Welcome to Boba & Biotech, here’s the scoop from Armon Sharei

Biotech has a PR problem. It's messy, complex, and hard to understand from the outside looking in. That's why I'm starting Boba & Biotech.

I’m Armon Sharei. You might know me from my cell cartoons on LinkedIn. I was born in California, grew up in Iran and Dubai, and somehow ended up spending most of my life thinking about cells.

In this intro episode, I'll lay out my career - how I got to where I am today. Hint: I’m a chemical engineer by training and during my PhD, my colleagues and I accidentally discovered something that led to my first company: SQZ Biotech SQZ went on to operate for ten years. We raised about $400 million, partnered with Roche, went public in 2020, and tried to create a new class of cancer therapies. 

Now, I'm the founder and CEO of Portal - a next-gen version of what SQZ had started. Today, we have over 100 customers, a growing team, and support from DARPA to democratize access to next gen cell therapies. 

I also proudly sustain a near daily boba habit.

I ALSO believe strongly that if you make a difference through science, that difference is irreversible. No one can ever take back a cure to a disease. And that’s why this podcast exists. 

Boba & Biotech is about giving biotech a real face. It’s about scientists, founders, investors, pharma leaders, and the people in between - talking without the sanitized bullshit about how this industry actually works. We’ll talk about science, clinical trials, finance, and all the other ingredients that go into making a drug.

More info:

• About me
• About Portal