Biotech Hangout

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."

This week on Biotech Hangout, hosts Daphne Zohar, Josh Schimmer, Tim Opler and Sam Fazeli discuss the latest in the biopharma industry from market updates and deals to regulatory and beyond. There were several optimistic pieces of stock news covered, including Viking Therapeutics’ strong Phase 1 obesity data and Biomea Fusion’s positive Phase 2 diabetes data. The group also discussed the positive reaction to new Phase 1b data from Biogen’s tau drug BIIB080n at International Conference on Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Diseases (AD/PD™ 2023), which paves the way for the drug to be another major player in the Alzheimer’s drug development space. Additionally, the hosts highlight the latest on the shortage of non-human primates for early-stage trials, Scorpion Capital’s report on Harmony Biosciences, Jounce Therapeutics’ $96.5M cash bid from Kevin Tang’s Concentra Biosciences, and more. *This episode aired on March 31, 2023* Disclosure from Josh Schimmer: "Disclosures for the companies that I cover can be found on the Biotech Hangout homepage."

On Biotech Hangout this week, hosts Daphne Zohar, Josh Schimmer, Rob Perez, Sam Fazeli and Mike Yee discuss market sentiment after the fallout from Silicon Valley Bank, possible impact of proposed SEC changes, the impact of IRA, data announcements (Nimbus, Karuna, Altimmune and 89bio), FDA happenings and more. The episode also delves into pharma patent cliffs, Moderna CEO, Stéphane Bancel’s, handling of his senate hearing on the company’s plans to increase price of Covid vaccines, antifungal drug approval and NFL as a biomarker for neurodegenerative disease. *This episode aired on March 24, 2023* Disclosure from Josh Schimmer: "Evercore ISI disclosures for the companies that I cover can be found on the Biotech Hangout homepage."

On this week’s episode of Biotech Hangout, For Blood and Money: Billionaires, Biotech, and the Quest for a Blockbuster Drug author, Nathan Vardi, joins hosts Daphne Zohar, Josh Schimmer, Tim Opler and guest Barbara Ryan. They start the discussion recapping the fallout from the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and the domino effect it’s had, including more fear in the banking system, hate and blame directed towards VCs, and the effect on CFOs. The conversation pivots to more positive news with three big M&A deals from the week - Pfizer acquires Seagen, Sanofi acquires Provention Bio and Merck acquires Velos Bio - and the proportion of new drug approvals in the neurology space. Then, the group highlights activist investors in biotech, who made waves this week. *This episode aired on March 17, 2023. Disclosure from Josh Schimmer: "Evercore ISI disclosures for the companies that I cover can be found on the Biotech Hangout homepage."

On this week’s episode, hosts Daphne Zohar, Josh Schimmer, Tim Opler and Sam Fazeli discuss the fall of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), private financings, drug pricing and more. The hosts jump right into SVB, summarizing how the fall happened and the potential threats and implications to the industry. They comment on how this would have been an otherwise great week for private biotechs, but now many may be scrambling. The discussion turns to President Biden’s budget proposal impacting drug pricing and how Eli Lilly has responded, unique financing structures and the merger between Adaptimmune and TCR2 Therapeutics. The hosts pivot to some of the good news from the week including BridgeBio’s positive data from its dwarfism drug, AstraZeneca’s Tagrisso demonstrating strong overall survival in Phase III trial for patients with early-stage EGFR-mutated lung cancer and FDA panel votes. They close the discussion hoping for a positive resolution. *This episode aired on Friday, March 10 as events were occurring.*