The Long Run with Luke Timmerman
Jul 28, 2026 · 1 hr 7 min · 25 segments
Lyn Baranowski, CEO of Boston-based Avalyn Pharma, on developing inhalable medicines for severe lung diseases.
Lynn BaranowskiGuest
Luke TimmermanHost
So, okay, so you, um, you had early exposure on the Xolair project, you said.
Now, for those not familiar, how would you describe... what, what was Xolair? What was it aiming to treat?
It treats severe asthma, and, um, a really interesting molecule, a large molecule, um, but really interesting in that it, it appears to now have efficacy really across, um, any kind of allergy, right? So it's, it's been interesting to watch Xolair long after I ever left that, that work, um, just thrive and grow.
So we, we ended up buying, for example, at Novartis, uh, a drug, drug called Toby, Tobramycin, that was from Chiron.
So we bought Chiron to get our hands on Toby, and then I was on that program working on thinking about how we lifecycle manage it with the, um, the brands director.
I actually did work in IPF at the time, and I, again, remember so clearly just being, um, you know, so sad to understand how horrible pulmonary fibrosis is, and at the time there was nothing approved and, uh, really was just eager to, to myself contribute to that and try to find some more solutions for those patients because these respiratory diseases, particularly these rare ones, I just think have not gotten enough attention from industry in terms of, um, you know, research and development and trying to find solutions.
There are just hundreds, literally, of diseases that are unaddressed in the lung, and so that's really where I've, I've stayed focused now, you know, as I've grown in my career over time.
IPF, it's idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, which literally means, uh, you know, lung scarring from some reason we don't really understand.
[laughs] Um, how's that for humbling? Uh, you know, there's people who spend the lifetime studying this, trying to understand those mechanisms.
I mean, you said that respiratory drug development seemed, uh, underserved, but what, what else about it appealed to you as an area that, that you could really just dive in and be endlessly curious and never bored and useful?
Um, so, so that was definitely one part of it, and it still animates me today, an unmet need, the patient need, how much there is to do, how little we still have, how much more there is to do.
So, okay, so you, um, you had early exposure on the Xolair project, you said.
Now, for those not familiar, how would you describe... what, what was Xolair? What was it aiming to treat?
It treats severe asthma, and, um, a really interesting molecule, a large molecule, um, but really interesting in that it, it appears to now have efficacy really across, um, any kind of allergy, right? So it's, it's been interesting to watch Xolair long after I ever left that, that work, um, just thrive and grow.
So we, we ended up buying, for example, at Novartis, uh, a drug, drug called Toby, Tobramycin, that was from Chiron.
So we bought Chiron to get our hands on Toby, and then I was on that program working on thinking about how we lifecycle manage it with the, um, the brands director.
I actually did work in IPF at the time, and I, again, remember so clearly just being, um, you know, so sad to understand how horrible pulmonary fibrosis is, and at the time there was nothing approved and, uh, really was just eager to, to myself contribute to that and try to find some more solutions for those patients because these respiratory diseases, particularly these rare ones, I just think have not gotten enough attention from industry in terms of, um, you know, research and development and trying to find solutions.
There are just hundreds, literally, of diseases that are unaddressed in the lung, and so that's really where I've, I've stayed focused now, you know, as I've grown in my career over time.
IPF, it's idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, which literally means, uh, you know, lung scarring from some reason we don't really understand.
[laughs] Um, how's that for humbling? Uh, you know, there's people who spend the lifetime studying this, trying to understand those mechanisms.
I mean, you said that respiratory drug development seemed, uh, underserved, but what, what else about it appealed to you as an area that, that you could really just dive in and be endlessly curious and never bored and useful?
Um, so, so that was definitely one part of it, and it still animates me today, an unmet need, the patient need, how much there is to do, how little we still have, how much more there is to do.
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