Business Breakdowns

RTW: Investing across Healthcare - [Business Breakdowns, EP.184]

49 snips
Sep 27, 2024
Rod Wong, founder and CIO of RTW Investments, and Stephanie Sirota, its Chief Business Officer, dive deep into the unique landscape of healthcare investing. They tackle the complexities of drug investment phases and the crucial role of regulations. The guests compare founder-led biotech startups to larger firms, highlighting the societal impacts of innovations. They also discuss the evolution of investment strategies in biotech and the challenges posed by an ever-shifting pharmaceutical landscape, including pricing and M&A dynamics.
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INSIGHT

Healthcare Product Lifecycle

  • Healthcare products, especially drugs, have a unique three-phase lifecycle.
  • A long development phase with no revenue, a strong revenue phase, and a quick decline after patent expiration.
INSIGHT

Founder-Led Companies

  • There are few founder-led giant healthcare companies. Drug development is a superhuman endeavor, and founders typically focus on a few drugs.
ANECDOTE

AveXis Investment

  • RTW invested in AveXis pre-IPO based on promising animal data, despite a challenging biotech market.
  • The stock initially struggled but was later acquired by Novartis for $9 billion after successful human trials.
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