Episode 68

On this week’s episode of Biotech Hangout, hosts Daphne Zohar, Tim Opler, Brad Loncar, Bruce Booth, Otello Stampacchia and Mike Yee cover industry news from the week. They discuss the latest deals including Alexion acquiring Pfizer’s rare disease gene therapy portfolio and Revolution Medicines acquisition of EQRx and a broader discussion of merging with negative EV companies as a strategy for fundraising and the “fundability” of certain founders. The hosts also dive into the hot topic of the week: Biogen and Sage’s PDUFA for zuranolone in MDD and PPD. Additionally, they cover the busy week of Q2 earnings, which included news from Pfizer, Vertex, Moderna, Regeneron, TG Therapeutics and more. Other topics of discussion included the state of biopharma jobs, Vertex non-opioid data, an SVB healthcare report on VC funds, climate change and Steve Jobs’ son starting a VC firm for cancer treatments. *This episode aired on August 4th, 2023