In this DNB//Back Bay Healthcare Capital Markets podcast episode, Jim Cirenza, Head of Fixed Income and Equities at DNB, Kristoffer Braaten, Director and Head of Equity Capital Markets at DNB, and Vasilios Kofitsas, Partner and Managing Director of Investment Banking at Back Bay Life Science Advisors, review the performance of the healthcare markets in 2024, offering insights into what 2025 could bring. With a detailed analysis of market trends, IPO activities, and investor behaviors, they evalu...
Feb 07, 2025•16 min•Ep. 32
The topic of bispecific antibodies has been an area of interest in the pharma space for a long time now. The recent news of the notable late-stage data from Akeso and Summit’s PD-1/VEGF bispecific antibody ivonescimab to treat non-small cell lung cancer that has captured the industry writ large encouraged us to revisit the topic. To date, there have been ten bispecific antibody approvals in oncology, seven of which are for hematological malignancies. Recently, there has been more traction in dev...
Nov 08, 2024•27 min•Ep. 31
In this DNB//Back Bay Healthcare Capital Markets Episode, Vasilios Kofitsas, Partner and Managing Director at Back Bay Life Science Advisors speaks with Jim Cirenza and Kristoffer Braaten of DNB Bank in New York. They focus on key drivers affecting markets this year and discuss the recent news of the Fed’s decision to cut interest rates by 50-basis points. Topics in the podcast include: After two difficult years, the appearance of a healthy market rotation since July The Fed’s decision mid-Septe...
Sep 30, 2024•21 min•Ep. 30
After a summer away from podcasting, Back Bay Life Science Advisors’ Dr. Pete Bak and Christian Thienel are back on the mic to discuss current market dynamics in liver disease with a focus on one of the most closely watched space in hepatology, MASH. The big news includes a rebrand from NASH (non-alcohol related steatohepatitis) to MASH (metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis), the FDA approval of Madrigal Pharmaceutical’s Rezdiffra and real-time court rulings in Europe that may affect...
Sep 16, 2024•28 min•Ep. 29
In this DNB//Back Bay Healthcare Capital Markets podcast episode, learn about the key considerations, mechanics and timelines of going public on a US exchange. Topics in this podcast include: An overview of the decision-making process through execution for US-based and ex-US healthcare companies thinking about listing in the US Core considerations after deciding to pursue a US listing and how to prepare most effectively Building the “IPO advisory team”: types of advisors (legal, accounting, bank...
May 22, 2024•35 min•Ep. 28
Guests: Pete Bak and Christian Thienel Length: 27 minutes In this episode of The Life Science Report, Dr. Pete Bak and Back Bay Director, Christian Thienel catch up on the area attracting the most industry interest over the past couple of years: the anti-obesity space. From big players looking to capitalize on the renewed interest in the obesity space to the staggering success of Novo Nordisk’s and Eli Lilly’s GLP-1 agonists (Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, and Zepbound) for glycemic control and weig...
Apr 30, 2024•27 min•Ep. 27
Welcome to another episode with the DNB//Back Bay Partnership for Healthcare. In this episode Jonathan Gertler, Back Bay CEO and Managing Partner, is once again joined by James Cirenza, Head of Fixed Income and Equities at DNB, Kristoffer Braaten, Director of US Equity Capital Markets at DNB, and Vasilios Kofitsas, Managing Director of Investment Banking at Back Bay Life Science Advisors, to talk about current market dynamics and the 2024 IPO outlook in the US and in Europe. Topics in this podca...
Apr 15, 2024•22 min•Ep. 26
Guests: Pete Bak and Christian Thienel Length: 37 minutes With the advent of COVID-19 in 2020 and 2021, we saw a tremendous amount of interest in not only COVID vaccines, but other companies riding the tailwind and developing vaccine therapies that span across viral illness, maternal infections and bacterial infections. In this episode resident immunologist Dr. Pete Bak and Christian Thienel discuss vaccine technology, up-and-coming areas of interest, such as RSV, and the vaccines currently in l...
Mar 18, 2024•38 min•Ep. 25
A Podcast Discussion on the Trends and Investment Activity in Radiopharmaceuticals and Psychedelics Guests: Pete Bak and Christian Thienel Length: 25 minutes Here at Back Bay we’ve seen a number of notable trends in the radiopharmaceutical and psychedelic spaces playing out over the past couple of years. Increasingly, investors have been asking our opinions and perspectives on these topics. Our team has written these whitepapers to address industry interest: The Radiopharmaceutical Renaissance: ...
Feb 14, 2024•26 min•Ep. 24
As we move into 2024, Back Bay’s strategic advisors summarize key product approvals from three classes and indications over this past year, including the December CRISPR and Vertex approval of Exa-cel, Biogen and Sage’s August approval of an oral treatment for women with postpartum depression and Genmab and Roche’s May approval in oncology. In this episode: CRISPR and Vertex’s approval of Exa-cel, the first CRISPR-based genetic medicine approved by the FDA in the US The major depressive disorder...
Jan 03, 2024•25 min•Ep. 23
In our latest podcast, Back Bay Life Science Advisors focused on the chronic and rare disease development of kidney disease. Recently, there have been some changes in treatment, some recent commercial launches and certainly some interest from pharma consolidators, as M&A activity picks up in this area. In this next installment of The Life Science Report, Dr. Pete Bak and Christian Thienel of Back Bay Life Science Advisors talk about kidney disease and the various aspects of the renal disease...
Nov 07, 2023•30 min•Ep. 22
With the DNB//Back Bay Partnership for Healthcare In the current markets, Healthcare continues to rally as the second-largest industry behind technology in the stock market, and in the US markets there’s been roughly $2.5B raised from an IPO standpoint YTD. In Europe, the markets have been more challenging, with IPOs for five companies going public this year, including Schott Pharma, Germany’s largest IPO earlier this year. In the first podcast episode with the DNB//Back Bay Partnership for Heal...
Oct 27, 2023•24 min•Ep. 21
A conversation on the rising trends in the cardiology space Cardiology has historically been a cornerstone of large pharmaceutical portfolios. The late 2000s and 2010s saw many pharmaceutical companies and investors abandon or severely deprioritize cardiology research and development in favor of oncology, immunology, and neurology. During this episode of The Life Science Report, Dr. Pete Bak and Christian Thienel of Back Bay Life Science Advisors discuss the major players in the industry and nov...
Oct 12, 2023•25 min•Ep. 20
In this episode, Dr. Peter Bak is joined by Trent Gordon and Dr. Mavra Nasir as they discuss their Bioprocess Online article published earlier this year, “The Transactional Landscape of ADCs: A Payday for Payloads.” This conversation explores the dynamics and data within the emerging ADC field, including: Background information on the class of therapeutics known as ADCs, which have been on the market since 2000 The number of headlines around ADCs lately, especially the standing ovation the data ...
Aug 29, 2023•26 min•Ep. 19
The world of health tech has changed dramatically since decades ago when physicians had to endure 11 keystrokes to prescribe a single aspirin. These days, AI-based radiology and AI-based pathology are transforming patient lives through machine learning and data analytics, in some cases offering early disease warning systems and improving quality of care while reducing healthcare costs. In this episode of Back Bay’s industry podcast, the Life Science Report, Jonathan Gertler speaks with Mikaela O...
Apr 14, 2023•29 min•Ep. 18
For biopharma and medtech companies developing new treatments, capital for advancement and growth is invariably dependent on strategic preparation, differentiation, and persistence. Good preparation can mean funding or famine in a retracted market—and ultimately can impact the trajectory of a company and whether treatment reaches people in the clinical setting. In a down market, there are creative and thoughtful approaches companies can take to stand out as capital becomes more closely guarded a...
Feb 09, 2023•29 min•Ep. 17
In our first podcast episode of 2023, Back Bay’s strategic advisors summarize some of the most compelling healthcare development stories from 2022. From CRISPR and gene editing advancement to cross-species organ transplantation and the latest in the evolving regulatory and reimbursement landscape, these stories captivated us and continue to herald progress in health and human care. Podcast experts include Brendan Wang, Christian Thienel and Peter Bak, with special thanks to Micheka Fenelon....
Jan 24, 2023•37 min•Ep. 16
For biopharma and medtech companies, the decision to go public is predicated on many business decisions—what kind of capital can be raised? Is our investor base strong and interested? Is now the right time? The Nordic Markets offer some distinct advantages at the earlier stage, and also offer new possibilities for US companies to list abroad. And although the specific logistical and mechanical aspects are exceedingly important, at the end of the day, the decision to do something like this is pre...
Sep 19, 2022•28 min•Ep. 15
with Back Bay Life Science Advisors’ Dr. Peter Bak and Dr. Mavra Nasir Dr. Mavra Nasir recently published a thought piece in Biopharma Dealmakers outlining the current state of play in the promising field of protein degradation. In this episode, Dr. Nasir sits down with Peter Bak to discuss the recent surge of venture funding and partnerships surrounding TPDs. Read Dr. Nasir's article "From drug target inhibition to degradation: a TACtical strategy" here . Topics in this podcast include: An intr...
Jul 30, 2022•23 min•Ep. 14
This is the first episode in our podcast series of Q&As on biopharma and medtech development—directly from active developers. Our podcast listeners, including Back Bay clients, have submitted timely and relevant questions about life science development and the daily challenges they face. Christian Thieniel and Brendan Wang, two senior members of the Back Bay Life Science Advisors team with a tremendous amount of experience in the life sciences, especially as it relates to scientific, clinica...
Jul 06, 2022•30 min•Ep. 13
In this episode of Back Bay’s industry podcast, The Life Science Report, Dr. Peter Bak is joined by Mike Bogetofte Barnkob, a doctor with the Department of Clinical Immunology at Odense University Hospital in Denmark and a research fellow at the University of Southern Denmark, to discuss current perspectives—clinical, scientific and manufacturing—on the cell therapy space. Dr. Barnkob’s expertise spans basic and clinical immunology, with a particular interest in advanced cellular modalities, suc...
May 19, 2022•30 min•Ep. 12
Biopharma companies looking to establish a footprint in Europe face country-specific decision-making processes. The health technology assessments (HTAs) in France and Germany, for example, look very different. Does this regional level of thinking make it easier or potentially more difficult to get medicines to market and into the hands of patients who need them? In this episode of Back Bay’s Life Science podcast, Pete Bak is joined by Alexander Natz, Secretary-General of the European Confederati...
Apr 25, 2022•26 min•Ep. 11
Fifteen years ago, scientists discovered optogenetics, a technique of using light to stimulate light-sensitive receptors in order to turn brain cells “on” and “off" at the flip of a switch. Advances in optogenetics have allowed this technology to move from the laboratory to humans, and more recently biopharma companies have been quick to incorporate optogenetic therapies into their ophthalmology portfolios. In this episode of Back Bay’s Life Science Report, Peter Bak is joined by Kevin Norman to...
Mar 15, 2022•23 min•Ep. 10
Antibiotics act as a safety net for all of healthcare. They make medical procedures such as surgeries, childbirth and cancer treatments possible, but what happens when bacteria or other microorganisms become resistant to the drugs we use against them? Back Bay Life Science Advisors’ Managing Director Peter Bak sits down with Marc Lemonnier, a molecular and cellular microbiologist and CEO of Antabio, a clinical stage company located in France developing novel antibiotic therapies, for a conversat...
Jan 19, 2022•22 min•Ep. 9
Despite the heavy influx of capital over the past years, medtech or biopharma sell-side assignments can still be ripe with challenges. In this episode of Back Bay’s industry podcast, Back Bay Life Science Advisors’ investment banking team discuss best practices for successful sell-side licensing, partnering, and M&A, including: Best practices for readying vital aspects of deal preparation Identifying deal issues, red flags ahead of time Articulation of the path forward, including indication ...
Jan 07, 2022•26 min•Ep. 8
Cell and gene therapies are currently among the hottest investments in the biotech space, both in the public and private markets. In this episode, Back Bay’s Managing Director and host Pete Bak, PhD is joined by Kyle O’Neil and Brendan Wang, who are returning to the podcast after attending the 2021 Cell and Gene Meeting on the Mesa . Tune in to hear their discussion on emerging investment themes and which ones were key topics of discussion at this year’s conference. Topics include: The next gene...
Nov 22, 2021•20 min•Ep. 7
“I have a deep belief that medtech and healthtech are going to carry us forward to markedly improve delivery and quality of healthcare.” - Jonathan P. Gertler, MD For years, biotech has been the dominant theme in life sciences development, offering a great deal in treatment advances and in terms of investing versatility and returns potential. But with promising system solutions serving broader swaths of patients, medtech is resurging. Medtech investment has grown dramatically over time, with sca...
Oct 13, 2021•27 min•Ep. 6
One of the unexpected outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the rapid and widespread uptake of remote patient monitoring. Just ahead of the pandemic, investment in patient monitoring was booming; priming the system for quick uptake and innovation. As with vaccines, much groundwork had been done to prepare for dramatic innovation and widespread, rapid patient use, seemingly “overnight.” In this episode of Back Bay Life Science Advisors' industry podcast, Drs. Jonathan Gertler and Corinne Naw...
Aug 05, 2021•27 min•Ep. 5
In this episode of our life science industry podcast, Dr. Peter Bak sits down with Brendan Wang and Christian Thienel of Back Bay Life Science Advisors to discuss how pharmaceutical companies price their drugs. They cover the ins and outs of health economics, how payers make sense of a high price, and ways this varies around the globe. With a focus on Biogen’s recent Aduhelm approval, the discussion includes how Biogen likely went about price setting and how this aligns with ICER’s initial evalu...
Jun 30, 2021•26 min•Ep. 4
In this episode Jonathan Gertler, Back Bay’s CEO and Managing Partner, sits down with Dr. Peter Bak, Managing Director at Back Bay, to discuss Dr. Bak’s latest article in STAT News and to talk about the world of anti-infectives. Dr. Bak has more than ten years of expertise in infection and treatment. He began his research at Dartmouth Medical School and later continued at MIT, where he was an American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellow at the Koch Institute of Integrative Cancer Research. Topics...
Jun 11, 2021•25 min•Ep. 3
