The Biotech Startups Podcast
🧬 This Ex-Googler Replaced a Whole Drug R&D Team | Javier Tordable (4/4)
Thursday · 59 min · Episode 263 · 43.3 MB
0:00-59:03
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🧬 The Biotech Startups Podcast is powered by Excedr—helping life science startups accelerate R&D and commercialization with founder-friendly equipment leasing. Skip the upfront costs, stay lean, and focus on breakthrough science.
As a TBSP listener, you can get exclusive perks through Excedr's partner network—special savings, promotions, and more. Explore these offers today: https://www.excedr.com/partners
"We not only run agents that do the computational chemistry for our customers, but we run agents for building our own systems."
In this part of the podcast, Javier Tordable unpacks why he left Google to solo found Pauling AI and how its agentic platform automates computational chemistry—from docking to ADMET—collapsing months into days.
Javier walks through building a company alone with AI: filing patents with LLMs, writing sales processes, and running agents to build the systems customers depend on. He and Jon dig into why human-written communication will command a premium and how biotechs use Pauling to run screens faster.
Looking ahead, Javier outlines a vision for unbiased AI that explores targets and modalities—small molecules today, peptides and antibodies tomorrow—in autonomous loops measured in days, not years.
Key Topics Covered:
If you enjoy The Biotech Startups Podcast, please consider subscribing, leaving a review, or sharing it with your friends. Thanks for listening.
Subscribe to the Podcast:Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-biotech-startups-podcast/id1679591994Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2PSL162R2s0zOwU5913Zv4YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thebiotechstartupspodcastWebsite: https://www.thebiotechstartupspodcast.com/
Find our guest, Javier Tordable at these links:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jtordableWebsite: https://www.pauling.ai/
Find our host, Jon Chee, at these links:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonchee/
Learn more about Excedr:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/excedr/Website: https://www.excedr.com
Intro & Outro Songs Created by OkKyojin, Owned by Excedr:Website: https://flow.page/kyojin
Resources & Articles:AlphaFold 3 for drug discovery: https://alphafoldserver.comOpenAI Agents and Agentic Workflows: https://platform.openai.com/docs/guides/agentsSchrödinger computational drug discovery platform: https://www.schrodinger.com/platformSolo Founder's Journey: Building with AI: https://www.ycombinator.com/library/6f-building-a-solo-startupEconomics of Pharmaceutical R&D (KFF): https://www.kff.org/rx-drugs/issue-brief/explaining-the-prescription-drug-pricing-process/Agentic AI for Multi-Modality Drug Design (Nature): https://www.nature.com/articles/s41587-024-02371-6
Companies, Universities, & People Mentioned:Google: https://www.google.comDeepMind: https://deepmind.googleOpenAI: https://openai.comAnthropic: https://www.anthropic.comApollo: https://www.apollo.ioClay: https://www.clay.comZoomInfo: https://www.zoominfo.comElevenLabs: https://elevenlabs.ioHubSpot: https://www.hubspot.comWellcome Sanger Institute: https://www.sanger.ac.ukAmerican Medical Association: https://www.ama-assn.orgEndpoints News: https://endpts.comSTAT News: https://www.statnews.com
Linus Pauling: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/1954/pauling/biographical/
Timestamps:00:00 Intro02:00 Knowing When to Leave Google07:26 Solo Founding Pauling AI08:11 Early Days Doing Everything09:24 Solo Founding in the AI Age10:53 Building With LLMs and Agents14:20 Voice Agents and Human Latency17:06 Premium on Human-Crafted Work20:24 Regulation and Human Doctors25:13 China Economics Disrupting Innovation29:04 Pauling Platform and Go-to-Market36:33 AI Objectivity Versus Human Bias38:59 Status Quo Comp Chem Workflows43:36 Modality Optionality and GLP-1s51:54 Shoutouts and Best Advice55:59 Outro
The Biotech Startups Podcast gives you a front-row seat to the business and science of building a biotech. Hosted by Jon Chee, CEO of Excedr, the show features honest conversations with founders, execs, and investors about their work, their companies, and how they got there. From scientific breakthroughs to startup lessons, each episode explores what it really takes to grow a life science company—from pre-seed to IPO.
As a TBSP listener, you can get exclusive perks through Excedr's partner network—special savings, promotions, and more. Explore these offers today: https://www.excedr.com/partners
"We not only run agents that do the computational chemistry for our customers, but we run agents for building our own systems."
In this part of the podcast, Javier Tordable unpacks why he left Google to solo found Pauling AI and how its agentic platform automates computational chemistry—from docking to ADMET—collapsing months into days.
Javier walks through building a company alone with AI: filing patents with LLMs, writing sales processes, and running agents to build the systems customers depend on. He and Jon dig into why human-written communication will command a premium and how biotechs use Pauling to run screens faster.
Looking ahead, Javier outlines a vision for unbiased AI that explores targets and modalities—small molecules today, peptides and antibodies tomorrow—in autonomous loops measured in days, not years.
Key Topics Covered:
- Leaving Google to Found Pauling AI
- Automating Computational Chemistry with Agents
- Solo Founding in the Age of AI
- Agents Building the Builders
- Go-to-Market Realities
- Physics-Based Multi-Modality Vision
- Economics Over Pure Science
If you enjoy The Biotech Startups Podcast, please consider subscribing, leaving a review, or sharing it with your friends. Thanks for listening.
Subscribe to the Podcast:Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-biotech-startups-podcast/id1679591994Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/2PSL162R2s0zOwU5913Zv4YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@thebiotechstartupspodcastWebsite: https://www.thebiotechstartupspodcast.com/
Find our guest, Javier Tordable at these links:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jtordableWebsite: https://www.pauling.ai/
Find our host, Jon Chee, at these links:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonchee/
Learn more about Excedr:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/excedr/Website: https://www.excedr.com
Intro & Outro Songs Created by OkKyojin, Owned by Excedr:Website: https://flow.page/kyojin
Resources & Articles:AlphaFold 3 for drug discovery: https://alphafoldserver.comOpenAI Agents and Agentic Workflows: https://platform.openai.com/docs/guides/agentsSchrödinger computational drug discovery platform: https://www.schrodinger.com/platformSolo Founder's Journey: Building with AI: https://www.ycombinator.com/library/6f-building-a-solo-startupEconomics of Pharmaceutical R&D (KFF): https://www.kff.org/rx-drugs/issue-brief/explaining-the-prescription-drug-pricing-process/Agentic AI for Multi-Modality Drug Design (Nature): https://www.nature.com/articles/s41587-024-02371-6
Companies, Universities, & People Mentioned:Google: https://www.google.comDeepMind: https://deepmind.googleOpenAI: https://openai.comAnthropic: https://www.anthropic.comApollo: https://www.apollo.ioClay: https://www.clay.comZoomInfo: https://www.zoominfo.comElevenLabs: https://elevenlabs.ioHubSpot: https://www.hubspot.comWellcome Sanger Institute: https://www.sanger.ac.ukAmerican Medical Association: https://www.ama-assn.orgEndpoints News: https://endpts.comSTAT News: https://www.statnews.com
Linus Pauling: https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/chemistry/1954/pauling/biographical/
Timestamps:00:00 Intro02:00 Knowing When to Leave Google07:26 Solo Founding Pauling AI08:11 Early Days Doing Everything09:24 Solo Founding in the AI Age10:53 Building With LLMs and Agents14:20 Voice Agents and Human Latency17:06 Premium on Human-Crafted Work20:24 Regulation and Human Doctors25:13 China Economics Disrupting Innovation29:04 Pauling Platform and Go-to-Market36:33 AI Objectivity Versus Human Bias38:59 Status Quo Comp Chem Workflows43:36 Modality Optionality and GLP-1s51:54 Shoutouts and Best Advice55:59 Outro
The Biotech Startups Podcast gives you a front-row seat to the business and science of building a biotech. Hosted by Jon Chee, CEO of Excedr, the show features honest conversations with founders, execs, and investors about their work, their companies, and how they got there. From scientific breakthroughs to startup lessons, each episode explores what it really takes to grow a life science company—from pre-seed to IPO.
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