🧬 Pfizer, AstraZeneca & Merck: Building Biotechs Within Big Pharma | Martin Brenner Rerelease (2/3)
The Biotech Startups Podcast · 2026-05-11 · 37 min
Episode notes
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: "If you don't hurt letting people go — large amounts of people — if that doesn't hurt you anymore, it's time to get out." In this episode of The Biotech Startups Podcast, Jon Chee continues his conversation with Martin Brenner, CEO and Chief Scientific Officer of iBio, tracing his career through Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and Merck. From re-engaging demoralized scientists after layoffs to a Moderna encounter when the company was just eight people strong, Martin offers a rare insider view of what it actually takes to drive innovation from within Big Pharma. Key Topics Covered: Leaving Eli Lilly: A painful Hamburg site closure and the leadership instincts it forged. Pfizer vs. Lilly: Same targets, different machine — what the Wyeth acquisition revealed about scale. Cultural Fit: Why every rejection is a bullet dodged.