In this episode of the WTR Healthcare Happenings podcast, Rick Pierce, CEO of Decoy Therapeutics (NASDAQ: DCOY), joins Tim Gerdeman, Vice Chair, Co‑Founder, and CMO of Water Tower Research, and Robert Sassoon, WTR’s Healthcare Research Analyst. The conversation explores Decoy’s innovative business model for developing peptide‑conjugate antivirals designed to target multiple respiratory viruses. Pierce discusses how Decoy is navigating the modern era of drug development with a cost‑effective, highly efficient strategy that positions the company as a disruptive force in biotech. Central to this approach is Decoy’s proprietary peptide‑synthesis technology and rapid design‑build‑test cycle, powered by machine learning. He also highlights the importance of Decoy’s strategic partnerships with the Gates Foundation, Google, and NVIDIA in advancing its platform and accelerating development.

On this week’s episode of the WTR Small-Cap Spotlight, Peter Flippo, Director, Business Development, at Avantium R&D Solutions (Euronext Amsterdam: AVTX-NL) (US OTC: AVTXF), joined Tim Gerdeman, Vice Chair & Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer of Water Tower Research, and Peter Gastreich, Energy and Sustainable Investing Analyst at Water Tower Research. Avantium is a technology company founded in 2000 as a Shell spin-out, specializing in innovative chemical solutions. It operates two main segments: Renewable Polymers, which develops sustainable plastics, and R&D Solutions (RDS), which provides high-throughput catalyst testing systems and services for clients worldwide—including oil & gas firms, refineries, and research institutions. Flippo discusses how Avantium’s Flowrence technology significantly accelerates R&D timelines from years to months, offering reliable, scalable, and cost-effective testing. He shared how the company is positioned as a valuable partner in the high-growth sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) industry by optimizing catalytic processes and enabling the use of multiple SAF production pathways.

Our guest for this episode is Rick Rosenthal, Director of Business Development at Cboe Global Markets (Cboe: CBOE), where he focuses on helping advisors and wealth managers utilize options-based strategies. He joins Tim Gerdeman, Vice Chair, Co-Founder, and Chief Marketing Officer of Water Tower Research, for a timely discussion on derivatives positioning in the U.S. small-cap market.

Rick explains why Russell 2000 (RUT) options have become a go-to vehicle for gaining or hedging small-cap exposure, highlighting structural advantages versus IWM, rising zero-DTE retail activity, and how investors are using protective puts, spreads, and volatility-harvesting strategies. The conversation also explores macro drivers behind the rotation into small caps, volatility signals from the RVX index, and Cboe’s plan to expand RUT trading to Global Trading Hours in 2026, introducing new access points for both institutional and retail participants.