BioCentury This Week

The 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 e...

This 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...

Obesity 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 re...

Fueled 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...

Novo Nordisk’s highly anticipated data for semaglutide in Alzheimer’s dashed hopes that the GLP-1 therapy could become a game changer in the disease. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, Executive Editor Selina Koch discusses the Phase III readout including what it says about the mechanism’s use in the neurodegenerative disease, Novo’s decision to skip Phase II and enroll a large patient gr...

A 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...

There 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, incl...

Voyager 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 Alzhe...

Richard 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. BioCe...

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...

With 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 fore...

Novo 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 C...

China 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 bottl...

Novartis’ 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...

Next-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 Lau...

It’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 anal...

Biotech’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 acce...

The 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 ov...

Genmab'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 a...

AI 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,...

Is 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 t...

A 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 sta...

Merck'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 Repre...

Molecular 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...

Two 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 the...