Shows
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
BioCentury This WeekEp. 339 - Biotech M&A, In Vivo CAR Ts & FDA TumultFueled by cancer, obesity and cardiovascular deals, $1 billion-plus takeouts in biotech are at their highest level in a decade with three weeks to go in the year. On the latest BioCentury This Week, BioCentury’s analysts discuss the rise in large M&A deals and what the trends among the 37 acquisitions say about biopharma dealmaking.The analysts assess first-in-human in vivo CAR T data at the American Society of Hematology meeting from Kelonia Therapeutics, which showcase the promise of the modality and justify the growing pipeline. They also break down readouts from Praxis in developmental and epileptic encephalopathy fr...
2025-12-0935 min
BioCentury This WeekEp. 337 - FDA’s Moving Goalposts & China’s Innovation ArcA baffling decision by FDA to issue a complete response letter for a pediatric medicine the medical community stood behind is just the latest example raising concerns that the agency is shifting the regulatory goalposts amid a lack of transparency. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, Washington Editor Steve Usdin explains how the absence of advisory committee meetings at FDA is in part to blame for a lack of consistency in decision-making and divergence from decisions taken by other global regulatory agencies. VP and Editor-in-Chief Simone Fishburn then discusses the takeaways from Franck Le Deu’s guest commentary on...
2025-11-2533 min
BioCentury This WeekEp. 336 - Cautious Optimism and M&A MomentumThere is cautious optimism around continued M&A momentum and the public equities markets as biotech heads into the New Year. On a special edition of the BioCentury This Week podcast recorded in London during London Life Sciences Week, BioCentury’s Simone Fishburn and Stephen Hansen were joined by a trio of guests to discuss their key takeaways from the week and expectations for next year, including trends in M&A and creative deal structures for business development.The group also discussed the potential for biotech venture investing to make a comeback as a key asset class for LP...
2025-11-2241 min
BioCentury This WeekEp. 335 - Neurology's Coming Inflection PointVoyager CEO and former head of R&D at Biogen Al Sandrock is more optimistic than ever about the prospect of bringing clinically meaningful solutions to patients with Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders. The threads of progress are finally coming together, he said in a special episode of the BioCentury This Week podcast. From the first disease-modifying therapies for Alzheimer’s disease, to a growing biomarker toolkit, to an expanding set of genetically validated targets in other neurodegenerative conditions — and, crucially, to delivery vehicles capable of broadly and deeply penetrating the brain — neurology drug development may be poised t...
2025-11-2140 min
BioCentury This WeekEp. 334 - Pazdur’s New FDA Role, SITC & China RNAiRichard Pazdur took the top job at FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research after receiving vows that he would be leading CDER free from political interference. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury's analysts discuss the issues that could prove to be flashpoints between Pazdur and the heads of FDA and HHS, including personnel, RSV mAbs, puberty blockers and SSRIs.BioCentury's analysts assess bispecific innovation at the annual meeting of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) and the growing field of companies pursuing RNAi, many of which have multiple unpartnered assets. Also featured in th...
2025-11-1836 min
BioCentury This WeekEp. 333 - Is This Korea’s Biotech Moment?Today’s South Korean biotechs have a risk-on mentality, a willingness to partner, and strategies focused on globalization. On a special edition of the BioCentury This Week podcast recorded at Venture Café Cambridge, BioCentury is joined by a quartet of investors and executives with deep knowledge of Korea’s life sciences ecosystem to discuss Korea biotech’s push to globalize and the opportunities in the country for Western companies. The four guests joining BioCentury were Aram Hong, CEO of Korean start-up Apollon; investors Spencer Nam and Debra Peattie; and Boehringer Ingelheim GmbH's Andy Whittle.The podcast was recorded Nov. 6...
2025-11-1345 min
BioCentury This WeekEp. 332 - Obesity in Focus. Plus: What’s Next for FDAWith ObesityWeek yielding eye-catching amylin data and a bidding war that ran to $10 billion for Metsera, weight loss companies were center stage in biotech last week. On the latest edition of the BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s analysts explained why Pfizer's victory for the start-up over European rival Novo Nordisk doesn’t necessarily mean a broader U.S. policy shift against foreign acquisitions of domestic biotechs.Turning to ObesityWeek readouts, they discuss Eli Lilly's data for amylin monotherapy eloralintide, arguing that just as Lilly did with GLP-1 agonists, the company is again setting the benchmark by which all...
2025-11-1128 min
BioCentury This WeekEp. 331 - Metsera M&A Melee & Tidmarsh OusterNovo Nordisk’s unsolicited $8.5 billion bid for Metsera has thrown a wrench into Pfizer’s plans to return to the obesity race via its acquisition of the New York-based start-up. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s analysts discuss the details of the competing bids and what’s at stake for the pair of suitors.The analysts also assess the reasons behind the abrupt departure of Center for Drug Evaluation and Research Director George Tidmarsh from FDA and a surge in activity on the Hong Kong stock exchange. This episode of the BioCentury This Week podcast is broug...
2025-11-0427 min
BioCentury This WeekEp. 330 - China's Innovation MomentChina is setting a new bar for the speed of clinical development and redefining the time it takes an asset to get to the clinic. On a special edition of the BioCentury This Week podcast recorded on stage at the 12th BioCentury BayHelix China Healthcare Summit in Shanghai, BioCentury's Simone Fishburn argued that China’s emerging new standard for swift entry to the clinic could upend the bottleneck of translational development and usher in a new paradigm that could have a “massive impact globally.”Fishburn and her BioCentury colleagues Joshua Berlin and Jeff Cranmer were joined by a trio o...
2025-11-0143 min
BioCentury This WeekEp. 329 - Novartis' $12B Avidity Buy. Plus: Base EditorsNovartis’ biggest deal in more than a decade gives the Swiss pharma three programs for muscular dystrophies that are close to the finish line. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s analysts discuss the $12 billion deal for Avidity in the context of Novartis’ recent acquisitions and the antibody-oligonucleotide conjugate platform it is gaining.The team dives into RNA versus DNA modalities, noting antisense and siRNA approaches appear to be gaining traction with major pharmas as traditional gene therapy and gene editing approaches hit rocky times. Still, they note hopeful progress among base editing therapies given the promis...
2025-10-2831 min
BioCentury This WeekEp. 328 - Brain Shuttles, GSK Q&A and FDA VouchersNext-generation platforms and technologies are getting closer to cracking one of biopharma’s biggest problems: delivering medicines, and mAbs in particular, to the brain. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s Selina Koch details the latest innovations in blood-brain-barrier shuttles and how the technologies could transform the treatment of neurological diseases.BioCentury’s Lauren Martz discusses her conversation with Tony Wood, CSO of GSK, which included the pharma’s strategy for indication expansion, why it prefers RNA modalities over AAV-based gene therapies, and how its quest for causal biology has evolved over the years.Washington Editor S...
2025-10-2133 min
BioCentury This WeekEp. 327 - Where Gene & Cell Therapy Go Next With Evotec's Bernd MühlenwegIt’s been a tough year for cell and gene therapy — patient deaths, high-profile companies pulling out of the space, and sour investment sentiment. But the field has had some promising readouts in the clinic recently, and it continues to mature, showing steady progress despite challenging market conditions. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, Evotec’s Bernd Mühlenweg joins BioCentury’s analysts to give his view of the field and offer takeaways from this month’s Cell & Gene Meeting on the Mesa in Phoenix. This episode of BioCentury This Week is sponsored by Evotec. View full story...
2025-10-1623 min
BioCentury This WeekEp. 326 - Market Outlook, Biosecure Returns, Biotech M&ABiotech’s fourth quarter began with a familiar feeling, with indicators pointing toward an improving public market even as political and regulatory uncertainty has buysiders reluctant to say industry has returned to sustainable growth. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s analysts assess the state of biotech’s public markets. The analysts discuss the Senate’s move to limit access to Chinese CDMOs, the latest developments in the White House’s “most favored nation” drug pricing negotiations, and the U.K.'s attempt to win over pharma companies via adjusting thresholds at NICE. Finally, they analyze a pair of billio...
2025-10-1436 min
BioCentury This WeekEp. 325 - Pfizer MFN Deal, New Trial Paradigm & Billion $ FundThe short-term consequences for Pfizer from its “most favored nation” drug pricing deal with the White House are negligible, but the long-term effects on the industry could be profound and permanent. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury Washington Editor Steve Usdin discusses why the deal by Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) changes everything — and nothing — and what’s next in wrangling over drug pricing between industry and the Trump administration. The analysts also discuss PDUFA negotiations between FDA and leaders of BIO and PhRMA, how multi-site IITs could help bridge the academia-industry gap, and how TCG X plans to...
2025-10-0730 min
BioCentury This WeekEp. 324 - Genmab, GSK and Drug PricingGenmab's $8 billion acquisition of multispecifics company Merus is the Danish biotech’s largest step toward marketing its own pipeline. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s analysts discuss the evolution of Genmab, which, for many years, relied on a partnership model that delivered blockbuster revenues but now is making a change as a patent cliff looms.The analysts also assess the tenure of Emma Walmsley the longtime CEO of GSK, and what’s next for the U.K. pharma under incoming CEO Luke Miels. Turning to the U.S., Washington Editor Steve Usdin discusses President Donald Trump’...
2025-09-3028 min
BioCentury This WeekEp. 323 - Agentic AI: From New Targets to the ClinicAI is bringing sweeping changes to drug development, from how targets are discovered to optimizing clinical trials to maximize an asset’s chance for success. On a special edition of the BioCentury This Week podcast, IQVIA’s Greg Lever joins BioCentury’s analysts to discuss agentic AI’s short- and long-term prospects to help biotechs discover new targets, predict success in preclinical development, and enhance clinical operations. This episode of BioCentury This Week is sponsored by IQVIA Biotech. View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/article/657086#Biotech #Biopharma #DrugDevelopment #ClinicalTrials #TargetDiscovery #AgenticAI #GraphRAG #DeRisking00:0...
2025-09-2529 min
BioCentury This WeekEp. 322 - Takeaways from BioCentury Grand Rounds EuropeIs this the U.K.’s moment to capitalize on its biotech ecosystem? That was one of the primary themes discussed at the debut Grand Rounds — Europe conference last week in Cambridge, U.K. BioMarin's James Sabry and Astex's Michelle Jones joined BioCentury’s analysts on a special edition of the BioCentury This Week podcast recorded live at the event to discuss their key takeaways from the two-day conference.Beyond the state of the U.K. biopharma ecosystem, the analysts discussed the meeting’s major science themes, including what’s next for DNA damage repair pathway targets, both inside and...
2025-09-2430 min
BioCentury This WeekEp. 321 - Pfizer’s Obesity Play & U.K. in FocusA takeout that could be worth as much as $7.3 billion has Pfizer back in the obesity drug development race. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s analysts discuss Pfizer’s acquisition of Metsera and its obesity assets. Plus: Editor in Chief Simone Fishburn gives a recap of BioCentury’s Grand Rounds — Europe meeting, which included a fireside chat with Patrick Vallance on the state of the life sciences ecosystem in the country. The BioCentury analysts also assess the state of hot-button policy issues in Washington, such as drug pricing and China. Finally, they analyze the state of play amo...
2025-09-2348 min
BioCentury This WeekEp. 320 - U.K. Biotech, U.S.-China, InsmedMerck's announcement that it is moving its R&D out of the U.K. highlights concerns about the country’s life sciences policies. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s analysts discuss the life sciences ecosystem in the U.K., including MHRA CEO Lawrence Tallon’s plans to create a world-class regulatory environment. They also discuss a bill passed by the U.S. House of Representatives that would end most U.S.-China academic research collaborations, and the recent success of 40-year-old biotech Insmed. This episode of BioCentury This Week is sponsored by IQVIA Biotech.View f...
2025-09-1629 min
BioCentury This WeekEp. 319 - David Baltimore’s Legacy, Atlas Fund, MASH Pipeline and moreMolecular biologist and Nobel Prize winner David Baltimore made foundational contributions to the biopharma industry and was the essential figure behind such research institutions as the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and the Broad Institute. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s analysts discuss the legacy of Baltimore, who passed away this past weekend at 87.The analysts also discuss Atlas Venture’s new $400 million opportunity fund, the clinical development pipelines for metabolic-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) and chronic urticaria, and late-stage atopic dermatitis data from Sanofi. This episode of BioCentury This Week is sponsored by IQVIA Biotech....
2025-09-0928 min
BioCentury This WeekEp. 318 - Newco Takes on CV Risk. Plus: Disrupting VaccinesTwo veteran biotech leaders are launching a new company with ambitions in the cardiovascular disease space. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s analysts discuss the debut of Corsera Health, a biotech led by John Maraganore and Clive Meanwell that is developing an AI-guided early risk assessment tool alongside dual-acting therapy that could stave off heart disease.The team then discusses how FDA has been quietly positioning itself to disrupt the childhood vaccine schedule, as well as the effects of changes to the Medicare drug negotiation program that were included in the tax and budget bill Co...
2025-09-0332 min
BioCentury This WeekEp. 317 - Biotech IPOs, FDA-Stealth & Patent ThreatThere’s been a rare IPO filing on NASDAQ as LB Pharma looks to test the market during a year that has seen little activity among U.S. biotechs even as green shoots continue to appear on the Hong Kong stock exchange. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s analysts discuss the market for biotech IPOs on NASDAQ and in Hong Kong.The analysts then assess FDA’s about-face on Stealth BioTherapeutics' Barth syndrome therapy, putting the decision in the context of a changing regulatory agency; and a BioCentury Guest Commentary that argues that the university-industry engine...
2025-08-2624 min
BioCentury This WeekEp. 316 - Trends in Pharma DealsBioCentury’s third annual analysis of pharma company deals finds that bispecifics and degraders are in, cell and gene therapies are out, and China is bringing much more than me-too assets to cross-border deals. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s analysts assess a year’s worth of deals between pharmas and biotechs to tease out emerging trends.The analysts also discuss last week’s FDA approval of a vector-based immunotherapy from Precigen to treat a rare respiratory disease and whether the decision will set a precedent of more flexibility for rare disease therapies. They then take sto...
2025-08-1929 min
BioCentury This WeekEp. 315 - China Speed: Data, Deals, First in ClassDealmaking between Western and Chinese biopharmas has been one of the year’s bright spots, as a maturing biotech landscape in China converges with Western demand for innovative assets, driving record deal flow. At the same time, the Hong Kong stock exchange has emerged as the hottest market for biotech IPOs, at a time when the NASDAQ window remains shut.These themes will be in the spotlight at the 12th BioCentury-BayHelix China Healthcare Summit Oct. 22-24 in Shanghai. On this special edition of the BioCentury This Week podcast, a trio of biopharma leaders join BioCentury’s analysts to disc...
2025-08-1433 min