Board Spotlight: Gary Brewster on Financial Resilience in Rare Disease R&D and Efficiently Translating Research into Patient Access

As part of our Board Spotlight series, we sat down with Gary Brewster who brings decades of financial leadership experience in life sciences to Advancium Health Network's Board. As Chief Financial Officer of BrYet US, he leads financial strategy for scaling operations and managing risk in bringing innovative therapies to patients. His strategic guidance helps Advancium navigate the complex landscape of rare disease development while maintaining our commitment to underserved patient populations.

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Why Join Advancium?

Given your extensive experience managing the financial strategy of high-growth life sciences companies, what specific challenge or opportunity within rare/underserved disease development convinced you that your time and expertise are best spent supporting Advancium's mission?

Brewster: There are immeasurable rare diseases that need to be solved. The Advancium team has developed an approach to leverage their connections i the pharmaceutical ecosystem and shift the odds of solving some of these diseases. Advancium has the ability and discipline to select opportunities where we can shift the odds of success to be more favorable and then build on that success to continue solving more diseases.

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The Power of the Hybrid Model

Advancium and CobiCure operate with a distinct model: leveraging successful practices from the for-profit healthcare investment sector to enhance the execution of a nonprofit mission. In your view, what is the most critical advantage this hybrid structure offers in accelerating therapies for underserved patients that traditional biotech models simply can't match?

Brewster: Each model (nonprofit and for-profit) has different strengths. A therapy in the portfolio of a for-profit company will likely have more staying power than being subject to the variance of fundraising. However, rare disease therapies have the dual challenge of low odds of clinical approval coupled with a small market, limiting commercial feasibility.

Our nonprofit model is committed to leveraging donated money to rapidly advance selected programs to a point where commercial interests can optimize. And, critical to success, is my confidence in the team to select the best programs and clinical pathways to quickly get new therapies on the market.

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Financial Resilience in Rare Disease R&D 

Rare disease therapy development is defined by long timelines, high costs, and highly uncertain regulatory pathways. Drawing on your experience, what are the non-negotiable financial metrics or risk mitigation strategies you prioritize to ensure long-term operational resilience for an early-stage therapeutic or device pipeline?

Brewster: The most difficult decisions come down to selecting which programs to work on, which also means deciding which programs are NOT going to be worked on. Furthermore, some programs might need to be abandoned midway through. These choices have major economic impacts, and even more significant human impacts.

The process for making these portfolio decisions is one of the most important for Advancium to have a sustainable and resilient business. Finally, we have to be relentless and focused on communicating to the donor community our vision and results in order to encourage funding.

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Personal Insights & Lessons for Mission-Driven Innovation 

As CFO of BrYet US, you are central to scaling operations and managing the financial risk of bringing products to patients. What is the single most important lesson from that experience regarding efficiently translating R&D into patient access, and how can a mission-driven organization like Advancium best partner with or fill gaps for commercial biotech to accelerate that translation?

Brewster: Advancium is committed to being judicious about its place in the biotech chain. Our ability to identify rare pediatric opportunities and rapidly advance these therapies to a place where commercial interests can get involved is a unique and core strength. As our products continue to advance, we can then identify how we expand our footprint. We are fortunate to have connections to Deerfield and other members of the biotech community to help us build our platform.

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Vision for Impact

Looking ahead three to five years, what is the most tangible and meaningful impact that a nonprofit platform like Advancium/CobiCure can achieve for underserved patient populations that would make you say, 'This is why I dedicated my time'?

Brewster: Success can be a drug on the market that we facilitated; it could be a broad pipeline of opportunities that are being progressed. Success can also be an active and engaged donor community. I hope we can be an engine to encourage people to rally around the causes of solving rare pediatric diseases.

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In the world of rare disease development, financial acumen is more than spreadsheets and risk models, it's about making choices that change lives. Gary Brewster brings this perspective to Advancium Health Network, where his strategic leadership helps transform the impossible into the achievable. By emphasizing disciplined portfolio decisions, championing donor engagement, and leveraging strategic partnerships, Gary is helping build a sustainable platform where rare pediatric diseases that have long been overlooked can finally find their champions. His commitment ensures that financial constraints don't determine which children receive hope and that donor generosity translates directly into therapies that reach patients who need them most.

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