Rice University celebrated a major step in its translational research efforts May 5 with the official launch of RBL LLC, a venture studio designed to turn scientific discoveries into impactful medical treatments. Held at the Texas Medical Center’s Helix Park, the event featured a keynote by veteran pharmaceutical executive Robert Ruffolo Jr., followed by a fireside chat with Ruffolo and biomedical engineer Robert Langer, moderated by STAT senior writer Matthew Herper.
RBL LLC is a newly minted translational engine born out of the Rice Biotech Launch Pad, a university accelerator focused on bridging the gap between laboratory and clinic. Together, the Launch Pad and RBL LLC form a unique academic-commercial pipeline for building biotech companies rooted in Rice research.
Ruffolo’s keynote, which chronicled the development of the heart failure drug carvedilol, underscored the long, often difficult process of advancing a new therapy. The scientific and regulatory roadblocks were steep, but the ultimate success of the drug underscored a key point.
“All medical breakthroughs involve taking risks,” Ruffolo said, stressing that the drug “is now the standard of care.”
The evening’s fireside chat that followed touched on the personal and professional challenges of working in biotech — how to handle failure, when to let go of a project and how to know whether persistence is vision or stubbornness. Reflecting on the industry’s high failure rate, Ruffolo said, “Nobody should be afraid of failure in this business.”
During the conversation, Herper asked both speakers what advice they would give to students or early career scientists entering the field.
“Publish … publish your work,” said Ruffolo, chairman of Aragen Biosciences and member of the Rice Biotech Launch Pad external advisory board, who emphasized the importance of building a reputation and sharing research widely.
Langer — who earlier in the day had delivered the President’s Lecture Series on Rice’s campus — echoed the sentiment, offering a reflection on purpose and motivation.
“You want to do something that you love, something that you feel is important,” said Langer, professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s David H. Koch Institute for Integrated Research and member of the Rice Biotech Launch Pad external advisory board.
Both speakers emphasized that much of today’s biomedical innovation no longer begins inside major pharmaceutical companies but in academic labs.
“We don’t discover so many new drugs anymore — you do,” Ruffolo said, gesturing to the researchers and students in the room. “Places like this do.”
In closing remarks, Omid Veiseh, a professor of bioengineering at Rice and director of the Rice Biotech Launch Pad, stressed the importance of the university’s role in building a culture and infrastructure that support high-impact science.
“We are really fortunate to attract some of the best talent, some of the smartest people,” Veiseh said. “At the same time, we have all these patients that need new solutions. So our job is to really put those pieces together.”
Paul Wotton, executive director of the Rice Biotech Launch Pad, reflected on the significance of the day and the momentum behind the effort.
“This is just the beginning of a journey,” Wotton said. “It’s great to commemorate the opening of our new labs at RBL LLC, right across the street. Hopefully this is the beginning of many transformative therapies developed right here in Houston, Texas.”
In addition to Langer and Ruffolo, other members of the Rice Biotech Launch Pad external advisory board who attended to commemorate the RBL LLC launch were David Allison, managing director at Westlake BioPartners; Jason Bock, founder and CEO of CTMC; Albert Cha, managing partner of Frazier Life Sciences; Rima Chakrabarti, partner at KdT Ventures and adjunct professor of neuroscience at the Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine; Pierre Jacquet, managing director and vice chairman of L.E.K.’s health care consulting practice; William McKeon, president and CEO of the Texas Medical Center; Josh Richardson, managing director and senior investor on the life sciences investigating team at Goldman Sachs; David Schull, president of Russo Partners; and Lisa Wright, president and CEO of Community Health Choice.