RARECast: Rare Disease Company Seeks 100 Drugs in 10 Years

Recursion Pharmaceuticals has set the audacious goal for itself of developing 100 drugs in 10 years for rare diseases. The company, focused on repurposing compounds abandoned in clinical development by other drugmakers, thinks it can achieve this by a fundamentally different approach to drug development than the industry’s traditional process of screening compounds against potential disease targets. We spoke to Chris Gibson, founder and CEO of Recursion, about the approach his company is taking, whether rare diseases particularly lend themselves to it, and whether it has implications more broadly for drug development.

RARECast is a weekly series by Daniel S. Levine. Levine is an award-winning business journalist who has reported on the life sciences, economic development, and business policy issues throughout his 25-year career. He founded Levine Media Group in 2013, which produces The Bio Report and RARECast podcasts. Read his full bio here.