Shows
BioCentury This WeekEp. 375 - Novartis' ADC gambit & regulation as catalyst for U.K. biotechNovartis is deepening its antibody-drug conjugate capabilities with its $1.1 billion acquisition of U.K. biotech Myricx Pharma. On the latest episode of the BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s analysts discuss how the deal fits with the Swiss pharma’s cancer toolkit.The analysts then discuss MHRA CEO Lawrence Tallon’s Guest Commentary in BioCentury on making regulation a catalyst for U.K. life sciences and why the primary defeat of Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) is a setback for FDA reforms. They also assess how single-cell Parkinson’s atlases reveal neuronal and glial disruptions in specific regions and stages...
2026-07-0733 min
BioCentury This WeekEp. 372 - Biotech IPOs, Biosecure Act, cachexia pipelineBiotech IPOs that are getting out remain hot — but will that continue into the fall? On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s analysts discuss the market for fresh biotech paper on NASDAQ, including the $770 million debut by Parabilis, the largest IPO in the sector’s history.The analysts also discuss the Biosecure Act and U.S. policy toward China; the cachexia pipeline; and BioCentury’s updated Innovation Distillery.View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/article/659773 #BiotechIPO #NASDAQ #BiosecureAct #Cachexia #ChinaBiotech 00:36 - Innovation Distillery03:56 - Biotech IPOs10:13 - Biosecure...
2026-06-1625 min
BioCentury This WeekEp. 371 - Moving faster at the academia-industry interfaceGetting into the clinic fast to de-risk assets has become the name of the game in biotech, and at the academia-industry interface, too.From AI to NAMs to starting a Phase I trial in the U.S., BioCentury’s 3rd Grand Rounds-U.S. conference brought together academic innovators, biopharma leaders and early-stage investors to debate key bottlenecks in translation and how to make early-stage R&D investible.Sam Blackman, entrepreneur in residence at GV and co-founder of Day One Biopharmaceuticals, and Aaron Coe, managing director of innovation for the Allen Institute, joined BioCentury’s analysts on stage last...
2026-06-1132 min
BioCentury This WeekEp. 370 - Calmer waters for FDA; Servier, Lilly dealsFDA’s new leadership is sailing the agency into calmer waters amid a search for a permanent commissioner and permanent center directors. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury Washington Editor Steve Usdin discusses how FDA’s new, interim leaders have changed the tone at the agency and why they are putting medicines derailed under former FDA Commissioner Marty Makary back on track. Usdin also highlights FDA’s new real-time clinical trials initiative.BioCentury’s analysts then turn to deals, including an analysis of the 20 deals Eli Lilly has done this year; Servier’s move to expand in neurolo...
2026-06-0934 min
BioCentury This WeekEp. 369 - ASCO advances, China innovation & U.S. science under threatRevolution Medicines continues to impress with more pancreatic cancer data, earning a standing ovation at ASCO over the weekend. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s analysts discuss the detailed data for the company’s daraxonrasib, Akeso’s Harmoni-6 readout, as well as other results from the meeting. BioCentury’s analysts then argue that U.S. biotech executives and policymakers should embrace the challenges and opportunities that come with the rise of innovation in China — rather than sticking their heads in the sand. They also discuss why leaders of the U.S.’s biggest drug companies should use their in...
2026-06-0239 min
BioCentury This WeekEp. 368 - ASCO Preview, China Policy, ADC LinkersAt ASCO among presentations focused on pancreatic cancer innovation beyond KRAS; however, abstracts for the cancer conference also highlight ADCs, bispecifics and diagnostics that are broadening the field’s approach to the cancer. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s analysts discuss Revolution’s daraxonrasib, other readouts to watch for in pancreatic cancer and what else is on BioCentury’s radar at this year’s American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting.BioCentury’s analysts also discuss a push by China hawks in Congress to get the Trump administration to invoke national security powers to narrow Chinese life...
2026-05-2733 min
BioCentury This WeekEp. 367 - FDA, obesity targets and the rise of DACsMarty Makary wasn’t the only official on the outs at FDA last week in another tumultuous turn of events for the regulatory agency. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury Washington Editor Steve Usdin discusses who’s in, who’s out and what’s next at FDA — and why the changes may mean more conservative decision-making at the agency in the near term.BioCentury’s analysts also discuss the new obesity targets that came to light at last week’s annual meeting of the European Congress on Obesity, the market for biotech IPOs, and the emergence of degrader-an...
2026-05-1930 min
BioCentury This WeekEp. 365 - Thin ice for Makary, redosing AAVsMarty Makary’s hold on the top job at FDA is slipping, with White House leaks about President Donald Trump’s displeasure with the FDA commissioner shifting the question from whether he will be fired to when. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, Washington Editor Steve Usdin discusses the pressures on Makary, how long he will hold onto his post, and the leading candidates to succeed him.BioCentury’s analysts then discuss solutions to AAV’s redosing problem, which could reignite industry interest in a modality that has fallen out of favor, and other topics in the spotligh...
2026-05-1230 min
BioCentury This WeekEp. 364 - UCB’s Candid buy, Grand Rounds and leukodystrophiesUCB is the latest biopharma player to consummate a multibillion-dollar deal amid a surge in biotech M&A activity, acquiring Ken Song’s Candid Therapeutics, one of the leading T cell engager companies. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s analysts discuss the $2 billion takeout and the opportunity in the TCE space.They also assess the drug development landscape for leukodystrophies and the market for biotech IPOs on NASDAQ, where a trio of biotechs exceeded expectations last week, lifting hopes that the window for new listings is broadening. Looking ahead to June, the analysts also preview the...
2026-05-0532 min
BioCentury This WeekEp. 363 - New targets at AACR, biopharma deals, Kurma fundMore than 175 new oncology targets surfaced at this year’s American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting in San Diego, with the focus on new ways to enhance the immune response against solid tumors and to make existing immunotherapies more effective. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s analysts assess the new targets identified among the thousands of abstracts at AACR, as well as emerging pan-RAS inhibiting antibody-drug conjugates.The analysts also discuss Eli Lilly's latest deal — for a JAK-2 inhibitor from Ajax — and what the current pace of M&A and partnerships says about the state of...
2026-04-2830 min
BioCentury This WeekEp. 362 - AACR: Data and de-riskingBispecific antibodies and dual-payload antibody-drug conjugates were in the spotlight at this year’s American Association for Cancer Research meeting in San Diego as biotechs unveiled their latest preclinical and first-in-human oncology data. On a special edition of the BioCentury This Week podcast, IQVIA Biotech CMO James Kyle Bryan joins BioCentury’s analysts to discuss what AACR revealed about modalities gaining traction, plus shares his perspective on de-risking clinical development and eliminating the “white space” that delays biotechs’ timelines in the clinic. This episode of the BioCentury This Week podcast was brought to you by IQVIA Biotech.View full...
2026-04-2325 min
BioCentury This WeekEp. 361 - Kelonia, Kailera, pyschedelics and T cell engagersThe past week has delivered the largest M&A deal ever for a private, venture-backed biopharma, the second-largest follow-on ever for a NASDAQ-traded biotech and what could soon become the largest biotech IPO ever on NASDAQ. On the latest BioCentury This Week, BioCentury’s analysts discuss Eli Lilly's $3.25 billion takeout of in vivo CAR T company Kelonia, the market debut by obesity play Kailera and an upsized follow-on by Revolution on the back of its pancreatic cancer data.The analysts also discuss how autoimmune T cell engagers are diverging from their oncology roots and the potential implications of Pr...
2026-04-2144 min
BioCentury This WeekEp. 360 - FDA’s FIH plans. Plus: billion-dollar deals, fundsA pathway proposed by FDA to cut the time it takes biopharma companies to get to first-in-human trials is more ambitious than similar policies in Australia, China and the U.K. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s analysts assess the proposal, as well as a concession for the biopharma industry on first-in-human studies in PDUFA reauthorization negotiations with FDA.The analysts also discuss the latest pair of billion-dollar biotech deals: Gilead's $3.2 billion takeout of antibody-drug conjugate company Tubulis and the acquisition of Soleno by Neurocrine for $2.9 billion for its Prader-Willi asset. Finally, BioCentury’s analysts disc...
2026-04-1433 min
BioCentury This WeekEp. 359 - 2Q markets preview, tariffs and biotech takeoutsBiotech has been resilient as the financial markets teeter under global volatility. For now, M&A and financings, if not IPOs, are continuing, but will the Mideast conflict halt biotech’s recovery? On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s Stephen Hansen breaks down the near-term and long-term outlook for a biotech industry hoping to continue the growth of 2H25.BioCentury’s analysts also discuss the impact of the Trump administration’s tariffs on the biopharma industry and last week’s biggest deals: the pending $6.3 billion takeout of Centessa by Eli Lilly and the proposed $5.6 billion acquisition of Apellis...
2026-04-0738 min
BioCentury This WeekEp. 357 - Deal-O-rama, Gilead and Tallon's U.K. visionA flurry of deals, several with sizable upfront payments, has energized the biotech sector in March. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s Paul Bonanos assesses last week’s deals by Merck, which is laying out $6.7 billion to acquire Terns, and Gilead, which is buying Ouro for about $1.7 billion up front.Gilead’s deal comes as the Foster City, Calif.-based biotech is looking to defend its position in HIV while resetting in inflammation and immunology and growing its oncology footprint through business development. BioCentury’s Lauren Martz analyzes the company’s pipeline following her recent conversati...
2026-03-3128 min
BioCentury This WeekEp. 355 - Capital market mood, Xenon data, Friedreich ataxia pipelineBiotechs have been pricing follow-ons at a steady pace, with some companies parlaying data into upsized deals, and others even beginning to debut on NASDAQ — but will geopolitical tensions and war in the Middle East scuttle the forward momentum? On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s analysts take the temperature of the markets for biotech."They also discuss last week’s late-stage epilepsy data from Xenon Pharmaceuticals, which revived the biotech’s stock and the Kv7 target.And, in a Rare Disease Spotlight, BioCentury’s analysts discuss how Friedreich ataxia is moving into a mechanistic second act...
2026-03-1724 min
BioCentury This WeekEp. 354 - East-West Summit TakeawaysBiotechs in South Korea and other regions of Asia outside of China need to lean into innovation to distinguish themselves from their Chinese counterparts. On a special edition of the BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s analysts are joined by industry guests Ya-Ting Lei and Luther (Ruizhe) Zhao to discuss why the best path for biotechs in Korea and Japan is to lean into target, biology and modality risk, as well as other takeaways from the fifth BioCentury-BayHelix Biopharma Summit, which ran March 9-12 in Seoul and Daejeon, South Korea.Lei is director of BD Asia at Merck KG...
2026-03-1426 min
BioCentury This WeekEp. 352 - A Multipolar Biopharma World; Rare Disease SpotlightCan a strong U.S. biopharma industry be reconciled with the successful emergence of China? And can China be a catalyst of positive change across the global industry, even if this implies some level of rebalancing away from the U.S.? On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s analysts discuss a Guest Commentary by McKinsey Senior Partner Emeritus Franck Le Deu, who argues that a multipolar biopharma world in which the U.S. continues to thrive even as China becomes meaningfully stronger can emerge.The analysts also discuss BioCentury’s latest Rare Disease Spotlight, which focuses on a...
2026-03-0334 min
BioCentury This WeekEp. 349 - Start-up Spotlight, Compounding Wegovy & Neuropysch2025 marked the end of a four-year slide in series A financings for biotechs, with 144 biotechs raising an aggregate of $8 billion, up $1 billion from the prior two years. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s Danielle Golovin assesses which companies VCs backed last year and what their investments say about where technology is headed.Washington Editor Steve Usdin offers a perspective on why compounded Wegovy is an assault on the biopharma industry and also explains how the spending bill signed into law last week is a rebuke to proposed White House biomedical cuts.And Executive Editor Se...
2026-02-1033 min
BioCentury This WeekEp. 348 - Biotech's 2026 Catalysts. Plus: China's New Orphan RulesRNAi and exon-skipping therapies headline the list of regulatory and pivotal data catalysts in 2026, while new lipid-lowering mechanisms, modalities, and precision medicines define cardiovascular disease catalysts this year. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s analysts discuss the most important milestones of the year in new modalities, CV and renal diseases.The analysts also discuss a new regulation in China introducing orphan drug exclusivity that could incentivize development of rare disease therapies.Dig into the BioCentury’s catalyst picks and the new China policy below• 2026 Catalysts: The rise of RNAi• 2026 Cardiovascular Catalysts: Lp(a) on...
2026-02-0331 min
BioCentury This WeekEp. 347 - Speeding China's Innovation. Plus: Neuro Catalysts and NewcosNew rules in China will accelerate the country’s cell and gene therapy sector by reshaping how investigator-initiated trials are conducted and commercialized. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s analysts discuss the new framework and why it will create a powerful incentive for deploying new gene and cell therapies.Executive Editor Selina Koch discusses which milestones she is watching in neurology in the year ahead, from psychedelics to Alzheimer's disease. Finally, Senior Biopharma Analyst Danielle Golovin discusses a pair of stories from BioCentury’s Emerging Company Profile series: one focused on Yale spinout Bexorg Inc., which...
2026-01-2729 min
BioCentury This WeekEp. 344 - JPM Momentum and Asia’s Hotbeds of InnovationThe J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference kicked off this week with sunny skies over San Francisco and more financial momentum than the biotech industry has seen in years. On a special “on the road” edition of the BioCentury This Week podcast, recorded on the sidelines of the annual JPM conference, special guests joined BioCentury’s analysts to discuss the biotech ecosystems in Asia.The wide-ranging conversation spans dealmaking, including the pricing dynamics of assets in China and RNAi’s prospects of becoming the region’s next hot modality; plus the state of the capital markets, the global implications of “China...
2026-01-1543 min
BioCentury This WeekEp. 342 - 2026 Biotech KickoffThe New Year begins with biotech running along parallel storylines. There’s cause for optimism as the industry’s financing gears have begun to churn again and innovation remains as strong as it has ever been, while there's cause for concern as the world’s most stable, progressive, science-based regulatory system has become unpredictable amid new leadership at HHS, FDA, and NIH. On the first episode of the BioCentury This Week podcast’s seventh year, BioCentury’s analysts assess the state of play for biotech in the U.S., Europe, and Asia.The discussion ranges from recent changes at NIH to...
2026-01-0625 min
BioCentury This WeekEp. 341 - BioCentury's '25-'26 Picks. Plus: BioMarin & Biotech ICYMIThis past year was an inflection point for biotech: The markets woke up, M&A and China had strong showings, drug development offered key trends, and new leadership at FDA shuffled the regulatory deck. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s analysts make their picks for the biggest biopharma readouts, deals and regulatory and policy moves of 2025 and what they are forecasting for the year ahead.The analysts also recap biotech highlights of the past two weeks, including the $4.8 billion takeout of Amicus Therapeutics by BioMarin Pharmaceutical.View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/ar...
2025-12-3038 min
BioCentury This WeekEp. 340 - Obesity Data, Kymera & FDA Survey ResultsObesity readouts continue to be hot for biotech with new top-line data from both injectable and oral therapies pushing the boundaries on efficacy. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s analysts break down last week’s readouts from Eli Lilly, Structure and Wave Life Sciences, and discuss a deal in the space by Pfizer.Lilly reported the latest for its triple agonist contender retatrutide for best-in-class weight loss, while strong Phase IIb data put Structure back in the oral GLP-1 race. Meanwhile, Pfizer added an oral GLP-1R agonist via a deal). Structure and Wave parlayed their...
2025-12-1632 min