Making Medicine

Japan's biotech industry is at a crossroads. Drug pricing reform, clinical trials, venture capital investment, and life sciences policy are all in flux as the country tries to figure out its path forward.  This week on the Making Medicine Podcast, guest host John Guy, Incubate's Policy Director, is joined by John Gutierrez of Ascenta Capital and Josh Lipscomb, Incubate’s International Programs Man...

Georgia's life sciences industry is growing fast. Biotech manufacturing, clinical trials, workforce development, and healthcare policy are reshaping America's innovation economy. This week on the Making Medicine Podcast, John Stanford sits down with Maria Thacker Goethe, President and CEO of Georgia Life Sciences, to discuss why Georgia has become one of the fastest-growing biotechnology hubs in t...

FDA instability is reshaping biotech investment decisions in real time. Investors are recalibrating risk, pulling back, and even shifting capital abroad. In case you missed it: We are bringing one of our most critical recent conversations to unpack how regulatory uncertainty is shifting the future of medicine. FDA instability is reshaping biotech investment decisions in real time. Across the board...

China's biotech innovation is accelerating. Clinical trials, NIH funding, and global competition are reshaping healthcare. Biocom’s President & CEO Tim Scott explains why America should focus on "playing to win" rather than "playing not to lose." China’s biotech industry is moving faster than many policymakers realize. From investigator-initiated clinical trials and massive patient registries...

Rare diseases. Patient advocacy. Drug development. FDA partnerships. Clinical trials. Patient organizations have evolved into powerful engines of drug development, building registries, funding research, shaping clinical trial design, and partnering with regulators to accelerate new treatments. This week on the Making Medicine Podcast, John Stanford sits down with Lisa Bonebrake, Executive Director...

Healthcare costs. PBM reform. Drug price controls. FDA stability. American manufacturing. This week on the Making Medicine Podcast, John Stanford sits down with Charles Crain, Vice President of Domestic Policy at the National Association of Manufacturers, to discuss a new report examining the rising cost of healthcare and its impact on American manufacturers. Manufacturers provide health coverage...

China and biotech competition. Drug pricing reform. The FDA. PBMs. America’s innovation economy. This week on the Making Medicine Podcast, John Stanford sits down with Rep. Scott Peters to discuss the future of American biotech innovation, the importance of ending the “pill penalty,” and why China’s rapid rise in biotechnology is becoming a major strategic concern for the United States. Representi...

What does the FDA actually look like on the inside — and why does its structure matter for drug approvals, rare disease therapies, and biotech investment? This week on the Making Medicine Podcast, host John Stanford is joined by Jef Akst, senior editor at BioSpace, to break down the FDA's key divisions, what each one is responsible for, and how they shape the drug development landscape. Jef walks...

FDA instability. AI in clinical trials. China overtaking the United States in biotech development. Following news that Marty Makary has stepped down as FDA commissioner, questions around regulatory stability, scientific leadership, and the future of biotech innovation are back in focus. This week on the Making Medicine Podcast, John Stanford examines what the FDA needs most during periods of leade...

Gene therapy breakthroughs. The first oral GLP-1 pill. A troubling signal for scientific talent. And a German pricing move that could quietly reshape global drug development. This week on the Making Medicine podcast, John Stanford breaks down four stories shaping the future of life sciences and biotech investment. From the FDA's landmark approval of Regeneron's gene therapy for genetic hearing los...

Biotech is no longer just about medicine. It is now a frontline issue in national security, global competition, and economic independence. In this episode of the Making Medicine Podcast, Senator Todd Young joins us to break down the growing risks of relying on China for critical biotech inputs, why FDA speed and regulatory clarity matter more than ever, and how the US can stay competitive in a rap...

FDA instability is reshaping biotech investment decisions in real time. Investors are recalibrating risk, pulling back, and even shifting capital abroad. In this episode of the Making Medicine Podcast, John Stanford is joined by Rachel Sher of Manatt Health to unpack new original research conducted with investors across the biotech ecosystem. The goal was simple: move beyond speculation and unders...

FDA signals are starting to break down, and biotech is feeling it. One company is collapsing while another is breaking through. As lawmakers return to Washington for a packed schedule of healthcare hearings, the conversation will be shaped by what’s happening inside the biotech ecosystem right now, both the breakthroughs and the breakdowns. In this episode of  Making Medicine , we connect the dots...

Tariffs, MFN pricing, and FDA delays are colliding, and small biotech is paying the price. One company already collapsed. More could follow. In this episode, we break down how Section 232 pharmaceutical tariffs, the push to codify Most Favored Nation (MFN) pricing, and new proposals in the FDA budget are reshaping biotech in real time. The stakes are high. These policies don’t just exist on paper,...

Last week, seven leading life sciences investors went to Washington. They met with the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology, walked the halls of Congress, and shared which roadblocks are preventing them from being a part of the next breakthrough.  John Gutierrez was one of those investors — and the throughline of nearly every room he walked into was China. Not as a future threat...

In this special re-air of the Making Medicine Podcast, we revisit a timely conversation with Dr. Michelle Rozo of the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology NSCEB, originally recorded live at JPM 2026. We are re-airing this episode in recognition of a recent roundtable hosted on Capitol Hill by the Incubate Coalition and NSCEB, where these same themes took center stage. As policyma...

With Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi meeting President Trump this week, we are re-airing our special episode from Tokyo. We explore why the U.S. delegation must prioritize a fair pricing agreement that ensures Japan pays its fair share while giving patients access to life-saving cures. As the US and Japan put renewed focus on their partnership in science and the life sciences, we are revisi...

The FDA is being asked to keep pace with today's rapid scientific advancements amid ongoing resource constraints. In this episode, we unpack why regulatory predictability and *stability* matters more than ever for the future of America's medical innovation ecosystem. Regulatory uncertainty is reshaping where biotech capital flows. In this episode of the Making Medicine podcast, John Stanford sits...

China has now overtaken the United States in new drug clinical trials. At the same time regulatory uncertainty and funding lapses are raising new questions about the future of the American biotech leadership. In this episode of the Making Medicine Podcast, host John Stanford examines three developments shaping the future of the biotechnology ecosystem. First, the Senate passed a bipartisan agreeme...

About 90–95% of rare diseases still lack an FDA-approved treatment, underscoring the urgency for continued innovation on behalf of the estimated 30 million Americans — and families — affected by these conditions During Rare Disease Week, this special episode of the  Making Medicine  podcast focuses on the patients, caregivers, and policy choices shaping the future of rare disease research. Host Jo...

FDA reversals and price controls are handing biotech dominance to China. We expose the national security crisis in drug development. The FDA is facing a crisis of confidence that threatens the stability of the entire US biopharmaceutical industry. In this episode, John Stanford is joined by Jef Akst, Managing Editor at BioSpace, to expose how recent "regulatory reversals" and inconsistent decision...

TrumpRx has quickly become part of the broader drug pricing conversation, not as a new insurance program or pharmacy, but as a government website highlighting direct-to-patient cash pricing options for certain brand-name medicines. In this episode of the Making Medicine Podcast, host John Stanford walks through what TrumpRx is, what it isn’t, and why it’s generating attention right now. Rather tha...

Washington is navigating a period of significant change in health policy, with implications for how new medicines are developed, reviewed, and paid for. In this episode of Making Medicine, we take a closer look at several recent developments shaping the life sciences landscape. We discuss the FDA’s new priority review voucher pilot and the debate around how the agency can balance speed, scientific...

The race is being won by someone else. While the headlines focus on the prestige of JPM 2026, a much quieter and more dangerous shift is happening behind the scenes. In this special edition of The Making Medicine Podcast, John Stanford sits down with Terzel Vasquez of STAT Brand Studio to discuss why the American biotech engine is beginning to stall. Stanford argues that capital flows like water,...

Is the U.S. at risk of losing its edge in biotech innovation? Filmed live at JPM 2026, host John Stanford sits down with industry leaders who are deep in the work,what one panelist calls the “frogs in the mud”, to unpack how long-term global strategies, shifting capital flows, and U.S. policy decisions are reshaping the biotech landscape. Rather than framing innovation as an all-or-nothing rivalry...