From the newest drug to the newest form of matter, scientific discoveries typically start with a drop of solution, a particle accelerator, or a cell in the lab. Getting these scientific discoveries into the hands of consumers, however, requires a great deal of intermediate steps that the scientist who first make the discovery are typically not involved in. In other words, oftentimes, there is a divide between the creators and the sellers; Shawn Carbonell, MD, PhD envisions a world in which the creator and the seller are one in the same. A self proclaimed “brain surgery dropout”, Carbonell turned to creating his own company, Brazen Bio, to help biotech creators and founders to overcome the challenges of selling a product, empower them to take charge in this industry by selling their products themselves, and how to best tell their story and sell their product using social media and scientific storyteller on platforms like TikTok. Intrigued by his journey and a big fan of Dr. Carbonell's own TikToks, we sat down with him on the inaugural episode of Inside Biotech in 2022 to learn more.
Shawn Carbonell, MD, PhD, is Cofounder and CEO of Brazen Bio Inc. and Cofounder and Managing Partner of Brazen Capital. He is a graduate of the University of Virginia Medical Scientist Training Program and completed postdocs at Oxford University and UCSF. After a major discovery in brain cancer, Dr. Carbonell quit neurosurgery residency to cofound his first biotech startup, OncoSynergy, Inc. He raised over $20M in dilutive and non-dilutive funding and led the development of the first-in-class therapeutic he invented, OS2966. Today—at Brazen Bio—his mission is to establish the “Y Combinator of biotech,” to help founders overcome the tremendous obstacles that are unique to this industry — obstacles that he personally faced when starting his first company. He sees great value in encouraging more scientists to become CEOs to launch novel technologies beyond the laboratory to advance human health. To learn more, visit his website, https://www.brainsurgerydropout.com.
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