S3, E2: The Biotech Bromance: Serial CEO and Investor’s 20‑Year Journey of Building Biotechs with Steve Butts, Arrivo Bio and Dave Adair, Solas BioVentures
Description
This episode of Raising Biotech takes a different turn — not just the story of a biotech, but of a partnership. Steve Butts, CEO of Arrivo BioVentures, and Dr. Dave Adair, Co‑Founder and Managing Partner of Solas BioVentures, have built ten companies together over nearly two decades.
From Steve's first shaky startup pitch to Dave in San Francisco to major exits and a novel company‑building model, Surani explores their individual paths, their serendipitous meeting that kicked it all off, and the lessons they’ve learned along the way right up to their current venture, Arrivo BioVentures, which has raised over $100 million to be the first to tackle female depression.
Timestamps:
00:00 – Intro to a different kind of story: a founder–investor partnership
01:21 – The dinner that started it all
02:32 – Steve’s path from Eli Lilly to biotech startups
03:39 – Dave’s journey from OB‑GYN to angel investor
05:04 – Writing that first $750K check
08:48 – First exit: proof of concept for the partnership
09:40 – Scaling the model: 10 companies, 5 exits
10:38 – Aerial Biopharma and its $400M deal
12:07 – Launching Arrivo with capital first, assets second
14:54 – Structuring for flexibility: two subsidiaries, two assets
17:16 – A loyal investor base outside the usual big funds
19:18 – Forvisirvat: a “happy accident” in women’s depression
21:49 – Dave on why this matters for postpartum depression
23:05 – Reframing failure and challenging women’s health blind spots
25:25 – $45M Series B and a 450‑patient trial with cognitive endpoints
27:23 – Strategic options: M&A, IPO, or both
29:39 – Big pharma potential and broad applications
30:39 – The next five years for Steve and Dave
For any comments, questions, feedback or suggestions you can connect directly with Surani Fernando on LinkedIn or email: raisingbiotech@gmail.com
Title music composed by: Yrii Semchyshyn (Coma Media)
United States
