Biotech Hangout

This week’s Biotech Hangout theme is, “the good, the bad, the ugly” … and the “interesting.” Starting with “the good,” hosts Daphne Zohar, Josh Schimmer, Tim Opler, Dawn Bell and John Maraganore discuss the Mineralys ($MYLS) IPO and recent deals including Pfizer, Novartis and Merck on the hunt for new deals and CVS’s acquisition of Oak Street Health, a value-based primary care company and rival to United Healthcare. The “bad” centers around recent layoffs and shutdowns in the industry and government pressures on drug pricing. For “the ugly,” the team talks about the cost of sustainable innovation in the biotech industry. The hosts also examine if increased M&A and investor support will help correct the market, the latest on the Inflation Reduction Act and its impact on the industry and the importance of generics and intellectual property in biopharma. All agree that the industry provides significant opportunity and the “good” far outweighs the “bad” and the “ugly” in an industry with huge impact on patients and society.

This week, hosts Daphne Zohar, Josh Schimmer, Dawn Bell and Sam Fazeli cover recent biotech earnings, big pharma revenue drivers, FDA news, data and much more. The group kicks off the conversation by addressing the slow week in M&A news before diving into the profitability of Medicare Advantage for private insurance and the new RADV rule updates announced – they also touch on how this rule will impact the future of pharma. Additionally, the hosts cover big pharma patent expiries & pipeline sourcing needs. Notable earnings updates from big pharma are discussed and the group shares their thoughts on Amgen’s AmjevitaTM, the first biosimilar to Humira, Medicare’s new testing policy for paying less for drugs that receive accelerated approval, and GSK’s oral treatment for anemia of chronic kidney disease in adults on dialysis. Host Ethan Perlstein joins the group to close out the episode with a debate on the geroscience sector of biotech and how Biopharma and Silicon Valley take different approaches to innovation and clinical studies.

On this week’s episode, hosts Daphne Zohar and Josh Schimmer welcome founder and former CEO of Alnylam, John Maraganore, as a guest, and are joined by Ethan Perlstein, Rob Perez, Michal Preminger and Chris Garabedian. The discussion begins with a recap from John’s recent op-ed article published in The Timmerman Report that poses the question: ‘Is it the right time for biotech to be back together in person?’ The group debates the subject of remote vs. hybrid work models and discusses other cultural and strategic topics related to business models in biotech. They also cover Amazon’s new program, RxPass, that provides unlimited generic medicines, which address about 80 conditions, to Prime members for a monthly rate of $5. Additionally, the hosts share insights into recent data and trial updates, including setbacks at Magenta Therapeutics and a positive readout from Pliant Therapeutics. The discussion ends with news from TG Therapeutics, a small biotech that launched a new drug that directly competes with pharmaceutical giant, Roche, leading to another discussion of the pros & cons of small biotechs competing with large pharma.

On this week’s episode, hosts Daphne Zohar, Bruce Booth, Dawn Bell and Tim Opler are joined by Rajiv Kaul, portfolio manager in the equity division at Fidelity Investments, to discuss the latest data, financial and M&A news in the industry. The group begins by discussing an optimistic outlook for the biotech industry as financial trends seem to be shifting, noting that some of the most important breakthroughs in science and tech have followed challenging economic periods. They dive into the topic of opportunity assessment from different points of view in the industry – from pharma to biotech to public and private investment – sharing perspectives on weighing risk, novelty and values of new therapeutics. The hosts also share insight into the recent theme of consolidation with a few unique mergers and acquisitions from this week between Angion and privately held Elicio Therapeutics, Leap Therapeutics’ merger with Flame Biosciences and Sun Pharma’s acquisition of Concert Pharmaceuticals. Other news covered includes Moderna’s promising RSV vaccine data and the FDA’s denial of Lilly’s Alzheimer’s accelerated approval. Ending on a positive note, the group reflects on their excitement about the innovation in the biotech space. Community of experts and insiders joining Biotech Hangout (formerly known as Biotech Clubhouse) include Daphne Zohar, Josh Schimmer, Bruce Booth, Tim Opler, Chris Garabedian, Michal Preminger, Dawn Bell, Rob Perez, Otello Stampacchia and more.

On the two-year anniversary of the launch of Biotech Hangout (formerly Biotech Clubhouse), Daphne and Josh are joined by Chris Garabedian and Brad Loncar, two of the Biotech Clubhouse co-founders, and Bruce Booth, Dawn Bell & Michal Preminger all drop in. The group kicks off the episode with outlook on 2023 and an in-depth recap of the J.P. Morgan 2023 Healthcare Conference. Overall themes include the “Monday Mystique” of industry pressure to announce deals at the start of the conference, Brad’s successful video series full of conversations with notable biopharma CEOs, diversity & inclusion, and an emerging globalization theme. Hosts also cover M&A, Day One Biopharmaceuticals’ topline data and news in the bispecific and endocrine spaces. The group then highlights the FDA’s recent decision to eliminate the requirement of animal testing before human clinical trials, and they chat about the uptick in clinical holds. Later, Eric Tokat, Partner at Centerview Partners, drops in to talk about his three $1B+ deals announced at the conference, perspectives on the M&A landscape, the attractiveness of commercial to late-stage deals and the shift beyond oncology to more diverse fields like metabolic, cardiovascular and autoimmune therapies. Community of experts and insiders joining Biotech Hangout (formerly known as Biotech Clubhouse) include Daphne Zohar, Josh Schimmer, Bruce Booth, Tim Opler, Chris Garabedian, Michal Preminger, Dawn Bell, Rob Perez, Otello Stampacchia and more.

On the first Biotech Hangout episode of 2023, Daphne, Josh, and Tim are joined by Jefferies’ biotech analyst Michael Yee to recap the deals, financings, and clinical readouts that stood out in 2022. The group discusses the upcoming annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare conference and makes future predictions for 2023, including a possible rebound in China and amore obesity, CNS and small molecule deals. They discuss the Inflation Reduction Act and dive into Jefferies’ January XBI heat map. The group recaps Brad Loncar’s 2023 predictions in Business Insider and discuss what investors will want to see more of this year. They also make predictions for large cap data deals in the next year and share opinions on the recent FDA approval of Eisai’s Alzheimer’s drug, Leqembi. Wrapping up, the group gives final thoughts on M&A deals we can expect to see more of, including deals in oncology and ADC technology. Community of experts and insiders joining Biotech Hangout (formerly known as Biotech Clubhouse) include Daphne Zohar, Josh Schimmer, Bruce Booth, Tim Opler, Chris Garabedian, Michal Preminger, Dawn Bell, Rob Perez, Otello Stampacchia and more.

This week, hosts Daphne, Chris, Tim and Dawn are joined by Jeb Keiper, CEO of Nimbus Therapeutics, and by Melanie Senior, Biopharma reporter and analyst, to discuss the latest data, regulatory, and financial news in the biotech industry. Daphne, Chris, Dawn and Tim kick off the episode with insights on recent M&A deals – noting a recent increase in activity that has propelled 2022 into a big year for M&A. The group discusses past acquisitions that led to blockbuster medicines and those that didn't. One of the noteworthy deals of the year is this week's Takeda’s $4B upfront acquisition of Nimbus’s TYK2 inhibitor. Jeb provides color around the deal and how it came together. The group discusses the private funding market and IPOs, including some recent examples of setbacks. Melanie talks regulatory, sharing stats on shifts in BLAs vs NMEs, tailwinds for biosimilars, and diversity with respect to obesity patients inclusion in trials. Community of experts and insiders joining Biotech Hangout (formerly known as Biotech Clubhouse) include Daphne Zohar, Josh Schimmer, Bruce Booth, Tim Opler, Chris Garabedian, Michal Preminger, Dawn Bell, Rob Perez, Otello Stampacchia and more.

Hosts Daphne, Josh, Tim and Otello are joined by special guest and biotech investor, Brad Loncar, to discuss the current M&A landscape, data announcements from the week and recent FDA and regulatory movements. Otello began the episode with his observations of trends in M&A including speedy execution of deals and lack of competition to get them. Daphne goes into detail about this week’s deals, including a new, high-stakes partnership between Summit Therapeutics and Akeso to in-license a bispecific antibody, a deal that could be worth up to $5 billion. Brad reflects on the popularity of cell therapies in 2022, covering Gilead and Kite’s announcement of a collaboration with Arcellx to develop its phase 2 cell therapy for multiple myeloma. Josh transitions the conversation to data, highlighting Nkarta’s positive clinical data from its CAR-NK cell therapy for patients with non-Hodgkin lymphoma and how this approach compares to CAR-T treatments. Finally, the conversation turns to a discussion on the relationship between big pharma and biotech and where smaller companies should focus business development relationships. Community of experts and insiders joining Biotech Hangout (formerly known as Biotech Clubhouse) include Daphne Zohar, Josh Schimmer, Bruce Booth, Tim Opler, Chris Garabedian, Michal Preminger, Dawn Bell, Rob Perez, Otello Stampacchia and more.

In this week’s episode, Daphne, Josh and Tim are joined by Michal Preminger, Head of Johnson & Johnson Innovation, and Jacob Plieth, Evaluate Vantage journalist, to discuss the latest in biotech takeovers, data readouts and FDA news. Tim kicks off the episode with an update on macro events and his recent analysis on aggregate enterprise value of companies with good clinical data versus not so go good clinical data. Michal leads a discussion on the intersection of academia and the venture capital community and Jacob goes in-depth on his coverage of the Clinical Trials on Alzheimer’s Disease conference (CTAD). In M&A news, Daphne covers Merck’s acquisition of Imago BioSciences, Horizon Therapeutics’ takeover interest, and AstraZeneca’s move into cell therapy with the acquisition of Neogene Therapeutics. Josh then discusses Mirum’s decision to discontinue their ICP program and the challenges of developing drugs in the pregnancy setting. Lastly, Jacob gives his American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting predictions and the group debates biotech versus pharma productivity. Community of experts and insiders joining Biotech Hangout (formerly known as Biotech Clubhouse) include Daphne Zohar, Josh Schimmer, Bruce Booth, Tim Opler, Chris Garabedian, Michal Preminger, Dawn Bell, Rob Perez, Otello Stampacchia and more.

Jeremy Levin, Bruce Booth, Rob Perez, Dawn Bell and Ethan Perlstein join Daphne and Josh to discuss the macro biotech picture, recap the recent Jefferies Conference, discuss the impact of partisanship in healthcare legislation (including IRA), the coming impact for private and crossover investors, the Acrivon Therapeutics IPO & other recent financings, the Editas clinical setback and some recent FDA approvals, and the a16z story about the biggest company in the world being a consumer health tech company. The group also debates what makes a great biotech CEO and how those CEOs should handle company setbacks. Community of experts and insiders joining Biotech Hangout (formerly known as Biotech Clubhouse) include Daphne Zohar, Josh Schimmer, Bruce Booth, Tim Opler, Chris Garabedian, Michal Preminger, Dawn Bell, Rob Perez, Otello Stampacchia and more.