Investors broadly agree that biotech indexes won’t revisit the lows seen last year, but they’ll need their portfolio companies to survive until the industry begins its comeback, said Director of Biopharma Intelligence Stephen Hansen on the latest BioCentury This Week podcast. Discussing key takeaways from BioCentury’s 2023 Financial Markets Preview, Hansen detailed reasons to be positive in the year ahead, but cautioned that the financing windows will continue to be narrow and companies without ...
Jan 18, 2023•27 min•Season 4Ep. 157
A trio of billion dollar deals for late-stage and commercial assets featuring contingent value rights were among the highlights of the first day of the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco on Monday. BioCentury's editors discuss AstraZeneca's takeout of CinCor, Ipsen's buy of Albireo and Chiesi's acquisition of Amryt as well as other takeaways from JPM, the CERSI summit and the Neuroscience Innovation Forum. The team also discusses the latest in Alzheimer's. Reach us by sending a t...
Jan 09, 2023•31 min•Season 4Ep. 156
The U.K. government is signaling that life sciences companies will be shielded from changes to an R&D tax relief policy that would otherwise leave small biotechs losing millions of pounds, Washington Editor Steve Usdin said on the latest BioCentury This Week podcast. Usdin and his BioCentury colleagues discuss the behind-the-scenes initiative by the U.K. BioIndustry Association to protect companies from being affected by serious unintended consequences of the policy changes as they continue ...
Jan 04, 2023•35 min•Season 4Ep. 155
Phase III results for resmetirom from Madrigal Pharmaceuticals are more than enough for a regulatory submission in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, said BioCentury Director of Biopharma Intelligence Paul Bonanos. Bonanos and colleagues discuss what Madrigal got right in running its trial for the challenging NASH indication, and what’s next in the pipeline. BioCentury’s editors also assess highly anticipated, heavily scrutinized data from Moderna among other 4Q22 readouts from neoantigen programs, ...
Dec 20, 2022•19 min•Season 3Ep. 154
A strategy for navigating the Inflation Reduction Act is essential for every biopharma company, regardless of size or location, Washington Editor Steve Usdin said on a special edition of the BioCentury This Week podcast. Usdin and his BioCentury colleagues discuss why creating an IRA strategy is so complex, when and how CMS is going to set prices for drugs selected for scrutiny and what the chances are that the act can be repealed or modified. Reach us by sending a text...
Dec 19, 2022•19 min•Season 3Ep. 153
The $28.7 billion takeout of Horizon Therapeutics by Amgen marks a continuation of the large cap biopharma’s return to the inflammatory and autoimmune space where it’s been most commercially successful, Associate Editor Stephen Hansen said on the latest BioCentury This Week podcast. Hansen and his BioCentury colleagues discuss the deal’s synergies as well as new targets and IL-18 data at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) conference, and the evolving landscape for selective estrogen recept...
Dec 13, 2022•18 min•Season 3Ep. 152
CTAD data for lecanemab showed more definitively than any past readout that targeting β-amyloid can lead to clinical benefit for Alzheimer’s patients, but the field is still wrestling with its use as a surrogate endpoint, BioCentury Executive Editor Selina Koch said on the latest BioCentury This Week podcast. Koch and the BioCentury podcast team break down the implications of data from Eisai and Roche at last week’s Clinical Trials on Alzheimer’s Disease meeting and look ahead to what’s next for...
Dec 06, 2022•27 min•Season 3Ep. 151
A model term sheet created by a consortium of academic institutions, VCs and law firms could reduce the negotiation time around life sciences start-ups for universities and VCs by 80%, Associate Editor Stephen Hansen said on the latest BioCentury This Week podcast. Hansen detailed how the consortium came together and what it hopes to accomplish. The BioCentury editors also discussed implications of CSL's decision to price the first hemophilia B gene therapy approved by FDA at $3.5 million, as we...
Nov 28, 2022•19 min•Season 3Ep. 150
There are clear indicators of the maturation of China’s biotech sector, although east and west biopharma leaders have diverging views on how easy cross-border investment will be going forward, BioCentury’s Editor-in-Chief Simone Fishburn said on the latest BioCentury This Week podcast. Fishburn detailed her takeaways from the summit held last week, while Executive Editor Selina Koch reviewed her panel on the optimism R&D leaders have for the future role multi-omics can play in drug developme...
Nov 21, 2022•22 min•Season 3Ep. 149
As China’s biopharma companies experience their first “biotech winter,” they should be engaged in active portfolio management, stopping projects that will not meet their investors’ expectations, Agio Capital General Manager Henk Joos said on BioCentury This Week. On a special East-West Summit edition of the podcast, Joos and Immune-Onc Therapeutics founder and CEO Charlene Liao discussed pipeline prioritization and other company survival tactics during today’s difficult financing environment. Re...
Nov 18, 2022•23 min•Season 3Ep. 148
Cash conversation and sticking to priorities are essential for China’s biotech’s as they navigate today’s gloomy funding environment, Zhaoke Ophthalmology’s Lisa Feng said on a special East-West Summit edition of the BioCentury This Week podcast. Feng, who is CBO and CFO of Zhaoke, Jones Day’s Tony Chen and Paul Hastings’ Phoebe Yan discuss challenges of compliance risk in a digital world, China’s value-based procurement and IP landscape and the environment for IPOs and licensing deals for China...
Nov 16, 2022•26 min•Season 3Ep. 147
The lack of a “red wave” in the U.S. midterm elections sets up a “last gasp of old-fashioned, horse-trading politics” by lawmakers that could affect multiple pieces of life sciences legislation, Washington Editor Steve Usdin said on the latest BioCentury This Week podcast. Usdin details what’s at stake for biopharma in Washington during the remaining weeks of 2022, and what’s in store for life sciences in the next session of Congress. BioCentury’s editors also discuss trends at this year’s Socie...
Nov 15, 2022•19 min•Season 3Ep. 146
BIO needs to pick a leadership team rather than a leader to give the trade group all the skills it needs moving forward, Washington Editor Steve Usdin said on the latest BioCentury This Week podcast. Usdin and Editor in Chief Simone Fishburn discuss how BIO needs to address the challenges it now faces, as well as the results of BioCentury’s industry-wide survey on the state of the trade group. BioCentury’s podcast team also assess the latest developments in RSV product development, the infectiou...
Nov 07, 2022•21 min•Season 3Ep. 145
Biopharmas and investors have been warning of the Inflation Reduction Act’s potential to hurt patients — concerns that had been theoretical until last week, when Alnylam became the first company to announce that it may abandon plans to add an indication to an orphan drug’s label. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s editors discuss why a provision in the IRA prompted the biotech to pause plans to start a Phase III trial of vutrisiran for Stargardt disease, what other therapie...
Oct 31, 2022•25 min•Season 3Ep. 144
McKinsey’s Franck Le Deu and BayHelix’s Guo-Liang Yu join the BioCentury This Week podcast to discuss globalization and cross-border innovation in the biopharma and preview the upcoming BioCentury-BayHelix East-West Summit. BioCentury’s co-founders — CEO Dave Flores, Chairman Karen Bernstein — and Editor in Chief Simone Fishburn and BioCentury head of BD Josh Berlin also join the podcast to discuss the importance of globalization for biopharma and patients, the current environment for cross-bord...
Oct 28, 2022•24 min•Season 3Ep. 143
A pair of neurology companies are in the spotlight on the latest edition of the BioCentury This Week podcast. BioCentury’s editors assess how Lundbeck has evolved in the past five years, with a fresh emphasis on first in class in its revamped pipeline, and how Biogen could acquire its way into being a near-term growth company. BioCentury’s editors also discuss the Biden administration’s initiative that seeks to compensate for decades of underinvestment in the nation’s biomanufacturing capacity a...
Oct 25, 2022•26 min•Season 3Ep. 142
On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, Senior Editor Karen Tkach Tuzman surveys the landscape of neoantigen cancer vaccines, touching on what’s changed in the past five years, 2022’s key readouts and what’s next for the field. Washington Editor Steve Usdin discusses the White House’s plans to use executive powers to reduce drug prices and, recapping his latest Editor’s Commentary, explains why he believes the U.S. and China should not allow rivalry in life sciences to turn into enmity that ...
Oct 17, 2022•26 min•Season 3Ep. 141
On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, Washington Editor Steve Usdin details the circumstances leading up to Michelle McMurry-Heath’s resignation as CEO of BIO on Monday. The podcast team also discuss BioCentury’s 4Q22 Financial Markets Preview, with Associate Editor Stephen Hansen assessing biotech’s attempt to emerge from the ongoing bear market recovery as inflation and rising interest rates foster a risk-off environment. Senior Editor Karen Tkach Tuzman discusses the latest translationa...
Oct 11, 2022•29 min•Season 3Ep. 140
The neurodegeneration field had two big wins with even bigger implications for the future of Alzheimer’s disease and ALSs, Executive Editor Selina Koch says on the latest episode of BioCentury This Week. Koch lays out the importance of the positive Phase III data for lecanemab in Alzheimer’s and the coming debate over access to the therapy, while also noting the potential for read-through to other neurodegenerative diseases from FDA’s approval of Amylyx's ALS drug Relyvrio. BioCentury’s editoria...
Oct 04, 2022•27 min•Season 3Ep. 139
Everything’s at stake for FDA as user fee legislation approaches a critical deadline this week, Washington Editor Steve Usdin says on the latest episode of BioCentury This Week. Usdin details the next steps in the process, which FDA reforms are being dropped from the “clean” user fee bill and the future of healthcare legislation. BioCentury’s editorial team also recaps the top takeaways from Global Blood Therapeutics CEO Ted Love’s appearance on The BioCentury Show , previews the upcoming BioCen...
Sep 27, 2022•28 min•Season 3Ep. 138
A year after it reported its first clinical data showing CRISPR-based gene editing may live up to its promise, Intellia has provided evidence for the second time that its platform can knock down a clinically relevant target in the liver, and revealed the first data showing it can deliver clinical benefit. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury's editors discuss the hereditary angioedema data for NTLA-2002. They also explain why the Inflation Reduction Act could have an outsized e...
Sep 19, 2022•19 min•Season 3Ep. 137
Biopharma executives and investors are bracing for the impact of the newly passed Inflation Reduction Act. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury's editors discuss pharma CEOs’ warnings that the law will reduce incentives for small molecule drug development, how biotech VCs may adjust deployment of their funds and how the government could implement the law.Turning to readouts from the European Society of Medical Oncology Congress, the BioCentury podcast team explains why the late...
Sep 13, 2022•23 min•Season 3Ep. 136
Digital fluency, the imperative to have an impact on society and an eagerness to make change now, not in future decades, mark the future leaders of the industry, says BioCentury Editor in Chief Simone Fishburn. On the fifth and concluding BioCentury This Week podcast accompanying Back to School 2022, Fishburn and BioCentury’s editorial team discuss the defining traits of industry’s incoming generation of leaders and the evolving skills required for the future of biotech. Access all of BioCentury...
Sep 02, 2022•19 min•Season 3Ep. 135
The need to recruit and train regulators is acute in developed as well as low- and middle-income countries, BioCentury Washington Editor Steve Usdin says. On the fourth of five BioCentury This Week podcasts accompanying Back to School 2022, Usdin and BioCentury’s editorial team discuss how drawing top talent means agencies must persuade candidates that careers are infused with purpose and support a vital mission. BioCentury Senior Editor Karen Tkach Tuzman says biopharma companies, facing their ...
Sep 01, 2022•16 min•Season 3Ep. 135
Solving the biopharma industry’s management crunch will require today’s leaders to open their networks, and provide more leadership opportunities and mentoring to rising leaders, says BioCentury Editor in Chief Simone Fishburn. On the third of five BioCentury This Week podcasts accompanying Back to School 2022, Fishburn and BioCentury’s editorial team discuss the group of employees who see the C-suite as their next step, why they want to get there and the impediments they must overcome. BioCentu...
Aug 31, 2022•16 min•Season 3Ep. 135
The past two years have forced a reckoning for CEOs throughout the biopharma industry that will shape the next generation of success stories. On the second of five BioCentury This Week podcasts accompanying Back to School 2022 , BioCentury’s podcast team discusses what makes a good CEO and how leaders are building teams to manage successful biotechs. BioCentury’s editors also draw on the results from BioCentury’s Talent Survey to discuss the flourishing cohort of women CEOs leading today’s bioph...
Aug 30, 2022•19 min•Season 3Ep. 135
BioCentury’s 30th annual Back to School edition focuses on talent: where to find talent and how to nurture it. It’s a special Back to School package because the issue involves every person in the life sciences ecosystem at a critical time in the biopharma industry’s evolution, says Editor in Chief Simone Fishburn on the latest BioCentury This Week podcast. Fishburn and the BioCentury podcast team set the stage for the five-day Back to School series, which draws on analysis of BioCentury’s Talent...
Aug 29, 2022•16 min•Season 3Ep. 135
Despite public market investors shying away from preclinical companies amid biotech’s bear market, large biopharmas have ramped up their deal making for early-stage assets and technologies and are willing to pay for access to new modalities, says BioCentury’s Stephen Hansen on the latest BioCentury This Week podcast. Hansen and colleagues also discuss the implications of FDA’s approval of gene therapy Zynteglo from bluebird bio Inc., and the latest advances and leaders in the field of epigenome ...
Aug 22, 2022•20 min•Season 3Ep. 134
A flurry of follow-on financings last week suggests a receptive market for companies with recent catalysts, BioCentury’s Paul Bonanos says on the latest BioCentury This Week podcast. Bonanos and colleagues discuss what last week’s offerings, led by schizophrenia company Karuna Therapeutics, say about which companies might be able to tap the public markets and under what circumstances. The podcast team also examines how computational protein design is shifting its center of gravity from mechanist...
Aug 16, 2022•19 min•Season 3Ep. 133
The proposed $5.4 billion takeout of sickle cell company Global Blood Therapeutics by Pfizer is the latest sign of life in biotech M&A, BioCentury Associate Editor Paul Bonanos says on the BioCentury This Week podcast. Bonanos and colleagues explain how Pfizer plans to use its global reach to get Oxbryta to parts of the globe most affected by sickle cell disease, which disproportionately affects people of African, Middle Eastern and South Asian descent. Plus: how schizophrenia data from Karu...
Aug 09, 2022•20 min•Season 3Ep. 132
