The BioCentury Show

The U.S. is experiencing events that are either the first stages of a widespread avian influenza outbreak or a fire drill that will show how well the nation is prepared for an outbreak. The U.S. has not stepped up to meet the challenge, Rick Bright, the former director of BARDA, told BioCentury.In an interview with The BioCentury Show's Steve Usdin, Bright said there are opportunities for biotech companies to help fill voids in surveillance, point-of-care diagnostics, vaccines and therapeutics. The federal government must provide leadership and funding to unleash industry, but it has acted slowly and hasn’t taken the necessary initiative, Bright said.View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/article/652676#biotech #biopharma #pharma #lifescience #politics #policy #law00:00 - Intro01:56 - H5N1: State of Play10:14 - Rebuilding Trust, Vaccines20:50 - Creating Better Therapeutics25:34 - BARDA, Barriers to Preparedness32:50 – Urgent Next Steps

Differentiating on tolerability, raising the bar for efficacy and concentrating small molecule development on indications with minimal IRA exposure are all pieces of Novartis CEO Vasant Narasimhan’s strategy to break into the top pharmas by U.S. sales. Two data readouts this week — one for CML drug Scemblix at ASCO and one for inflammatory disease therapy remibrutinib at the EAACI Congress — may tee up two launches to advance that goal through a strategy focused on prioritizing blockbuster-bound programs. Narasimhan discusses the readouts with Editor in Chief Simone Fishburn on a Special Edition of The BioCentury Show.View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/article/652562#biotech #biopharma #pharma #lifescience00:00 - Intro01:12 - CML Data09:34 - Endpoints, Approval Pathway13:00 – Remibrutinib24:07 – IRA, Radioligands

“The bar has gotten higher because science has gotten so much better,” John Maraganore says on the latest BioCentury Show. Reflecting on the capital markets and the state of innovation, the founder and former CEO of Alnylam painted a picture of a robust ecosystem fueled by sprawling innovation, where the higher scrutiny by investors will serve the industry well. In a broad-ranging conversation with Editor in Chief Simone Fishburn, Maraganore gives his views on the innovation and funding landscape, geopolitical issues facing the industry and the outlook for the next generation of leaders.View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/article/652517#biotech #biopharma #pharma #lifescience #investment #innovation 00:00 Intro01:50 Innovation Today09:00 Obesity12:23 Building, Mentoring Biotechs16:38 Capital & Competition24:10 Industry Overhangs

“I’m a short-term pessimist and a long-term optimist” about the potential for AI to transform drug development, Derek Lowe, author of the In the Pipeline blog, told BioCentury Washington Editor Steve Usdin on the latest BioCentury Show. Lowe's skepticism about claims that AI will rapidly transform the field is driven by a belief that the “problems that we have in the drug industry that we want to solve are almost inversely proportional to the ability of AI to solve them." Lowe also discussed the Biosecure Act and U.S. reliance on Chinese contract manufacturing and development organizations; talked about why he hopes and believes the Supreme Court will rule for FDA in litigation over the abortion drug mifepristone; and explained his view that approval of Aduhelm to treat Alzheimer’s disease was one of FDA’s worst decisions View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/article/652427#biotech #biopharma #pharma #lifescience #DrugDiscovery00:00 - Intro 01:04 - Lowe’s Blog04:42 - Biosecure Act09:04 - AI & Drug Discovery16:46 - FDA, The Abortion Drug, & Aduhelm

It sounds obvious, but still needs saying, says Ysios Capital's Karen Wagner. “How do you rise above the noise? By having the most spectacular data.” In conversation with Editor in Chief Simone Fishburn on The BioCentury Show, Wagner discussed the theme of the upcoming Bio€quity Europe conference — rising above the noise: in a sea of competition where companies vie for attention among investors and pharmas, what are the characteristics that allow them to differentiate? Wagner explains what she and her team looks for in a biotech before investing, and also discusses the role of ESG policies, including diversity, in companies. “We have absolute certainty that ESG is important."View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/article/652294#biotech #biopharma #pharma #lifescience #finance00:00 - Intro01:36 - Spain’s Biotech Ecosystem09:30 - Investment Criteria14:27 - ESG, Diversity27:53 - AI in Drug Development

This is a previously recorded episode of The BioCentury Show. Subscribe to this channel to listen to each new episode. Visit TheBioCenturyYouTube.com to access and watch all prior episodes.Within the framework of target, modality and path to clinic, causal biology is the axis along which Head of Research Robert Plenge is building and prosecuting research at Bristol Myers. It maps from late-stage decisions the company has made, such as the Karuna acquisition, to strategies in early R&D, such as how to innovate in ADCs and extend the modality to new applications.In conversation with Editor in Chief Simone Fishburn on The BioCentury Show, Plenge outlined his view of causal biology as a principal axiom for building an R&D engine to maximize probability of success. It is the foundation for step one — picking the right target — and sets the basis for the second and third tenets of his framework, finding the right therapeutic modality for a mechanism of action, and establishing a clear path to clinical proof of concept.View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/article/652135#biotech #biopharma #pharma #lifescience00:00 - Intro01:53 - BMS's Framework for Research12:38 - First vs. Best in Class16:09 - Modalities & Manufacturing19:48 - CAR Ts & Autoimmunity24:34 - ADCs

This is a previously recorded episode of The BioCentury Show. Subscribe to this channel to listen to each new episode. Visit TheBioCenturyYouTube.com to access and watch all prior episodes.BIO CEO John Crowley believes that biotech is part of a “great global rivalry” between the U.S. and China. The role of biotech in determining the outcome of this rivalry, and a belief in the need for reducing U.S. reliance on Chinese biotech companies, led BIO to reverse its opposition to the Biosecure Act. Crowley acknowledges concerns that the enactment of the bill in its current form would create serious disruptions in drug development. By accepting its overall goals and engaging with Congress, BIO will have opportunities to persuade negotiate changes that will mitigate its negative consequences for biopharma companies and patients, Crowley told BioCentury Washington Editor Steve Usdin in this episode of #TheBioCenturyShow.View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/article/651990#biotech #biopharma #pharma #biosecureact #lifescience00:00 - Intro03:57 - Decoupling from China11:33 - Biosecure Act15:48 - Rare Diseases at FDA25:02 - Fly-outs and Big Ideas28:05 - Changing the Narrative

This is a previously recorded episode of The BioCentury Show. Subscribe to this channel to listen to each new episode. Visit TheBioCenturyYouTube.com to access and watch all prior episodes.In a wide-ranging conversation with BioCentury, Bob Nelsen, co-founder and managing director of Arch Venture Partners, said he is excited by the potential for AI to “create a language of biology,” is cautious about investing in China given increasing geopolitical tensions, and is convinced that the U.S. healthcare system could do a far better job of delivering on the promise of rapidly progressing science.Nelsen, who has helped finance and create more than 150 companies, including 47 that have reached valuations exceeding $1 billion, discussed his conviction that focusing on creating transformational medicines, rather than looking for short-term gains, is a key to success in the life sciences.View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/article/651502#biotech #pharma #biopharma #TheBioCenturyShow 00:00 - Intro02:00 - The Promise of AI 08:37 - The Inflation Reduction Act15:50 - China26:04 - Building Companies Around Big challenges

This is a previously recorded episode of The BioCentury Show. Subscribe to this channel to listen to each new episode. Visit TheBioCenturyYouTube.com to access and watch all prior episodes.On the tenth anniversary of a viral media campaign for access to an unapproved drug that extended a boy’s life, bioethicist Arthur Caplan reflected in an interview with The BioCentury Show on how the experience reshaped public views, corporate policies and legal requirements associated with providing access to unapproved therapies.The wide-ranging conversation also touched on the need for scientists to receive communications training that could help reduce the impacts of medical disinformation, Caplan’s concerns about the lack of transparency about Neuralink Corp.’s experimental implantable brain chip, and the benefits of teaching biopharma CEOs about ethics.View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/article/651502#biotech #pharma #biopharma #TheBioCenturyShow 00:00 - Intro01:12 - Josh Hardy & Compassionate Use13:27 - Ethics Training for the C-suite16:16 - FDA23:44 - Neuralink & Transparency

This is a previously recorded episode of The BioCentury Show. Subscribe to this channel to listen to each new episode. Visit TheBioCenturyYouTube.com to access and watch all prior episodes.Success for the Singapore biotech project will take a global network, one which Khoo Shih and other prominent drivers of the local ecosystem are keen to leverage to bring the right combination of talent, experience and capital to the growing hub. Speaking on The BioCentury Show, Khoo Shih, CEO of investment firm ClavystBio, laid out the strategy for capitalizing on the ascendant energy and attention being devoted to Singapore biotech. While the goal continues to be to create companies that solve global problems and have a global outreach, she said the path involves bringing in international life science investors from day one.View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/article/651376#biotech #biopharma #pharma #TheBioCenturyShow00:00 – Intro04:48 – ClavystBio08:18 – Why Singapore19:07 – 65Labs Incubator23:20 – Growing the Ecosystem