so, I mean, you know, I I think we get our feelings get hurt the most with the no's, but I've learned to kinda realize a no is just the next opportunity for when that yes is gonna come.
Heath Fletcher:It's like a sign in the road. It's like, no. Don't go that way. Go that way. Yeah.
Heath Fletcher:Right. Great advice. Where
Jessicca Rege:it's gonna lead. And look. I would have never known if you would have asked me ten years ago, one, would I be a CEO? Not sure. I think I always wanted to get here.
Jessicca Rege:But two, would I be a CEO of ASUS Clinicals? No. I I wasn't you know, it I just never thought of it in in the cards, and and I love what I do now. I love the impact that I'm making on the teams and hopefully on, you know, all of the the patients that are living with cancer, it it's just makes me happy. You know, we we have our 50 what?
Jessicca Rege:60% of our lives are in our work. So I wanna be doing something that is meaningful to me, but also that is meaningful to the rest of the world. And so I I feel like I found a a nice little niche and a nice little home, and, hopefully, we'll continue to make a difference.
Heath Fletcher:Well, thank you so much. All the best in in your in your road ahead, and thank you so much for sharing your story with us, Jess. I really appreciate you sitting with me here today, and I know you've got a baseball game to get to
Jessicca Rege:pretty
Heath Fletcher:soon.
Jessicca Rege:I know. I do.
Heath Fletcher:We'll say goodbye from here, and thanks again for joining me today.
Jessicca Rege:Alright. Thanks, Heath.
Heath Fletcher:Okay. I still cannot get over the mutant pig farmer job title. She's got new letters behind her name, m p f. Hilarious. And I won't be able to say the words AI now without thinking about artificial insemination.
Heath Fletcher:Thank you, Jess. That's great. Such a pleasure to learn about transgenic pigs, another phrase I have never heard before, and the ability to replicate human cancers for research purposes is is incredible. What fascinating worlds. What fascinating things that go on out there.
Heath Fletcher:Jessicca has a tremendous amount of empathy for patients clearly, and, you know, it's important for her that that's taken into consideration in every decision making they make. Innovative models like Sue's clinicals, you know, accelerating drug development, and what a what an incredible journey she is on. She's a disruptive leader and wants to be an inspiration for other female leaders in her space. I'm sure she's going to do just that as Seuss Clinicals moves on to, grow bigger and and better in the coming years in large animal research. So if you wanna learn more about Seuss Clinicals, please go to their website at susclinicals.com.
Heath Fletcher:And, you know, if you wanna talk to Jess, you can always track her down on LinkedIn. So, again, thank you very much for listening, and I hope you have a great day. Please stay healthy, and we'll talk again soon.