Matthew Duchars, CHAIN Biotech
"Taking a vaccine from concept and early stage data through to a licensed product that you're putting into millions of people takes 10-15 years on average, but it was done in 10 months. So how did we manage to acheive that? Nobody wanted to be stuck in lockdown forever and so everyone really focused on coming together - a combination of industry, government and academia, all focused on how to [deliver this vaccine] on the shortest possible time, safely and effectively." Matthew Duchars is the CEO of CHAIN Biotech, a fascinating company developing oral vaccines and immunotherapies that target the microbiome. Matthew joined us to discuss the importance of culture and environment in delivering great science, how a career in vaccine development was set into motion by an encounter with a dead mole, and being at the heart of the UK vaccines ecosystem during the COVID pandemic. Enjoy!