Why are AbbVie executives feeling the M&A blues? What does it take to slice $12 billion from Amgen’s market value? And why are STAT’s D.C. correspondents working so hard? 

We talk about all that and more on this week’s episode of the “The Readout LOUD,” STAT’s biotech podcast. It’s a “Chatty Cathy” episode! Elaine, Allison and Adam lead off with a discussion about AbbVie’s M&A miscue following the failure of a closely followed schizophrenia drug. You’d hate us if obesity drugs weren’t mentioned, so we oblige with a tick-tock on what went down between Amgen and a Wall Street analyst who noted a possible safety issue with the obesity drug candidate MariTide.