With political uncertainty overshadowing market sentiment going into 2025, BioCentury’s editorial team assesses the bull and bear arguments for biotech in the New Year on the BioCentury This Week podcast’s Public Markets Preview . Will continued uncertainty drive biotech sentiment in the coming months, or will the bear arguments fail to manifest, stymied by M&A and other positive factors? In the second part of the 2025 Preview, BioCentury’s editors highlight some of the key catalysts in bisp...
Jan 22, 2025•36 min•Season 6Ep. 274
Sunshine and a stream of deals brightened the mood at this year’s J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, offering a pleasant counterpoint to continued pessimism over the state of the capital markets. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s editors deliver their takeaways from biotech’s annual kick-off event from megarounds and Asian newcos to the new state of M&A and pending change at FDA. View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/article/654723 00:00 - Introduction 01:52 - Ma...
Jan 17, 2025•22 min•Season 6Ep. 273
J&J’s $14.6 billion takeout of neurology play Intra-cellular Therapies headlined a buzzy start to the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, where a flurry of deal announcements recalled the conference’s pre-pandemic days. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury's editors discuss the takeout of Intra-cellular, the third 11-digit neuro M&A in the past 13 months, as well as M&A involving Idrx and GSK, and Scorpion Therapeutics and Eli Lilly. Turning to Washington, the team e...
Jan 13, 2025•27 min•Season 6Ep. 272
Can biotech break free of the macro factors that have buffeted the industry of late? On the first BioCentury This Week podcast of 2025, BioCentury’s editors offer their predictions for the New Year and — exploring the themes from Simone Fishburn’s latest Letter from the Editor — ask whether biotech can overcome the financing environment, policy concerns and geopolitical tension that have been hammering the industry to deliver on the meaningful strides companies have been taking to deliver innova...
Jan 07, 2025•35 min•Season 6Ep. 271
Preview: In his five decades at FDA, Robert “Bob” Temple helped revolutionize the ways medical products are developed and regulated. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, Washington Editor Steve Usdin reflects on the legacy of Temple . Temple, who is retiring, crafted the modern clinical trial paradigm, created the accelerated approval pathway, and set precedents for incorporating patient perspectives in regulatory decisions. Usdin also discusses the opportunities and threats for the agenc...
Dec 30, 2024•35 min•Season 5Ep. 270
With most of the highly attractive late-stage assets already scooped up, pharmas are turning their sights to Phase II companies, and lining up their case to make an attractive offer and move fast. About 40% of the M&A deals in 2023-24 were completed in less than six weeks, from approach to announcement, according to Lazard’s data. Michael Kingston and Dale Raine, global co-heads of biopharma at Lazard, joined The BioCentury Show this week to discuss the M&A outlook amid the still-precari...
Dec 23, 2024•35 min
Lately, it appears some biotech VCs have hit a ceiling, capping their new funds at or below the amount of their previous vehicles, says Paul Bonanos on the latest BioCentury This Week . Bonanos and his BioCentury editorial colleagues discuss what’s behind the trend as they assess VC fundraising in this post-‘supercycle’ era. The editors also evaluate the state of play for venture-backed obesity plays and which VCs are active in the space, as well as takeaways from the latest BioCentury Show podc...
Dec 17, 2024•33 min•Season 5Ep. 269
A pair of lawmakers have dealt the Biosecure Act a setback that could derail the legislation, even as Congress continues its push to reduce reliance on China in the life sciences. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, Washington Editor Steve Usdin explains why Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) refused to sign off on inclusion of the anti-China biotech bill in the must-pass National Defense Authorization Act, what provisions the defense bill has that seek to enhance U.S. ...
Dec 10, 2024•22 min•Season 5Ep. 268
On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, Washington Editor Steve Usdin and colleagues discuss how President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead NIH, Jay Bhattacharya, would lead NIH and how that could affect the biopharma industry. The BioCentury team then discusses its analysis of abstracts released ahead of the American Society of Hematology (ASH) and Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) annual conferences, highlighting methods for applying dual or bispecific CAR T cell designs to solid...
Dec 03, 2024•27 min•Season 5Ep. 267
Positive vibes about biotech emanating from the Jefferies Healthcare Conference were overshadowed by the uncertainty that is ahead because of the result of the U.S. elections. On the latest BioCentury This Week , BioCentury’s editors discuss how the unconventional cabinet nominations of the incoming Trump administration have cast a pall over what had been growing enthusiasm for the prospects of the biotech sector. Washington Editor Steve Usdin also discusses what the nomination of Marty Makary a...
Nov 26, 2024•27 min•Season 5Ep. 266
Giving RFK Jr. control of HHS would be disastrous, argues Washington Editor Steve Usdin on the latest BioCentury This Week podcast. Expanding on his Editor’s Commentary , Usdin explains why Kennedy would be an unmitigated disaster for FDA, NIH and CMS, for biopharmas and for patients. He calls on biopharma leaders to speak out and affirm basic truths, even if it puts them in harm’s way. BioCentury’s editors also discuss why new data for GSK's Blenrep — an oncology therapy withdrawn two years ago...
Nov 19, 2024•30 min•Season 5Ep. 265
Trump 2.0 presents opportunities and challenges for leaders of the biopharma industry, which needs effective public policy to thrive. On the latest BioCentury This Week , BioCentury Washington Editor Steve Usdin explains what those opportunities are and lays out the potential impact on the public policy environment, which could have repercussions on FDA and beyond. BioCentury’s editors then analyze how companies, academics and advocates are pushing back on claims that they should have disclosed ...
Nov 12, 2024•29 min•Season 5Ep. 264
It’s too soon to conclude anti-amyloid therapies are safe for use by Alzheimer’s patients in the real world, even as early reports are encouraging, argues BioCentury Executive Editor Selina Koch on the latest BioCentury This Week podcast. Koch and colleagues discuss takeaways from this year’s Clinical Trials on Alzheimer’s Disease annual meeting, including conclusions from adverse event data for Leqembi lecanemab and what the true test of appropriate use and safety for the drug might look like. ...
Nov 05, 2024•35 min•Season 5Ep. 263
Twenty years of innovation in therapies targeting EGFR provides a case study in how generation of differentiated products against the target can drive market growth. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s editors discuss EGFR as a prime example of the value in best-in-class development strategies, with meaningful improvements across multiple modalities delivering substantial therapeutic benefits to patients. Analogous best-in-class opportunities aren’t limited to cancer, but ar...
Oct 29, 2024•24 min•Season 5Ep. 262
Cross-border geopolitical tensions and a prolonged capital crunch are compelling biopharma companies from Beijing to Boston to rethink their strategies on everything from deal-making and raising capital to manufacturing and use of CROs. On a special edition of the BioCentury This Week podcast, McKinsey’s Franck Le Deu and Wendy Pan of BayHelix and Goodwin join BioCentury on the eve of next week’s eleventh annual BioCentury-BayHelix China Healthcare Summit in Shanghai to discuss the dynamics affe...
Oct 24, 2024•32 min•Season 5Ep. 261
At least 25 venture firms have raised a total of more than $17 billion in funds this year, with Forbion unveiling the largest-ever European biopharma fund at €1.2 billion last week. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s editors discuss how Forbion deployed its prior fund and quickly raised fresh funds and what that — and other funds — say about the state of financing private biotechs in Europe and elsewhere. The editors then assess takeaways from BioCentury’s conversation with...
Oct 22, 2024•31 min•Season 5Ep. 260
There is a growing mandate among researchers and VCs to provide proof of causal human biology for new targets. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s editors discuss the different strategies being deployed to identify causal links to disease using observational patient data or human cell models, including the challenges that come with each approach and the various computational methodologies companies are using. They also discuss the outcome of FDA’s advisory committee meeting ...
Oct 15, 2024•34 min•Season 5Ep. 259
Biopharma buysiders and bankers at long last believe the conditions are ripe for biotech growth and outperformance, BioCentury’s Stephen Hansen says on the latest BioCentury This Week podcast. Hansen and colleagues take stock of the sector’s growth potential after three long years of the bear market as they discuss BioCentury’s 4Q24 Public Markets Preview . Also on this week’s show, Washington Editor Steve Usdin discusses his Editor’s Commentary , in which he argues that FDA leaders planned refo...
Oct 08, 2024•40 min•Season 5Ep. 258
Approval of BMS’s first-in-class schizophrenia drug is good news for patients and the company’s thinning pipeline alike, but maximizing Cobenfy’s commercial potential depends on readouts in additional indications. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s editors assess the significance of the new therapy and what the pharma needs to do to make its launch a success. They also discuss the impact of the withdrawal of Pfizer's sickle cell therapy; the work left unfinished on biotech-...
Oct 01, 2024•32 min•Season 5Ep. 257
The ESMO Congress yielded another win for cancer immunotherapy target TIGIT, but the readout resurfaced worries about the mechanism’s past failures to turn positive earlier stage data into Phase III success. On a special edition of the BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s editors deliver their takeaways from this year’s meeting, including analysis of data for TIGIT blocker belrestotug from iTeos Therapeutics, a colorectal cancer readout featuring J&J's Rybrevant and an antibody-drug co...
Sep 26, 2024•27 min•Season 5Ep. 256
Rep. Frank Pallone’s misunderstanding of how the pediatric priority review voucher program works has been one factor undermining support for an incentive that brings new drugs to kids, argues Washington Editor Steve Usdin on the latest BioCentury This Week podcast. Usdin explains how the voucher process works and why it’s valuable to the country’s youngest patients, as well as to small biotechs and larger biopharma alike. Usdin also discusses the latest twists and turns for the Biosecure Act, an...
Sep 24, 2024•22 min•Season 5Ep. 255
On a special edition of the BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s editors deliver their takeaways from the debut Grand Rounds conference, which focused on whether biotech can write a more successful playbook for translating from target to product. Weaving together takeaways from the panels, fireside chat and keynote at the conference, the editors assess the tensions between generalizability and fit-for-purpose models, between having control and capturing complexity, and, in human data, betw...
Sep 20, 2024•35 min•Season 5Ep. 254
On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s editors assess the shifting market for biotech IPOs, including the profiles of the three companies that went public on NASDAQ last week, the aftermarket performance of the year's IPO class, and the prospects for more companies to make their own debut in the coming months. BioCentury’s editors also discuss whether the rush to GLP-1s for obesity will mirror the development of PD-1s for cancer and the impact on biopharma of the recent mainstr...
Sep 17, 2024•33 min•Season 5Ep. 253
Will bispecifics be the drugs to dethrone cancer’s biggest blockbusters? Akeso is the latest company with a bispecific to impress in a head-to-head study, this one for non-small cell lung cancer. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s editors discuss the latest data from Akeso’s ivonescimab, a VEGFxPD-1 bispecific antibody that went up against Keytruda pembrolizumab in one of its largest indications, first-line non-small cell lung cancer. The editors also discuss data from Vaxc...
Sep 10, 2024•19 min•Season 5Ep. 252
In this year’s series of Back to School essays, BioCentury’s editors ask whether the era of human first, causal biology and personalized medicine can reshape drug discovery to solve the weakest link in biotech — translation to the clinic. On a special edition of the BioCentury This Week podcast, the three authors of BioCentury’s 32nd Back to School edition, Editor in Chief Simone Fishburn, Executive Editor Selina Koch, and Executive Director of Biopharma Intelligence Lauren Martz, discuss how in...
Sep 07, 2024•32 min•Season 5Ep. 251
A vote on the Biosecure Act in the U.S. House of Representatives early next week shines the spotlight back on legislation seeking to rein in Chinese CDMOs and genomics companies, as Congress returns to work. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s editors handicap the legislation’s chances of passage in the House and Senate and assess what’s at stake for the law authorizing rare pediatric disease priority review vouchers. They also discuss the results of BioCentury’s snap poll g...
Sep 04, 2024•30 min•Season 5Ep. 250
Shaking up an underwhelming year for fresh biotech paper, a trio of biotechs filed to go public on NASDAQ last week. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s editors discuss the IPO filings by MBX and Massachusetts companies Zenas and Bicara. Washington Editor Steve Usdin returns to the podcast to provide updates on the Inflation Reduction and Biosecure acts, as well as the life sciences policies of presidential candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. And Director of Biopharma...
Aug 27, 2024•29 min•Season 5Ep. 249
Grand Rounds is an R&D meeting that represents BioCentury’s latest initiative to create new networks linking academic discoveries with translational skills and the investors who will finance them, BioCentury co-founder, President and CEO David Flores said on a special edition of the BioCentury This Week podcast previewing the new conference. The meeting, on Sept. 9-11 in Nashville, focuses on whether biotech can write a more successful playbook for translating from target to product. The pod...
Aug 23, 2024•34 min•Season 5Ep. 248
The Biden administration has disclosed what Medicare will pay for the first graduates of its drug price negotiation program but biopharma companies, biotech investors and patient advocates are still waiting for the government to reveal how those prices were determined — details that are critical to informing the decisions that will shape the future of medicine. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s editors discuss what last week’s disclosure tells us — and what information is ...
Aug 20, 2024•26 min•Season 5Ep. 247
Pharmaceutical companies and some investors may have once again become wary of gene therapy, but the modality’s future is bright, according to Jim Wilson. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s editors discuss takeaways from BioCentury’s exclusive interview with the AAV trailblazer, including Wilson’s prediction that the benefits of the therapies will extend beyond rare genetic diseases, and the rationale for his new therapeutics company, Gemma Biotherapeutics. BioCentury’s hea...
Aug 13, 2024•32 min•Season 5Ep. 246
