BioCentury This Week

Ep. 149 - Takeaways from the East-West Summit

There are clear indicators of the maturation of China’s biotech sector, although east and west biopharma leaders have diverging views on how easy cross-border investment will be going forward, BioCentury’s Editor-in-Chief Simone Fishburn said on the latest BioCentury This Week podcast. Fishburn detailed her takeaways from the summit held last week, while Executive Editor Selina Koch reviewed her panel on the optimism R&D leaders have for the future role multi-omics can play in drug developme...

Ep. 148 - East-West Summit Highlights Part 2

As China’s biopharma companies experience their first “biotech winter,” they should be engaged in active portfolio management, stopping projects that will not meet their investors’ expectations, Agio Capital General Manager Henk Joos said on BioCentury This Week. On a special East-West Summit edition of the podcast, Joos and Immune-Onc Therapeutics founder and CEO Charlene Liao discussed pipeline prioritization and other company survival tactics during today’s difficult financing environment.

Ep. 147 - East-West Summit Highlights Part 1

Cash conversation and sticking to priorities are essential for China’s biotech’s as they navigate today’s gloomy funding environment, Zhaoke Ophthalmology’s Lisa Feng said on a special East-West Summit edition of the BioCentury This Week podcast. Feng, who is CBO and CFO of Zhaoke, Jones Day’s Tony Chen and Paul Hastings’ Phoebe Yan discuss challenges of compliance risk in a digital world, China’s value-based procurement and IP landscape and the environment for IPOs and licensing deals for C...

Ep. 146 - What's Next in Washington, Plus: SITC & the Distillery

The lack of a “red wave” in the U.S. midterm elections sets up a “last gasp of old-fashioned, horse-trading politics” by lawmakers that could affect multiple pieces of life sciences legislation, Washington Editor Steve Usdin said on the latest BioCentury This Week podcast. Usdin details what’s at stake for biopharma in Washington during the remaining weeks of 2022, and what’s in store for life sciences in the next session of Congress. BioCentury’s editors also discuss trends at this year’s S...

What's Next for BIO, Plus: Pfizer, GSK

 BIO needs to pick a leadership team rather than a leader to give the trade group all the skills it needs moving forward, Washington Editor Steve Usdin said on the latest BioCentury This Week podcast. Usdin and Editor in Chief Simone Fishburn discuss how BIO needs to address the challenges it now faces, as well as the results of BioCentury’s industry-wide survey on the state of the trade group. BioCentury’s podcast team also assess the latest developments in RSV product development, the infe...

Ep. 145 - What's Next for BIO, Plus: Pfizer, GSK

 BIO needs to pick a leadership team rather than a leader to give the trade group all the skills it needs moving forward, Washington Editor Steve Usdin said on the latest BioCentury This Week podcast. Usdin and Editor in Chief Simone Fishburn discuss how BIO needs to address the challenges it now faces, as well as the results of BioCentury’s industry-wide survey on the state of the trade group. BioCentury’s podcast team also assess the latest developments in RSV product development, the infe...

Ep. 144 - Alnylam's IRA Pause, Plus Argenx & Accumulus

Biopharmas and investors have been warning of the Inflation Reduction Act’s potential to hurt patients — concerns that had been theoretical until last week, when Alnylam became the first company to announce that it may abandon plans to add an indication to an orphan drug’s label. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s editors discuss why a provision in the IRA prompted the biotech to pause plans to start a Phase III trial of vutrisiran for Stargardt disease, what other ther...

Ep. 143 - East-West Summit Preview

McKinsey’s Franck Le Deu and BayHelix’s Guo-Liang Yu join the BioCentury This Week podcast to discuss globalization and cross-border innovation in the biopharma and preview the upcoming BioCentury-BayHelix East-West Summit. BioCentury’s co-founders — CEO Dave Flores, Chairman Karen Bernstein — and Editor in Chief Simone Fishburn and BioCentury head of BD Josh Berlin also join the podcast to discuss the importance of globalization for biopharma and patients, the current environment for cross-...

Ep. 142 - Lundbeck, Biogen, Biden & Biomanufacturing, Nora Volkow

A pair of neurology companies are in the spotlight on the latest edition of the BioCentury This Week podcast. BioCentury’s editors assess how Lundbeck has evolved in the past five years, with a fresh emphasis on first in class in its revamped pipeline, and how Biogen could acquire its way into being a near-term growth company. BioCentury’s editors also discuss the Biden administration’s initiative that seeks to compensate for decades of underinvestment in the nation’s biomanufacturing capaci...

Ep. 141 - Neoantigen Vaccines, Drug Pricing, U.S.-China & U.K. Turmoil

On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, Senior Editor Karen Tkach Tuzman surveys the landscape of neoantigen cancer vaccines, touching on what’s changed in the past five years, 2022’s key readouts and what’s next for the field. Washington Editor Steve Usdin discusses the White House’s plans to use executive powers to reduce drug prices and, recapping his latest Editor’s Commentary, explains why he believes the U.S. and China should not allow rivalry in life sciences to turn into enmity t...

Neoantigen Vaccines, Drug Pricing, U.S.-China & U.K. Turmoil

On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, Senior Editor Karen Tkach Tuzman surveys the landscape of neoantigen cancer vaccines, touching on what’s changed in the past five years, 2022’s key readouts and what’s next for the field. Washington Editor Steve Usdin discusses the White House’s plans to use executive powers to reduce drug prices and, recapping his latest Editor’s Commentary, explains why he believes the U.S. and China should not allow rivalry in life sciences to turn into enmity t...

Ep. 140 - Turbulence at BIO, Plus 4Q Preview & the Distillery

On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, Washington Editor Steve Usdin details the circumstances leading up to Michelle McMurry-Heath’s resignation as CEO of BIO on Monday.  The podcast team also discuss BioCentury’s 4Q22 Financial Markets Preview, with Associate Editor Stephen Hansen assessing biotech’s attempt to emerge from the ongoing bear market recovery as inflation and rising interest rates foster a risk-off environment. Senior Editor Karen Tkach Tuzman discusses the latest transla...

Ep. 140 - Turbulence at BIO, Plus 4Q Preview & the Distillery

On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, Washington Editor Steve Usdin details the circumstances leading up to Michelle McMurry-Heath’s resignation as CEO of BIO on Monday.  The podcast team also discuss BioCentury’s 4Q22 Financial Markets Preview, with Associate Editor Stephen Hansen assessing biotech’s attempt to emerge from the ongoing bear market recovery as inflation and rising interest rates foster a risk-off environment. Senior Editor Karen Tkach Tuzman discusses the latest transla...

Ep. 139 - Wins in Neurodegeneration, U.S.-China & Life Science Cares

The neurodegeneration field had two big wins with even bigger implications for the future of Alzheimer’s disease and ALSs, Executive Editor Selina Koch says on the latest episode of BioCentury This Week. Koch lays out the importance of the positive Phase III data for lecanemab in Alzheimer’s and the coming debate over access to the therapy, while also noting the potential for read-through to other neurodegenerative diseases from FDA’s approval of Amylyx's ALS drug Relyvrio. BioCentury’s edit...

Ep. 138 - FDA User Fee Endgame, East-West Summit & Biogen

Everything’s at stake for FDA as user fee legislation approaches a critical deadline this week, Washington Editor Steve Usdin says on the latest episode of BioCentury This Week. Usdin details the next steps in the process, which FDA reforms are being dropped from the “clean” user fee bill and the future of healthcare legislation. BioCentury’s editorial team also recaps the top takeaways from Global Blood Therapeutics CEO Ted Love’s appearance on The BioCentury Show, previews the upcoming Bio...

Ep. 137 - Intellia's Data, IRA's Orphan Impact, CFIUS Order

A year after it reported its first clinical data showing CRISPR-based gene editing may live up to its promise, Intellia has provided evidence for the second time that its platform can knock down a clinically relevant target in the liver, and revealed the first data showing it can deliver clinical benefit. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury's editors discuss the hereditary angioedema data for NTLA-2002. They also explain why the Inflation Reduction Act could have an outsiz...

Ep. 136 - IRA, KRAS & ESMO

Biopharma executives and investors are bracing for the impact of the newly passed Inflation Reduction Act. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury's editors discuss pharma CEOs’ warnings that the law will reduce incentives for small molecule drug development, how biotech VCs may adjust deployment of their funds and how the government could implement the law.Turning to readouts from the European Society of Medical Oncology Congress, the BioCentury podcast team explains why the ...

Ep 135 Pt. 5 - A Portrait of Biopharma's New Leaders

Digital fluency, the imperative to have an impact on society and an eagerness to make change now, not in future decades, mark the future leaders of the industry, says BioCentury Editor in Chief Simone Fishburn. On the fifth and concluding BioCentury This Week podcast accompanying Back to School 2022, Fishburn and BioCentury’s editorial team discuss the defining traits of industry’s incoming generation of leaders and the evolving skills required for the future of biotech. Access all of BioCen...

Ep 135 Pt. 5 - A Portrait of Biopharma's New Leaders

Digital fluency, the imperative to have an impact on society and an eagerness to make change now, not in future decades, mark the future leaders of the industry, says BioCentury Editor in Chief Simone Fishburn. On the fifth and concluding BioCentury This Week podcast accompanying Back to School 2022, Fishburn and BioCentury’s editorial team discuss the defining traits of industry’s incoming generation of leaders and the evolving skills required for the future of biotech. Access all of BioCen...

Ep 135 Pt. 4 - Filling Biopharma's Talent Pipeline

The need to recruit and train regulators is acute in developed as well as low- and middle-income countries, BioCentury Washington Editor Steve Usdin says. On the fourth of five BioCentury This Week podcasts accompanying Back to School 2022, Usdin and BioCentury’s editorial team discuss how drawing top talent means agencies must persuade candidates that careers are infused with purpose and support a vital mission. BioCentury Senior Editor Karen Tkach Tuzman says biopharma companies, facing th...

Ep 135 Pt. 3 - Rising Leaders & the VC View on Talent

Solving the biopharma industry’s management crunch will require today’s leaders to open their networks, and provide more leadership opportunities and mentoring to rising leaders, says BioCentury Editor in Chief Simone Fishburn. On the third of five BioCentury This Week podcasts accompanying Back to School 2022, Fishburn and BioCentury’s editorial team discuss the group of employees who see the C-suite as their next step, why they want to get there and the impediments they must overcome. BioC...

Ep 135 Pt. 2 - CEOs in the Spotlight. Plus: Women Leaders, DEI

The past two years have forced a reckoning for CEOs throughout the biopharma industry that will shape the next generation of success stories. On the second of five BioCentury This Week podcasts accompanying Back to School 2022, BioCentury’s podcast team discusses what makes a good CEO and how leaders are building teams to manage successful biotechs. BioCentury’s editors also draw on the results from BioCentury’s Talent Survey to discuss the flourishing cohort of women CEOs leading today’s bi...

Ep 135 Pt. 1 - Back to School 2022 Overview

BioCentury’s 30th annual Back to School edition focuses on talent: where to find talent and how to nurture it. It’s a special Back to School package because the issue involves every person in the life sciences ecosystem at a critical time in the biopharma industry’s evolution, says Editor in Chief Simone Fishburn on the latest BioCentury This Week podcast. Fishburn and the BioCentury podcast team set the stage for the five-day Back to School series, which draws on analysis of BioCentury’s Ta...

Ep. 134 - Preclinical Deal Making, Bluebird's Approval & Epigenome Editing

Despite public market investors shying away from preclinical companies amid biotech’s bear market, large biopharmas have ramped up their deal making for early-stage assets and technologies and are willing to pay for access to new modalities, says BioCentury’s Stephen Hansen on the latest BioCentury This Week podcast. Hansen and colleagues also discuss the implications of FDA’s approval of gene therapy Zynteglo from bluebird bio Inc., and the latest advances and leaders in the field of epigen...

Ep. 133 - Financing Thaw? Plus: Protein Design & China Audits

A flurry of follow-on financings last week suggests a receptive market for companies with recent catalysts, BioCentury’s Paul Bonanos says on the latest BioCentury This Week podcast. Bonanos and colleagues discuss what last week’s offerings, led by schizophrenia company Karuna Therapeutics, say about which companies might be able to tap the public markets and under what circumstances. The podcast team also examines how computational protein design is shifting its center of gravity from mecha...

Ep. 132 - M&A & Data: recipe for a rebound?

The proposed $5.4 billion takeout of sickle cell company Global Blood Therapeutics by Pfizer is the latest sign of life in biotech M&A, BioCentury Associate Editor Paul Bonanos says on the BioCentury This Week podcast. Bonanos and colleagues explain how Pfizer plans to use its global reach to get Oxbryta to parts of the globe most affected by sickle cell disease, which disproportionately affects people of African, Middle Eastern and South Asian descent. Plus: how schizophrenia data from Karu...

Ep. 132 - M&A & Data: recipe for a rebound?

The proposed $5.4 billion takeout of sickle cell company Global Blood Therapeutics by Pfizer is the latest sign of life in biotech M&A, BioCentury Associate Editor Paul Bonanos says on the BioCentury This Week podcast. Bonanos and colleagues explain how Pfizer plans to use its global reach to get Oxbryta to parts of the globe most affected by sickle cell disease, which disproportionately affects people of African, Middle Eastern and South Asian descent. Plus: how schizophrenia data from Karu...

Ep. 131 - Seagen, New Modalities & Structure

Acquisition target Seagen has carved out such a differentiated portfolio of antibody-drug candidates that the company may not see much direct competition from other ADCs in the near term, BioCentury’s Lauren Martz says on the latest edition of the BioCentury This Week podcast. Martz and the BioCentury podcast team analyze how Seagen has built a pipeline around almost entirely first-in-class targets and assess how the latest cut of data for the company’s Padcev enfortumab vedotin-ejfv could b...

Ep. 130 - Steady as a Roche. Plus: Washington Turbulence

As Severin Schwan’s steady hand on the tiller of Roche passes to another insider, BioCentury’s podcast team examines how initiatives during the outgoing CEO’s tenure, including those related to digital and data science, handed a solid deck of cards to diagnostics head Thomas Schinecker as he takes on the top job at the Swiss pharma. Plus: Washington Editor Steve Usdin assesses Sen. Richard Burr’s attempt to deliver a “clean” user fee bill, pharma and biotech executives’ chances to revise the...

Ep. 129 - Burr Bill, Novartis Makeover, ALS Update

Sen. Richard Burr’s new approach to a critical medical products user fee bill funding FDA must be taken seriously because the clock is ticking, and it’s ticking loudly, Washington Editor Steve Usdin said on the latest BioCentury This Week podcast. Usdin explains why Burr has introduced the bare-bones legislation and what’s at stake for industry in the weeks ahead. BioCentury's editors also discuss FDA’s neurodegeneration blueprint, clinical updates in ALS from Clene and base editing from Ver...

Ep. 128 - Financial Markets Forecast, AAV Toxicity & Drug Pricing

Even with signs that the biotech winter may be starting to thaw, buysiders continue to expect more near-term pain for the sector as consolidation continues for smaller companies with limited cash and few options for raising more, Associate Editor Stephen Hansen says on the latest edition of the BioCentury This Week podcast. Hansen sums up the takeaway messages from BioCentury's 3Q22 Financial Markets Preview, detailing the impact of the barren financing landscape, investors’ priorities, and ...

Ep. 127 - TeneoTwo, Lightspeed, Arch & The Distillery

AstraZeneca’s takeout of single-asset spinout TeneoTwo for $100 million up front is but the latest payout to shareholders in TeneoBio, who could stand to see even more upside in the years ahead, says Associate Editor Paul Bonanos on the latest edition of the BioCentury This Week podcast. Bonanos and the BioCentury editors also discuss how TeneoTwo investor Lightspeed Venture Partners has deepened its commitment to life sciences investing; Arch Venture Partners’ plans to deploy its new $3 bil...

Ep. 126 - Growing Galapagos, Plus Abortion & Biopharma

On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, a pair of deals demonstrates how Galapagos CEO Paul Stoffels is shifting the Belgian biotech’s strategic focus from small molecules toward a diversified portfolio. Plus: why Friday’s Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade sets the stage for legal and legislative battles that could have broad implications for biopharma and how a new crop of Indian biotechs are seeking to offer dramatically cheaper CAR T therapies. This week’s podcast is spon...

Ep. 125 - Next Steps for ARPA-H

On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, Washington Editor Steve Usdin details how the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health is taking shape as the new U.S. agency seeks to deliver transformative science and the latest moves by Rep. Anna Eshoo to change its structure via legislation. The podcast team also explores the U.K. NHS’s deal with Pfizer Inc. and Shionogi & Co. Ltd. on a subscription-based payment pilot for antibiotics, which could serve as an example for other payers consi...

Ep. 124 - CRISPR's High Bar, Private Equity Inroads and the Distillery

Stellar data for Vertex Pharmaceuticals and CRISPR Therapeutics could set a high bar for the next generation of gene editing players to beat in β thalassemia and sickle cell disease, indications that had previously been considered as the best disease to show proof-of-concept for the modality, said Executive Director of Biopharma Intelligence Lauren Martz on the latest edition of BioCentury This Week. The BioCentury podcast team also reviews Associate Editor Stephen Hansen’s analysis of how t...

Ep. 123 - Fixing FDA's Broken Advisory Panels

Ep. 122 - ASCO's Advances & Fixes for FDA's AdComms

 Stellar ASCO data for Enhertu show how there’s “massive ground” that can still be covered and improved upon by applying new modalities against older targets, said Editor in Chief Simone Fishburn on the latest edition of BioCentury This Week. Fishburn and the BioCentury podcast team dig into the data for antibody-drug conjugate Enhertu from AstraZeneca and partner Daiichi Sankyo for previously treated HR-positive, HER2-negative breast cancer patients. They also assess how new modalities are ...

Ep. 121 - ASCO, CRISPR IP & CStone

The latest data cut for KRAS G12C inhibitor adagrasib from Mirati Therapeutics underwhelmed investors. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s editors discussed the readout, which came in an abstract ahead of this week’s American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting, and previewed some of ASCO’s most anticipated data, which will emerge in “late-breaker” presentations. The podcast team also explored the legal battle over IP related to CRISPR editing in bacterial cells, the la...

Ep. 120 - Next-gen NK cells, Plus Woodcock & BMS’s Russian Withdrawal

On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s editors explore how biotechs are turning to tumor targeting, IL-15 expression and alternate cell sourcing to enhance the potency and longevity of NK cell therapies. The podcast team also discusses Janet Woodcock’s new remit at FDA, Bristol Myers Squibb's pullout from Russia and the bipartisan effort moving medical product user fee reauthorization legislation forward in both houses of Congress. This week’s podcast is sponsored by MSD, w...

Ep. 119 - Bio€quity Recap, Part 2

Ensuring that a biotech reaches its key inflection points as effectively as possible during the ongoing capital crunch affects a company across the board, including its people, pipeline and financing toolkit, Shorla’s Sharon Cunningham said on a special Bio€quity Europe edition of the BioCentury This Week podcast. Cunningham and BII’s Bobby Soni joined the BioCentury podcast team to discuss navigating the downturn as a CEO of a private biotech, the untapped talent pools able to run start-ups...

Ep. 118 - Bio€quity Recap, Part 1

Even as industry is facing a global talent crunch, Europe’s biotechs have it better than ever, Medicxi’s Francesco De Rubertis said on a special edition of the BioCentury This Week podcast recapping the first two days of the Bio€quity Europe conference in Milan. He and MSD’s Khatereh Ahmadi joined the BioCentury podcast team to discuss the battle for top talent and the state of deal-making amid the ongoing downturn. This week’s podcast is sponsored by MSD (Merck & Co. Inc. in the U.S.), whos...

Ep. 117 - Sofinnova Partners’ Growth Deal, Plus Distillery on Tap

The sale of a minority stake in Sofinnova Partners to PE firm Apollo will allow the European VC to grow while retaining its independence. Fresh off a conversation with Sofinnova’s Antoine Papiernik, Associate Editor Stephen Hansen explains the 50-year-old firm’s proactive approach to finding a partner among private equity firms and what’s next for the firm now that it has more financial firepower. The podcast team also discusses the latest translational tidbits from BioCentury’s Distillery, ...

Ep. 116 - The Road to Bio€quity 2022: Navigating Through Talent & Capital Headwinds

Industry’s dueling headwinds of capital and talent are the focus of this year’s Bio€quity Europe meeting, and in a special episode of BioCentury This Week, two veterans of the burgeoning Italian life sciences ecosystem, Sofinnova Partners' Graziano Seghezzi & Ambrosetti's Corrado Panzeri, say the country’s biotech sector now has the capital and networks to weather the storm.

Ep. 115 - FDA Reform on Deck, Plus Translation at Howard

The House Energy & Commerce Committee has a bipartisan deal on reauthorizing FDA user fees that sets the parameters for FDA reforms, including enhancing accelerated approval and improving clinical trial diversity — but how much will the legislation change in the coming months and how? On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s editors discuss the requirements for FDA, HHS, sponsors and other stakeholders that would come into effect under the House’s proposed user fee legislatio...

Ep. 114 - Hutchmed Setback, FDA in Focus, HilleVax's IPO

Chinese biotechs face regulatory delays for their therapies due to pandemic-related barriers to inspections by Western regulators and FDA’s reluctance to accept China-only data. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s editors discuss why a setback for surufatinib from Hutchmed could be a sign of things to come for its China peers. The podcast team also analyzes a flurry of FDA activity and assesses what the IPO by vaccine play HilleVax says about the market for fresh paper. ...

Ep. 113 - Nkarta’s Breakthrough, Hatch’s Legacy & Shanghai’s Lockdown

The first clinical data from Nkarta’s CAR natural killer cell platform add to the growing evidence that a CAR may provide the efficacy boost NK cell therapies have needed. BioCentury's editors analyze the significance of the data, which drove a 141% gain in the biotech's stock. They also discuss the biopharma legacy of the late Sen. Orrin Hatch, how biopharma companies are coping with the extended lockdown in Shanghai, and takeaways from J.P. Morgan’s Mike Gaito appearance on The BioCentury ...

Ep. 112 - Digesting DDR Data; Plus Sharpless’ Legacy, McKinsey’s Conflicts

Long-awaited proof of concept for AstraZeneca’s PARP-1-selective therapy opens the door to combination strategies previously limited by hematopoietic toxicity, Senior Editor Karen Tkach Tuzman says on the latest edition of BioCentury This Week. Tkach Tuzman surveys data from the growing DNA damage repair (DDR) field from this year’s American Association for Cancer Research meeting, and the team also discusses the legacy of outgoing NCI Director Ned Sharpless, concerns over McKinsey's work fo...

Ep. 111 - Seeking Green Shoots Amid Biotech’s Gloom

Positive fund flows and modestly better performance by biotech indexes offer hints that the beginnings of a recovery could be possible in the near term, even as the financing drought grinds on. On a BioCentury This Week Special Report, BioCentury’s editors discuss the conditions, including clinical catalysts and M&A, that could spark a recovery for the biopharma sector. This week’s podcast is sponsored by Bio€quity Europe.

Ep. 110 - Aduhelm’s Lessons, Plus Distillery Discoveries, Rare Disease Innovation

BioCentury's editors break down CMS’s final coverage decision on amyloid mAbs for Alzheimer’s disease, focusing on what the lessons are from Aduhelm’s journey through FDA and CMS, and what sponsors of the next crop of Alzheimer's therapies should expect when seeking approval of their programs. Plus: highlights from the latest translational coverage in BioCentury’s Distillery, a call from FDA’s Patrizia Cavazzoni for increased funding to support regulatory innovation, and takeaways from Edito...

Ep. 109 - What's Next for Novartis? Plus: AACR, Merck KGaA

Novartis is prioritizing “high-value,” multibillion-dollar assets as it reorganizes. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s editors discuss the Swiss pharma’s plans to reunite its oncology unit with the rest of its pharma business and carve out a new C-suite post to oversee strategy and growth. Plus: how Merck KGaA is changing the way it is building its pipeline following late-stage clinical disappointments and what to look for at the upcoming Association for Cancer Researc...