Part of the series: 30 Visioneers Shaping the Future of Biotech in 2025

In a world where one-size-fits-all cancer treatments still dominate, Vivan Therapeutics is pioneering a bold and deeply personalized approach to oncology. At the forefront is founder Laura Towart, whose mission is rooted in the belief that every cancer patient deserves a treatment strategy tailored to their unique biology. Built on groundbreaking research from Mt. Sinai Medical Center, Vivian Therapeutics uses functional genomics to test thousands of drug combinations per patient—offering hope even to those who have exhausted conventional options.

In this Q&A, Laura shares the inspiration behind her work, the challenges of translating cutting-edge science into clinical impact, and her vision for a future where precision oncology becomes the global standard.

1. Vivan Therapeutics is redefining how we approach cancer treatment using personalized drug testing. What inspired you to pursue this model of precision oncology, and what was the biggest challenge in making it real?

Our unique model of precision oncology was developed at Mt Sinai Medical Center in New York by Prof Ross Cagan, a leader in Developmental Biology and mechanisms of cancer resistance.  My involvement began when the first clinical studies at Mt Sinai yielded successful patient outcomes, including an 11 month extension of life for a patient that had no other treatment options remaining.  My biggest challenge has been generating additional patient outcomes data as many of the patients willing to self pay for personalized treatment recommendations approach us when they are already out of options.  Another hurdle for patients who are candidates for personalized therapy is that depending on the oncologist/medical center/country there may be  restrictions with treating patients with off label drug combinations, even if both drugs in the combination have been FDA approved. We have been working to evade these constraints by validating the novel drug combinations in patient derived organoids and other models. We are also generating patient outcomes data in less restrictive markets.

2. Your technology screens over 2,000 drug combinations per patient. How do you see this approach shifting the future of cancer care on a global scale?

We are certainly driving a paradigm shift in cancer treatment- enabling true personalization in therapy selection and new therapeutics development. As we continue to expand the evidence base for our novel drug combinations and standard of care/ clinical trial predictions we will be able to treat more patients and expand our reach.

3. What’s one key insight you’d share with biotech founders striving to turn complex science into tangible patient impact?

The one key insight I can share is that real patients should be consulted and their feedback should be sought from the very early stages of development to ensure that what is being built really addresses their needs. Functionality, value for money, integration into other apps/interfaces/etc should be considered where possible.