Episode 41

12/16/22 • 58 min

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.

Previous Episode

Episode 40

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.

Next Episode

Episode 42

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.