Biotech Hangout

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.

In this episode, Daphne, Josh, Bruce and Dawn are joined by guest Sam Fazeli (Bloomberg) to discuss this week’s biotech news and trends, including priorities in biotech (patients, investments and incentives), hybrid work models, and the new CEO appointments at Seagen and Biogen. In oncology news, the GSK Blenrep failure in multiple myeloma trial and perspective on progression-free survival versus overall survival in oncology and what really matters. From a financial angle, the hosts discuss single product companies, stock-based compensation, Clovis’ bankruptcy risk, EQRx’s pivot in their pricing model, Merrimack Pharma shares jumping after a successful trial for their pancreatic cancer drug and BioNTech’s increased full-year sales projection. Plus, regulatory news from the week including Verve’s clinical hold and ADC Therapeutics’ accelerated approval rejection. 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 episode, Daphne, Bruce, Tim and guest Jefferies’ Michael Yee discuss the latest happenings in biotech, including recent key earnings, clinical data including ASH abstracts, “BAMG (Bristol Myers Squibb, Amgen, Merck and Gilead) as the new FAANG” and ways that companies are navigating the current challenging financing environment including debt, royalties, reverse mergers & the idea of returning capital after a setback. The episode also delves into the healthy follow-on financing environment.

Lots of news this week! Daphne, Josh and Ethan discuss key binary events of the week, consolidation and the loss of ~40 companies across the industry over the last several months, deals – including the Agios royalty deal, the Sumitomo and Myovant merger and Vaxcyte’s large $690 million offering – as well as Taysha’s criticism around developing ultra-rare diseases and parents getting rights to drugs they helped fund. The hosts also discuss notable earnings from large companies, key FDA actions on Ipsen’s ultra-rare disease and accelerated approval for J&J’s bispecific antibody, and the microbiome coming back into favor.

Rob Perez joins Daphne Zohar and Josh Schimmer to discuss the week's deals, data & FDA actions. Special guests include Kevin Judice, CEO of DiCE Therapeutics, and Alex Harding, who delves deeper into his recent Timmerman Report article on the Inflation Reduction Act.

Hosts Josh Schimmer, Daphne Zohar and Tim Opler talk conflicts of interest in the industry, the Wall Street Journal’s investigation into the FTC and who regulates the regulators. Original air date:  October 14, 2022.

Hosts Daphne Zohar, Josh Schimmer and Bruce Booth discuss the recent rally in biotech and short interest stocks, when pharma doesn’t opt in or terminates a partnership, working with various divisions at the FDA and more. Original air date: October 7, 2022.