Biotech Hangout

On this week’s episode, Eric Schmidt, Paul Matteis, Sam Fazeli, Graig Suvannavejh, and Luba Greenwood kick off with a discussion on the surge in out licensing deals and growing drug development momentum in China -- a trend they expect will continue. The conversation then shifts to market sentiment, touching on biotech outlook and M&A. in policy news, the group highlights that the FDA reversed...

On this week’s episode, Graig Suvannavejh, Chris Garabedian, Eric Schmidt, and Yaron Werber kick off with a look at a big week for biotech IPOs, led by Veradermics and Eikon Therapeutics. The co-hosts note that this could mark the start of a healthy year for high‑quality IPOs, with many companies entering the market with mature assets Generate Biomedicines’ S‑1 filing was highlighted as another po...

On this week’s episode, Josh Schimmer, Sam Fazeli, Brian Skorney, and Yaron Werber kick off with a discussion on policy with special guest BIO’s CEO John Crowley, overviewing what it means for the U.S. to “win” the biotech race against China, emphasizing the need for innovation and ensuring access to medicines. The conversation shifts to the latest at the FDA, where John acknowledges concerns arou...

On this week’s episode, Grace Colon, Tim Opler, Graig Suvannavejh, and Eric Schmidt kick off with an overview of Tim’s “The Case for Optimism” report, highlighting that macroeconomic conditions will need to stabilize and that M&A is likely to be significant in the coming year. The group also notes how quickly things can shift in biotech, citing recent inconsistencies at the FDA. Next, the co-h...

On this week’s episode, Chris Garabedian, Paul Matteis, Mike Yee, and Sam Fazeli recap the 2026 J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, noting that the biotech outlook for 2026 is broadly positive. Investor sentiment is noted as healthy but not overheated, and from the specialist community, the outlook is similarly upbeat. On the venture side, the M&A landscape also looks strong, with one of the be...

On this week’s episode, Sam Fazeli, Paul Matteis, Brian Skorney, and Tess Cameron discuss biotech market sentiment and the sector’s strong momentum heading into JPM and 2026, with expectations for increased M&A activity. They note that companies showing strong fundamentals have been rewarded, while policy uncertainty remains a risk. The group also overviews the HHS decision to revise pediatric...

On the final episode of 2025, Daphne Zohar, Bruce Booth, and Eric Schmidt kick off with a general market overview, including a look back at 2025 and some predictions for 2026. The co-hosts discuss biotech rebounding in the last few months of 2025 after years of underperformance, driven by macro rotations and biopharma as an AI-trade hedge. They also discuss some recent follow-on activity from Immu...

On this week’s episode, Grace Colón, Chris Garabedian, Sam Fazeli, Paul Matteis, Yaron Werber, and special guest John Stanford kick off with a policy discussion on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), outlining both the opportunities and constraints it presents for biotech. The bill includes major biotech provisions such as a scaled back version of the BIOSECURE Act and the creation of a...

On this week’s episode, Josh Schimmer, Brian Skorney, Paul Matteis, and Graig Suvannavejh share their outlook for the biotech industry in 2026, including a lively discussion on IPO market and predictions for what to expect next year. The discussion then shifts to Washington, where Tracy Beth Høeg has been appointed acting CDER director -- the fifth person to lead CDER this year -- following Richar...

On week’s episode, Eric Schmidt, Yaron Werber, Tess Cameron, and Sam Fazeli kick off with biotech M&A news, including Alkermes’ $2.37 billion offer for Avadel, following Lundbeck’s surprise bid. Next, the co-hosts discuss J&J’s $3.05 billion cash acquisition of Halda - the highest-priced deal for a company at this stage. The group also covers Merck’s acquisition of Cidara Therapeutics to s...

On this week’s episode, John Maraganore, Yaron Werber, Ami Fadia, and special guests STAT’s Allison DeAngelis and Endpoints News’ Drew Armstrong kick things off with an overview of the latest FDA staffing changes, including long-time oncology chief Richard Pazdur’s appointment as the new CDER director, a move the co-hosts view as positive for the industry and a sign of potential stability. Next, t...

On this week’s episode, Graig Suvannavejh, Paul Matteis, Brian Skorney, Yaron Werber, Chris Garabedian, and guest Adam Feuerstein open with a discussion on George Tidmarsh’s departure from the FDA and the uncertainty it has caused in the markets. Next, the co-hosts discuss the shifting policies of the FDA and Sarepta’s Phase 3 ESSENCE trial of casimersen for DMD with the group debating if the drug...

On this week’s episode, Daphne Zohar, Bruce Booth, Sam Fazeli, Brian Skorney, Yaron Werber, and Eric Schmidt kick off with market updates, noting that the XBI is showing signs of a sustainable recovery after years of underperformance and highlighting that the IPO market is likely closed for the remainder of the year, but note optimism for early 2026. In deal news, Novartis’ $12B acquisition of Avi...

On this week’s episode, Chris Garabedian, Brian Skorney, and Sam Fazeli open with optimism about the biotech market, predicting an upcoming acceleration in IPO activity. In deals and financing news, the co-hosts discussed Summit Therapeutics’ $500 million raise, with more than half coming from insiders, and continued momentum in M&A, including Alkermes’ $2.1 billion acquisition of Avadel for i...

On this week’s episode, Paul Matteis, John Maraganore, Eric Schmidt, and Graig Suvannavejh open with a look at biotech market sentiment, which has notably strengthened amid steady M&A and successful drug launches. The XBI is also up over 40% in six months, signaling optimism that the long “biotech winter” may be ending. While cautious, the co-hosts agree the recovery feels sustainable. The gro...

On this week’s episode, Tess Cameron, Brian Skorney, Sam Fazeli, Yaron Werber, and Luba Greenwood, kick off with a pop quiz on the last time the $XBI hit 105 (spoiler, it was 2021) driven by recent positive news. The co-hosts highlight a steady rate of M&A activity, including Novo Nordisk’s acquisition of Akero Therapeutics highlighting continued interest in metabolic conditions and BMS’ acqui...

On this week’s episode, Eric Schimidt, Sam Fazeli, Brian Skorney, Yaron Werber, and Brad Loncar open withmacro news including Pfizer’s deal with the White House on U.S. drug manufacturing and pricing, which helped shelve the Most Favored Nation pricing and looming tariffs. The co-hosts agreed it was a savvy move that secured goodwillfor the industry and gave investors confidence, leading to new XB...

On this week’s episode, Sam Fazeli, Eric Schmidt, PaulMatteis, Brian Skorney, and Brad Loncar dive into what was a positive week for biotech, marked by M&A, offerings, and compelling clinical data, spotlighting Pfizer’s acquisition of Metsera. The conversation shifts to data, starting with UniQure’s three-year Huntington’s disease gene therapy results and Acadia’s Phase 3 results in Prader-Wil...

On this week’s episode, Daphne Zohar, Josh Schimmer, Luba Greenwood and Matt Gline open with a look at overall market sentiment, spotlighting Stifel’s bullish report on the biotech sector’s nice recovery since April’s “liberation day” with the XBI up over 40%, the recent wave of M&A activity, and the Biotech Winter. The co-hosts then highlight recent deals, including Roche’s $3.5 billion acqui...

On this week’s episode, Chris Garabedian, Tess Cameron, EricSchmidt, Sam Fazeli, and Brad Loncar open with a look at the market environment as biotech sees its first IPO since February -- LB Pharma -- and financings, including Maze’s $150M PIPE and Rapport’s $250M follow-on. The co-hosts discuss improving sentiment around rates, the $XBI, and insights from conversations at the HC Wainwright confer...

On this week’s episode, hosts Paul Matteis, Sam Fazeli, John Maraganore, and Graig Suvannaveijh kick off the discussion with a more positive look at the sector and some of the fundamental factors at play. The group then shares an overview of Sanofi’s 10% stock fall on the back of positive Phase 3 eczema data with worries about the Dupixent patent expiry. The discussion then turns to Insmed, a comp...

On this week’s episode, Josh Schimmer, Eric Schmidt, and Tess Cameron kick off with policy, discussing Vinay Prasad’s return to the FDA and the implications for the biotech industry. The conversation turns to NIH’s Jay Bhattacharya, who attributed the decline in public trust in mRNA vaccines to perception rather than safety or efficacy, citing this as the reason to curtail funding. In market trend...

On this week’s episode, Grace Colón, John Maraganore, Paul Matteis and Eric Schmidt dive in with a discussion on policy news, including the pharma tariffs and latest on the Trump administration’s Most Favored Nations drug pricing plans. The co-hosts then question if Vinay Prasad has a path back to the FDA and express hope for someone more centrist if he does not return. They also mention the CRLs...

On this week's episode, Daphne Zohar, Josh Schimmer, Brian Skorney, Paul Matteis, Sam Fazeli, Brad Loncar, and Matt Gline cover top news surrounding Trump's pricing letters to 17 major pharma companies demanding U.S. price cuts on new drugs, and the relevance to his MFN initiative. They also touch on Dr. Mehmet Oz’s meetings with biotech leaders in D.C. and looming tariff risks. The group...

On this week’s episode, Eric Schmidt, Paul Matteis, Sam Fazeli, and Brian Skorney begin with a recap of the week’s Sarepta news, covering their initial refusal then agreement to pause Elevidys shipments, if it can return to the market, the broader lessons for the biotech industry, and the communication breakdown between Sarepta and the FDA. Continuing with regulatory news, the group discusses the...