Patients, Not Profits, Should Drive Drug Discovery | Vibe Bio, Alok Tayi

In this episode of Empire, Santi is joined by Alok Tayi, scientist and founder of Vibe Bio. Alok started Vibe Bio because the biggest obstacle in treating patients with overlooked diseases isn’t finding potential treatments — it’s funding them. Vibe Bio is leveraging crypto's economic and coordination tools to fund the research and development that the legacy biotech industry ignores. Don't miss this fascinating conversation! We discuss: - Vibe Bio's origin story - How Vibe Bio works - Big pharma's dilemma - Why these diseases don't receive funding today - How to prioritize projects - Crypto's unique advantages - The $VIBE token - How to grow & leverage Vibe's community - Diseases don't care about interest rates - Biggest challenges - - Follow Alok: https://twitter.com/aloktayi Follow Santi: https://twitter.com/santiagoroel Follow Empire: https://twitter.com/theempirepod Subscribe on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/4fdhhb2j Subscribe on Apple: https://tinyurl.com/mv4frfv7 Subscribe on Spotify: https://tinyurl.com/wbaypprw - - ParaSwap: If you want to make a swap at the best price across the DeFi market, check out paraswap.io. ParaSwap’s state-of-the-art algorithm beats the market price across all major DEXs and brings you the most optimized swaps with the best prices and lowest slippage. Visit paraswap.io/beta to learn more about Paraswap's new app. - - Get top market insights and the latest in crypto news. Subscribe to Blockworks Daily Newsletter: https://blockworks.co/newsletter/ -- (00:00) Introduction (02:27) Official Vibe Bio Launch (03:50) The Origin Story (06:32) How Funding Works in Biotech (12:15) Vibe Bio's Gameplan (14:50) Community Inspiration (17:48) Big Pharma's Dilemma (19:42) How Has The Community Responded? (22:25) Why Now? (24:58) How To Prioritize (30:42) Paraswap Ad (31:51) Is There An Adverse Selection Problem (36:50) Two Key Milestones (42:17) The Biggest Risks (45:15) The $Vibe token (48:18) Does IP matter? (51:47) Help The Mission -- Disclaimer: Nothing said on Empire is a recommendation to buy or sell securities or tokens. This podcast is for informational purposes only, and any views expressed by anyone on the show are solely our opinions, not financial advice. Santiago, Jason, and our guests may hold positions in the companies, funds, or projects discussed.