Making Medicine

In this special Press Pass episode of the Making Medicine Podcast, John Stanford welcomes Nyah Phengsitthy of Bloomberg Law to break down the latest shifts in drug pricing, FDA policy, and the unpredictable pace of the Trump administration. They explore the Medicare drug price negotiation program, new FDA leadership under Dr. Makary, and the industry’s reaction to rapidly changing executive orders...

In this week’s episode, John Stanford breaks down the evolving story of President Trump’s aggressive tariff strategy—focusing on a potential 200% tariff on pharmaceuticals. From a historical look at Trump’s decades-long affinity for tariffs to the current Section 232 investigation into pharmaceutical imports, we explore what these actions could mean for national security, drug prices, and innovati...

John Stanford kicks off the official relaunch of the Making Medicine Podcast with a deep dive into the "one big beautiful bill" that’s shaking up Washington. From major tax cuts to game-changing reforms like the Orphan Cures Act, this episode covers what’s in—and what’s not—in the sweeping legislation. What’s the real impact on biotech innovation, Medicaid, PBMs, and future drug pricing? John brea...

The path to new medicines is complex enough - policy doesn’t need to make it more difficult. But it does.  In this episode, Thomas Kaiser , Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer Avicenna Biosciences joins the show to share how the Inflation Reduction Act is unintentionally discouraging investment in small-molecule drugs, creating the pill penalty. He explains why this matters not just to biotech...

In this episode of The Making Medicine podcast, John Stanford sits down with Professor Fred Ledley, Director of the Center for Integration of Science and Industry at Bentley University. Professor Ledley shares his journey from medical school to biotech entrepreneurship and academia, highlighting the critical intersection of science and business. The discussion explores the evolution of gene therap...

The U.S. healthcare system is a puzzle for many. To fix it, we need smarter discussions and a deeper understanding of both the industry and the policies that shape it. In this episode, host John Stanford talks to healthcare policy expert Brian Reid , Principal at Reid Strategic and author of the Cost Curve newsletter , to discuss the challenges of fixing the incentives that have led to a broken he...

Science should lead our policy decisions—not the other way around.  In this episode, Kirsten Axelson , Senior Policy Lab Advisor at Incubate Coalition , dives deep into the power of small molecule medicines, the promise they hold for the future, and how our current policy landscape may upend their development.   This conversation focuses on Incubate Policy Lab’s most recent white paper, which shed...

As part of our inaugural CEO series, we're excited to welcome Sherine Chan , the CEO and Co-Founder of Neuroene Therapeutics . In this episode, Sherine shares her journey from academia to helming a cutting-edge biotech company. She explores the groundbreaking work her company is pioneering in targeting the powerhouses of cells: mitochondria. Sherine also dives into the influence of the Inflation R...

On World IP Day, Kirsten Axelsen , Senior Advisor of the Incubate Policy Lab , joins host John Stanford to announce the newest whitepaper, delve into the myths and realities surrounding IP in the pharmaceutical industry, explore the dynamics of patent regulations, and touch on the contentious discussions around patent thickets and pharmaceutical pricing under new legislative environments like the...

Joe Allen , Executive Director of The Bayh-Dole Coalition , was at the forefront of the Bayh-Dole Act back in December 1980, which allowed researchers to own inventions resulting from federally funded research. However, 43 years later, the March-In Rights framework proposed by the Biden administration threatens to weaken America’s innovation. In this episode, Joe delves into the potential implicat...

How can we create better outcomes for cancer patients? That’s the big goal Mohit Manrao is aiming for in his work as SVP & Head of US Oncology at AstraZeneca . In this episode, Mohit shares his perspective on the future of oncology and the pursuit of patient-centric care in a post-Inflation Reduction Act world. Join us as we discuss: AstraZeneca's goal of launching 15 new drugs by 2030 Solving...

Can we create a future healthcare system that is accessible and affordable for all patients? That’s the major question that Mary R. Grealy , CEO of Healthcare Leadership Council, is trying to answer through her work. Mary, a former speech pathologist turned lawyer, shares insights from her unique journey from the healthcare field to advocating for patient-centered, value-based healthcare systems....

With recent movement in healthcare including President Biden’s Cancer Moonshot and the Inflation Reduction Act, one thing is clear: American healthcare is at a crossroads. As we begin to tackle the conversation of healthcare reform, how can we rebuild the system around patients? In this episode, MacKay Jimeson , Executive Director of The Patient Access & Affordability Project at Patients Risin...

Even though 80% of the household decisions around health are made by women, only 4% of research and funding goes towards women’s health research. In today’s episode, Natalie Buford-Young , Chief Executive Officer at Springboard Enterprises , joins us to discuss Springboard’s mission and how they are exploring a designated network to create pathways for emerging female innovators. We also get to he...

Runaway inflation and economic instability is terrible for just about everybody, but are efforts to tackle this problem creating more? To answer that, Kirsten Axelsen, Senior Policy Advisor at DLA Piper, joins the show to break down all the effects The Inflation Reduction act is having upon medicine, We discuss: The potential negative impacts on small-molecule medicine How the act affects patents...

John was at the JP Morgan conference and is here to discuss the key takeaways of the Inflation Reduction Act: the small-molecule penalty, the value of small-molecule drugs, the importance of incentivizing post-approval research, intellectual property, and non-coverage decisions at CMS. You’ll also hear John’s take on the demand for a more pro-patient agenda. There was a lot of focus on the role of...

How will the Inflation Reduction Act affect life sciences startups, current and future revenues, and drug investment? What will happen to patients amidst the aftermath of unintended consequences? There aren’t too many people who know more about the ins and outs than the fine folks at DLA Piper. One of the biggest interventions in drug pricing since the Medicare Modernization Act was passed, listen...

When you’re working to make good investments in bio and med tech there are three key pillars to consider: science, the management team and finance.  But how does it all come together in the end?  Find out in the latest episode with Christine Brennan, Managing Director, Vertex Venture HC as we talk about Vertex’s investment philosophy, why DEI inclusion is vital for industry, and what investments c...

Everyone wants to make healthy choices. But we don't always have an opportunity to make healthy choices.  In today’s episode, we speak with Dr. Jerome Adams, Executive Director of Health Equity Initiatives at Purdue University and the 20th Surgeon General of the United States, about the need for proactive accessible health care, the economic burden of inaccessible healthcare, and why people need t...

Investors are logical people. They invest in medicines that they expect will give them a return. Right now, there’s far too little investment in developing new antibiotics. The pipeline of treatment is thin, but the need is greater than ever. Enter the AMR Action Fund. Hear our conversation with Dr. Henry Skinner, Chief Executive Officer at AMR Action Fund about: The increasing cost of AMR and pol...

We’ll be the first to say that the healthcare system is broken, especially in patient access complexity. However, we see three areas where we can execute actionable change for patients in 2022: intellectual property, mergers and acquisitions, and the FDA’s reauthorization. In this episode, Coalition Manager and podcast host Ashlyn Roberts interviews John Stanford, Executive Director at Incubate Co...

If we want data and clinical trials that meaningfully represent the population of people who take the drug, we’ll need to do more than just issue guides. In this episode, we interview returning guest Kirsten Axelsen,Senior Advisor for Charles River Associates, about making medicine more accessible to lower income people and creating a more equitable health system with better data. Join us as we di...

Drug development is a relay race because you pass the baton to the next runner who will take it to the next level. You are proud to have made it onto the stairs at the end of the race not as an individual but as a huge team of experts of subsequent talents. In this episode we interview Johannes Fruehauf, Founder and CEO at LabCentral/BioLabs, about how the relay race metaphor shapes our understand...

Drug policy debate today is like a wetland. It’s the heart of the ecosystem that has to be preserved at all costs — or else we lose the wetlands, the shore, everything. In this episode, we interview Jean-Francois Formela, Partner at Atlas Venture, about what brought him to Washington and his views on the government’s role in drug development. Join us as we discuss: Where are we going in drug devel...

Today’s guest describes drug development in the American healthcare market with the analogy of mortgages and rents. People would rather pay higher mortgages because they are finite than pay rent indefinitely. Market-based pricing means that drugs will cost more until they become generic, whereas price control means paying rent forever. In this episode, we interview Peter Kolchinsky, Managing Partn...