Anthony Ao

Science into strategy for advanced therapies.

I'm registered in the European Medicines Agency's pool of scientific and regulatory experts. Since 2017, my work has spanned cell and gene therapy, biotech partnerships, and entrepreneurship, including founding my own ventures.

I help founders, investors, and advanced therapy teams turn research into clear decisions and partnerships across Europe and Asia.

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Anthony Ao during a television appearance

EMA expert pool · Former VP, Research & Partnerships, Phacilitate

Selected proof

  • EMA scientific & regulatory expert pool
  • Former VP, Research & Partnerships, Phacilitate
  • Partnership Manager, SaxoCell
  • Former APAC Regional Head, iGEM Startups
  • Author, The No-VC Playbook
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The No-VC Playbook: Advanced Therapies

Professional flagship publication

Independent long-form intelligence on market structure, capital flows, delivery platforms, manufacturing, and cross-border strategy in cell and gene therapy.

Markets Capital Platforms Partnerships
Read the flagship newsletter

Selected intelligence

Latest essays

Recent analysis on where advanced therapies, capital, and partnerships are moving.

All No-VC writing
01 / Market intelligence The Body Becomes the Factory How Lilly is using GLP-1 cash flow to buy different answers to genetic medicine's delivery problem. Read analysis 02 / Platform race Inside the $14 Billion Bet on Programming Immune Cells in the Body Why in vivo immune-cell engineering is becoming one of the most strategically important races in cell therapy. Read analysis 03 / Strategy Lilly Is Treating In Vivo CAR-T as a Platform Race Why Kelonia and Orna signal a shift from product acquisition to manufacturing-model acquisition. Read analysis 04 / Capital flows China's CGT Financing Market Is Starting to Look Structured What Q1 2026 financing reveals about China's advanced therapy ecosystem becoming broader and more selective. Read analysis

Where I add value

Value

01

Market Intelligence

I map where advanced therapy science, capital, regulation, and manufacturing are moving before the consensus becomes obvious.

02

Partnership Strategy

I help identify strategic partners across biotech, CDMOs, hospitals, investors, regulators, and ecosystem platforms.

03

Cross-Border Growth

I focus on APAC, Europe, MENA, and US advanced therapy corridors, especially where scientific capability needs commercial translation.

04

Science-to-Strategy Translation

I turn complex CGT platforms into strategic narratives that investors, partners, and operators can act on.

Current focus areas

Focus

  1. 01

    In vivo CAR-T and delivery platforms

  2. 02

    Cell therapy manufacturing economics

  3. 03

    China and APAC CGT capital flows

  4. 04

    Saudi and MENA advanced therapy ecosystem development

  5. 05

    CDMO, hospital, and regulator partnership models

  6. 06

    Biotech capital allocation and platform strategy

Life beyond the professional brief.

Personal publication + journey

Life Is Experiment is where I write about entrepreneurship, leadership, and judgment. Building, writing, and teaching are part of how I arrived here.

A monumental Egyptian hourglass beneath a night-to-sunrise sky for Life Is Experiment

Life Is Experiment

Personal publication

Essays on entrepreneurship, leadership, decision-making, and the practical experiments that shape a life. You build, test your judgment against reality, protect your downside, and decide for yourself what “enough” means.

Read Life Is Experiment Time Only Moves Forward

A very short history of me.

  1. 1995

    Born in Macau, then still a Portuguese colony

  2. 2015

    Started Chemistery, a blog about organic chemistry

  3. 2017

    Completed B.Sc. in Biochemistry and Cell Biology at University of California, San Diego

    Joined a San Diego startup as its first full-time employee

  4. 2018

    Founded my first company, ASIDU

  5. 2022

    Founded my second company, MapUp, as part of the Antler Cohort

    By June, I knew MapUp would not raise funding. After five years away from formal study, I returned to cell biology and biochemistry textbooks, prepared for the entrance exam for LMU Munich’s M.Sc. Biochemistry program in 30 days, passed it, and moved to Munich shortly afterward.

  6. 2023

    Joined iGEM Munich Entrepreneurship Team

    Founded my third company, NeoHatch

  7. 2024

    Joined iGEM Startups, Nucleate GVA

    Startup Consulting (non-stealth startups: TravelSpires, Baryonbib)

    Started Infinity Biotech, a newsletter about startups and timeless knowledge

  8. 2025

    Became APAC Regional Head at iGEM Startups

    Completed my M.Sc. in Biochemistry at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München

  9. 2026

    Joined SaxoCell as Partnership Manager.

    Served as VP, Research & Partnerships / Senior Conference Producer at Phacilitate / Clarion Events from February to September 2026. That engagement ended on 30 September 2026.

    The European Medicines Agency (EMA) confirmed my inclusion in its pool of scientific and regulatory experts and registration in the Experts Management tool on 19 October 2026.

View the original portfolio
Selected earlier work Startups, a talk show, and two books

Weekly Newsletter and Biochemistry Blog

Infinity Biotech No public link Chemistery

Weekly Talkshow — Spotify and Apple Podcasts

Anthony Ao on Spotify Life Is Experiment on Apple Podcasts

My Startups

ASIDU教育及升學顧問 MapUp (formerly Map Courses) NeoHatch No public link

Books I wrote

The Path I Walked The Dynamic Interpretation of the Meaning of Life

Books that shaped my thinking.

Personal library

These books indeed changed my life. Hope you enjoy ; )

Building, funding, manufacturing, or localizing advanced therapies?

Contact

Send a concise note. I am open to strategic conversations where science, capital, and partnerships need to move together.

Email Anthony Connect on LinkedIn Read The No-VC Playbook