Ep. 80 - Vertex’s Winning Formula: Altshuler on Choosing the Next Breakthroughs

03/20/25 • 32 min

Vertex’s approach to research, defined over a decade ago to beat the dismal odds of success in biotech, remains core to its strategy, even as the industry evolves and technologies expand. While that strategy, which EVP and CSO David Altshuler calls “serial innovation,” has seen the company launch eight drugs since 2011 and jump market cap tiers on the success of its cystic fibrosis portfolio, it’s now being tested in other areas as Vertex expands to pain, renal disease, Type I diabetes, and more. In conversation with Editor in Chief Simone Fishburn on The BioCentury Show, Altshuler discussed the rising interest in causal biology and the role of AI, noting that the fundamentals of picking targets and programs have not changed.
View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/article/655408
#biotech #biopharma #pharma #lifescience
#RandD #DrugDevelopment #AI
00:00 - Introduction
02:12 - Causal Biology
08:48 - AI in R&D, at Vertex
16:35 - Academia-Industry Interface
22:00 - Cell Therapy for Diabetes
25:35 - Gene Therapy for DMD

Previous Episode

Ep. 79 - BNP Paribas’ Moneer on Biotech’s Bull Case: M&A, PE, and Market Recovery

Since the annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco in early January, biotech has seen a notable surge in enthusiasm, Zahid Moneer, senior managing director of investment banking at BNP Paribas, told The BioCentury Show.
Moneer, who is more upbeat than many in today’s biopharma sector, sees capital raises from million-dollar seed rounds to nine-digit series A, B, and C rounds driving significant growth alongside M&A activity. In the interview, he also also highlights the growing role of private equity firms in biopharma and the trend of pharmas engaging earlier with biotechs and investors looking to deploy capital into those companies
View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/article/655216
#biotech #biopharma #pharma #lifescience #financing #privateequity #IPO
00:00 - Introduction
00:37 - Investment Climate
05:06 - Pharma M&A Activity
15:25 - Private Equity's Role
21:44 - Biotech Financing

Next Episode

Ep. 81 - Data-Driven Growth: Immunocore CEO Bahija Jallal on Expanding TCR Therapies

On the latest episode of The BioCentury Show, Editor in Chief Simone Fishburn speaks with Bahija Jallal, CEO of Immunocore and the former president of Medimmune. While some biotechs are circumspect about gathering data during clinical trials that might not support the product in question, Jallal sees it as part of the obligation to patients and the field to learn as much as possible, as efficiently as possible. And that strategy has informed how the company will take its TCR technology into earlier lines of treatment and new indications.
View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/article/655504
#biopharma #pharma #biotech #lifescience #RandD #DrugDevelopment #CEO
00:00 - Introduction
04:18 - Getting a New Modality to Market
17:15 - Infectious Pipeline
22:04 - Autoimmune Pipeline
27:24 - Leading in Challenging Times