Biotech Hangout

On this week’s episode of Biotech Hangout, hosts Brad Loncar, Chris Garabedian, Tim Opler, Dawn Bell and guest host Brian Skorney talk the latest in industry news. They discuss the first FDA approved Alzheimer’s drug to slow cognitive decline plus the subsequent retirement of Esai’s CEO /Alzheimer’s lead. Several other headlines this week including Eli Lilly’s Versanis acquisition, ADC Therapeutics pausing trial enrollment, Illumina’s fine and BeiGene and Novartis terminating their agreement. The hosts also talk about China-related news including the FDA planning to import more doses of chemotherapy from China and four of the top 10 global pharma license deals this year have come from China. They also discuss ophthalmology news from Astellas, 4D Molecular Therapeutics and Tenpoint Therapeutics. Other news covered this week includes the role of AI in drug development following Nvidia’s investment in Recursion, Apogee and Sagimet’s IPOs targeting, Viridian data and Avrobio considering M&A. *This episode aired on July 14, 2023*

On this week’s episode of Biotech Hangout, hosts Daphne Zohar, Tim Opler, Chris Garabedian, Mike Yee and Bruce Booth discuss the week’s industry news including M&A, regulatory, data and more. They highlight the continued M&A streak with Eli Lilly acquiring Dice Therapeutics. They also discuss PhRMA’s lawsuit vs. the U.S. government over IRA Medicare Drug Price Negotiations, following similar suits from Merck & Bristol Myers Squibb. They also talk about several Duchenne news items including Santhera licensing its Duchenne drug to Catalyst and Sarepta’s DMD therapy approval. Additional industry news covered includes the SEC’s case against biotech executives and investors and conflicts of interest with PBMs and FTC’s lawsuit against Amgen. The hosts also discuss what happened to big academic tech transfer deals, Leerink is back, Intercept, Alderya and Arcellx regulatory news, plus Uniqure and Roivant data. *This episode aired on June 23, 2023*

This week, hosts Daphne Zohar, Brad Loncar, Tim Opler & Michal Preminger focus on the theme of people and reputation in the industry. The hosts (and several audience members, including STAT reporter Allison DeAngelis and Kojin Therapeutics CEO Luba Greenwood) discuss the hot topic of the week - media coverage of Biogen board changes. Additionally, in the wake of Ram Sasisekharan speaking out after a four-year investigation exonerated him, the group discusses repercussions for accusers and impact to reputation. In addition to people topics, the hosts cover the week’s financings and M&A including the first biotech to file for IPO in months, plus data from EHA 2023 and data integrity. *This episode aired on June 16, 2023*

This week, Daphne Zohar, Brad Loncar and John Maraganore hosted a special live edition of Biotech Hangout at the BIO conference, and they dive into their learnings on this week’s episode. They are also joined by Josh Schimmer and Otello Stampacchia to discuss the latest news, data, deals and more. The hosts debate the hot topic of the week - Merck’s lawsuit against the U.S. government’s IRA negotiations. They also discuss data that was shared at the recent ASCO 2023 conference, and a tweet accused of moving stock. Other topics include a surprising acquisition and oncology response criteria. *This episode aired on June 9, 2023*

On Biotech Hangout this week, hosts Daphne Zohar, Josh Schimmer, Tim Opler, Chris Garabedian and Brad Loncar talk the latest biotech news. Several of the hosts report live from ASCO 2023 and share highlights and headlines from the conference as well as general industry sentiment around oncology companies. The hosts also discuss the latest deals and financings and debate short-sellers and activist investors and their effect on biotech stocks. Other topics include data from Sanofi, Icosavax, Pfizer and BioHaven over the last two weeks, the FDA’s decision on Sarepta, perspectives on accelerated approvals for rare disease, Amylyx’s ALS drug and Brad’s newest business venture. *This episode aired on June 2, 2023*

On this week’s Biotech Hangout, hosts Daphne Zohar, Mike Yee, Otello Stampacchia, Brad Loncar and Bruce Booth discuss the latest in the biopharma industry including public offerings, deals and financings, data and more. The group dives into the slowdowns in private financings, whether or not the IPO window should be open by now, and the Akero and Coherus follow-on offerings. There is a debate as to whether the news that the FTC is suing to block Amgen from acquiring Horizon Therapeutics has positive or negative effects on SMID cap biotechs. The group also discusses the FTC’s widening probe into PBMs specialty drug pricing. Additionally, data from Viking Therapeutics, X4 Pharmaceuticals, and PTC Therapeutics is discussed. Other topics include Pfizer debt offering, Former Immunomedics CFO pleads guilty to securities fraud, Billy Dunn joining the board of Prothena and Paul Stoffels joining Galapagos. *This episode aired on May 19, 2023*

On this week’s Biotech Hangout, hosts Daphne Zohar, Tim Opler, Josh Schimmer, Bruce Booth, John Maraganore and Sam Fazeli talk the latest industry news from the past two weeks. Daphne, Bruce and John reflected on a panel they participated in at the 2023 Convergence Forum earlier that day, sharing their thoughts on the last 20 years in biotech and making predictions for the next 20. The hosts discussed recent M&A news, findings from a new Evercore ISI report on the “short launch thesis”, and the latest earnings news. They also touched on data and the potential impact of two companies’ adcomms. *This episode aired on May 12, 2023* Disclosures from Josh Schimmer: Evercore ISI disclosures for the stocks that I cover can be found on the Biotech Hangout home page.

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

On this week’s episode of Biotech Hangout, CEO of Bellus Health (announced this week that GSK is acquiring for $2B), Roberto Bellini, joins hosts Daphne Zohar, Tim Opler, Dawn Bell, Sam Fazeli and Brad Loncar. The group discusses the week’s deals and financings, data and broader themes of innovation. Roberto shares his personal experience going through an acquisition and what it took for his company to get to that point from a TSK listed microcap valued at ~$15M to a $2B success story, his thoughts on innovation taking many different forms and the pros and cons of single-asset companies. The hosts also deep dive into AACR data, highlighting Lily’s KRAS data & Moderna’s vaccine data and touch on how policy is affecting our industry, with a focus on some new bills seeking to improve how R&D expenses are deducted. *This episode aired on April 21, 2023* Disclosures from Josh Schimmer:

On this week’s episode of Biotech Hangout, hosts Daphne Zohar, Josh Schimmer, Tim Opler, Michal Preminger and Brad Loncar discuss the latest industry news including deals and financings, data, regulatory and more. Brad starts the episode by sharing a personal update on the health of his father, thanking the biotwitter community and lauding the first responders, nurses and specialists who helped save him. Despite some industry setbacks from the week, there was positive news to share including data from a Torreya study, which showed the specialist buyside remained strong at the end of 2022 as well as a list of turnaround stories in the industry. The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) released their 2023 abstract, sharing Moderna’s personalized cancer vaccine study as a clear showstopper. Interesting news on the funding landscape, with 4 VCs announcing fundraises, while there was a huge drop in funding to companies. Following the overturning of the FDA’s approval of mifepristone, Daphne joined over 400 others to sign a letter condemning the ruling & called for it to be overturned. *This episode aired on April 14, 2023* Disclosures from Josh Schimmer: "Disclosures for the stocks that I cover can be found on the Biotech Hangout home page."