Vie Ventures convened the inaugural meeting of its Therapeutics Advisory Council (TAC) on September 9 in New York City.

With TAC, Vie Ventures is creating a cross-disease, cross-sector framework designed to align mission-driven philanthropy with market-driven innovation. This approach aims to accelerate discovery and development of therapies for autoimmune and immune-mediated diseases, ultimately improving outcomes for millions of patients.

“By bringing together philanthropy, industry innovators, and investors, the TAC creates a unique forum for tackling challenges that no single organization can solve alone,” said Lou DeGennaro, PhD, Senior Advisor of Vie Ventures who along with Jolyon Martin, PhD from Vie Ventures is responsible for coordinating the Strategic Collaborators.

Highlights from the Inaugural TAC:

• Scientific Focus: Fibrosis Across Autoimmune Diseases

TAC’s first scientific deep dive explored fibrosis as a common pathway across multiple autoimmune conditions. The discussion highlighted the benefits of cross-disease collaboration, particularly in sharing data and overcoming trial design hurdles.

• Funding Panel: Navigating Today’s Market

Experts from academia, finance, and pharma examined today’s challenging funding environment, noting capital scarcity and investor caution. They emphasized the importance of creative financing approaches and maintaining close ties with pharma, which continues to play a vital role as a buyer of innovation.

• Leadership Roundtable: Shared Infrastructure and Collective Progress

CEOs and senior leaders from disease philanthropies discussed how to leverage shared tools—such as trial networks and biorepositories—while addressing the challenges of disease heterogeneity and diagnostic gaps. The session closed with optimism and a collective commitment to accelerate therapeutic progress.