Introduction

Special guest Praveen Tipirneni, CEO of Morphic, joins Daphne Zohar, Tim Opler, Josh Schimmer, Rob Perez and John Maraganore on this week’s Biotech Hangout to discuss the latest news. The hosts discuss large pharma companies providing guidance regarding possible upcoming deals as well as pipeline cuts. The hosts also discuss the recent FDA approval of Seres’ FMT product, the impact on the microbiome field, and differentiated next generation approaches being taken by companies like Vedanta who raised a $106M financing this week along with $270M A round from Orbital being bullish signals for private financings. Praveen Tipirneni details Morphic’s positive Phase 1 data for IBD, recounting what it took for his team to get there, and other data announcements from the week including Arrowhead, Alnylam and Avidity. Other topics of discussion include biotechs making creative deals in an unpredictable market, RNAi, and whether platforms or products are more attractive M&A targets. *This episode aired on April 28, 2023

Disclosures from Josh Schimmer: Evercore ISI disclosures for the stocks that I cover can be found on the Biotech homepage