UBS On-Air: Market Moves Life Sciences: Industry trends & investment considerations with Nick Galakatos, Blackstone
Nov 13, 2025
Nick Galakatos, Senior Managing Director and Global Head of Life Sciences at Blackstone, dives deep into the evolving landscape of life sciences funding. He reveals that developing a new drug can exceed $2 billion, stressing how AI and innovation are reshaping this costly process. Galakatos discusses Blackstone's unique approach to investing in products rather than companies, focusing on promising therapies that could significantly impact patient care. He also explores the FDA's stable review timelines and highlights the current innovation-driven opportunities in an uncertain market.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Rising Costs Create A Funding Gap
- Developing a new medicine costs over $2 billion and has doubled in cost over the last decade.
- One in three medicines in development remains unfunded, creating a large funding gap for investors to address.
AI Expands Pipelines And Investment Needs
- AI is accelerating drug discovery and increasing the number of products in pipeline while costs rise.
- Blackstone invests in late-stage products to bridge capital gaps and earns milestone payments and royalties.
Long‑Acting Cholesterol Drug Example
- Blackstone invested in a long-acting cholesterol drug that lowers LDL ~50% more than statins and is dosed twice a year.
- The product launched as Leqvio (Novartis) and improves efficacy and patient compliance compared with daily statins.