Dr. Ned Swanson walked away from surgery residency to commercialize technology that regenerates human tissue. What started with mouse studies is now helping real patients heal wounds that traditional medicine couldn't solve.

But here's the twist: the science wasn't the hardest part.

In this episode, Dr. Ned Swanson (President & CMO at Polarity Bio) sits down with Ayush Mishra to reveal the brutal truths about building biotech, navigating healthcare's broken reimbursement systems, and separating AI signal from noise in wound care.

IN THIS EPISODE:

The Career Gamble

• Why he left surgery residency mid-training
• The moment he realized biotech could help patients faster than academia
• Grant money vs VC funding: which path offers more creative freedom
• Taking a company public while still thinking like a resident

Building Biotech: The Brutal Reality

• The #1 challenge that blindsided him (it's not what you think)
• Moving technology from mouse studies to human patients
• Navigating FDA approval processes
• Why hiring the right people is harder than everything else
• Patient stories that made the risk worth it

Healthcare's Uncomfortable Truths

• How cost and reimbursement drive medical decisions more than evidence
• The "pure medicine" illusion every resident experiences
• Why the same products are priced $100 vs $5,000 per square centimeter
• What breaks when you step outside the hospital walls

AI in Healthcare: Reality Check

• Where AI genuinely helps in wound care: imaging, monitoring, real-world evidence
• Smart boots tracking diabetic ulcers and patient compliance
• How platforms like Open Evidence are changing clinical decisions
• Why AI won't replace RCTs but will expand their impact
• The future of wound care in 5-10 years

Regenerative Medicine Explained

• How SkinTE technology actually works
• Why 95% of traditional skin grafts fail
• From lab bench to patient bedside: the real timeline
• Expanded access programs and their impact

If you work in pharma, clinical operations, wound care, or research strategy, this conversation offers a clear view of where the future of healthcare is heading.

Dr. Ned Swanson LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ned-swanson-md-9612b120/

Ayush Mishra's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayushmishra/

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The pharmaceutical industry doesn’t struggle with scientific innovation, it struggles with execution. Feasibility, enrollment, evidence generation, and regulatory confidence remain the biggest constraints on getting medicines to patients faster.

In this episode of The Best AI Show on Pharma, Ayush Mishra speaks with Chandi Kodthiwada, Vice President, Product Management, Komodo Health, whose work sits at the intersection of real-world data, clinical development, and AI strategy across the life sciences ecosystem.

While for more than a decade building data products for biopharma, Chandi explains why most AI initiatives stall, why clinical trial operations remain deeply inefficient, and why real-world evidence is becoming a strategic lever rather than a research afterthought. From feasibility to enrollment to post-market monitoring, we explore how data is reshaping drug development and where the industry is actually seeing ROI.

This is not a futurist conversation, it’s a grounded look at what’s working today, what still breaks, and what needs to change for AI to truly matter in biopharma. Also get ready to know some deets on the recent partnership that happened between Komodo Health and Anervea.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• Why AI pilots struggle inside pharma organizations
• Why 30% of clinical trial sites never enroll a patient
• Recent partnership that happened between Komodo Health and Anervea
• Why RWE is gaining regulatory traction beyond publications
• Why consulting isn’t going away, but the slide work is
• Why trial bottlenecks are now operational, not scientific
• Why structured context beats model complexity in real use cases
• Why execution is the new competitive edge in drug development
• Why startups need ecosystem fluency, not just technology

If you’re involved in clinical development, RWE, regulatory, digital, medical, or commercial strategy, this episode offers a clear lens into where the industry is headed, and what’s required to get there.

Connect with Ayush Mishra

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayushmishra/

Connect with Chandi Kotriwada

https://www.linkedin.com/in/chandikodthiwada/

Watch on YouTube

https://youtu.be/XIHNrAbE5N4

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Clinical trials don’t fail because of bad science, they fail because the operations behind them are broken.

In this high-signal episode, Ayush Mishra sits down with Suzanne Vyvoda, a 20-year clinical operations veteran who has built teams across 40+ countries, scaled billion-dollar trials, advised CROs, biotech founders, and helped companies cut trial costs by up to 25% without compromising quality.

From the chaos inside clinical sites and the “Excel tracker economy” that still runs global trials to the quiet operational failures that delay drugs, inflate budgets, and frustrate stakeholders, Suzanne breaks down what really drives clinical trial inefficiency, and why AI alone won’t fix it.

But this isn’t a pessimistic take.
We unpack where AI is actually working, which use cases offer real ROI today, why RWE is becoming operationally strategic, and why the future of drug development won’t be about replacing people, but augmenting them.

In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

• Why clinical trials are still powered by spreadsheets and PDFs
• Why sites, CROs, and biotechs are all frustrated, and all correct
• Why tech adoption fails when it adds work instead of removing it
• Why RWE + site intelligence is the next frontier of feasibility
• How good contract design alone can cut trial costs dramatically
• Why “ecosystem fluency” is the missing skill for AI founders
• Why CROs fear tech, and why that incentive structure needs to change
• Why the right MVP solves one problem, not 27
• Why the next wave of tools must feel native to real operators

If you want a real look at how trials actually run, from budget to operations to site burden to CRO incentives, and clarity on where AI fits (and doesn’t), this episode is unmissable.

Watch till the end. Your understanding of clinical operations will change.

Connect with Ayush Mishra

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayushmishra/

Connect with Suzanne Vyvoda

https://www.linkedin.com/in/suzanne-vyvoda/

Watch on YouTube

https://youtu.be/dalypa2iYi0

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America spends more on healthcare than any country on Earth, so why are they ranked 60th in healthy life expectancy?

In this eye-opening episode, Ayush Mishra sits down with Dr. Marschall Runge, cardiologist, researcher, long-time CEO of Michigan Medicine, and author of The Great Healthcare Disruption, to unpack one of the biggest paradoxes in modern medicine.

From the rise of chronic disease and the collapse of preventive care to the shocking inefficiencies buried inside the U.S. healthcare system, Dr. Runge breaks down what’s really driving America's poor outcomes and why critical care is world-class while the rest of healthcare continues to fall behind.

But this conversation isn’t doom and gloom.
We dig into where AI is already transforming care, how predictive analytics will rewrite diagnosis and treatment, why smartwatches are saving more lives than ever, and why Big Tech (Amazon, Google) and pharma giants (like Eli Lilly) are redefining the future of medicine.

You’ll also hear:

• Why academic medical centers must evolve or risk irrelevance
• How AI assistants will revolutionize chronic disease management
• Why preventive care is the REAL magic button to fix healthcare
• The danger zones of AI and what must never be automated
• Whether AI will reduce or widen the affordability gap

If you want clarity on where American healthcare is headed and why the next decade will reshape medicine more than the last 100 years this episode is unmissable.

Watch till the end. Your understanding of healthcare will change.

Connect with Ayush Mishra: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayushmishra/

Connect with Dr. Marschall S. Runge: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marschallsrunge/

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80% of clinical trials fail to recruit patients on time. This leads to massive financial losses and delays in getting life changing treatments to patients.

In this episode, Ayush Mishra sits down with Scott Treiber, COO of Cedar Health Research, to explore how modern technology and smarter workflows are transforming clinical research from the ground up.

You will hear insights on:

• Why clinical trials still move slowly and face major operational challenges
• How tools like Forge help clinics identify the right patients faster
• Real examples of improvements in recruitment and site productivity
• Which technologies in areas like AE monitoring, risk prediction and retention can impact patient outcomes the fastest
• How doctors, nurses and patients respond when new digital tools are introduced in everyday practice
• The biggest misconceptions and risks that still hold the industry back
• What the next five years of clinical research could look like with the right adoption

If you work in pharma, clinical operations, site networks, or research strategy, this conversation offers a clear view of where the future of trials is headed.

Scott Treiber's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/streiber/

Ayush Mishra's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayushmishra/

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What if the next big shift in medicine doesn’t start in a lab but in a conversation?
A conversation where data meets discovery, where intelligence challenges tradition, and where the future of pharma begins to take shape.

This trailer is your first look into The Best AI Show on Pharma hosted by Ayush Mishra, bringing together the voices redefining how healthcare thinks, decides, and innovates.

From drug discovery to patient impact, from clinical trials to commercial strategy, these are the stories shaping the next decade of medicine.

The trailer is just a glimpse. The real conversations are coming.

Searching for the most insightful life sciences podcast that reveals how AI is reshaping pharma strategy, research, and commercialization?

Discover The Best AI Show on Pharma, hosted by Ayush Mishra, featuring the leaders who are building the next era of intelligent healthcare.

Episode 1 drops soon.

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