BioCentury This Week

Gilead is acquiring Arcellx for $7.8 billion up front three years after forging a partnership with the biotech around a cell therapy for multiple myeloma. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s analysts assess what the deal does for the Foster City, Calif.-based biotech’s pipeline.
The analysts also discuss the case for using ctDNA as a surrogate endpoint for early cancer trials.
Turning to Washington, Steve Usdin offers his takeaways from last week’s PhRMA Forum, which focused on China and the Trump administration’s most favored nation (MFN) drug pricing policy, and on the lessons that can be drawn from FDA’s about-face on the recent vaccine application from Moderna.

View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/article/658516

#BiotechMA #MultipleMyeloma #ctDNA #DrugPricingPolicy #FDA

00:00 - Introduction
02:34 - Gilead's Arcellx Buy
11:14 - ctDNA Surrogate Endpoints
21:59 - PhRMA Forum Takeaways
29:19 - FDA Moderna U-turn

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As targeted protein degradation gains momentum, oral selective estrogen receptor degraders are emerging as one of its most advanced proving grounds. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s Lauren Martz assesses how the oral SERD landscape is evolving.
Washington Editor Steve Usdin then discusses setbacks at FDA for an orphan therapy from Disc Medicine and a vaccine from Moderna, and why he is calling on life sciences industry leaders to publicly demand the dismissal of Vinay Prasad, FDA’s CSO, CMO, and director of CBER.

View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/article/658455

#TargetedProteinDegradation #OralSERDs #OncologyDrugDevelopment #FDASetbacks #CBER

00:00 - Introduction
03:12 - Oral SERD Spotlight
11:40 - Setbacks at FDA
15:12 - Disc Medicine CRL

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2025 marked the end of a four-year slide in series A financings for biotechs, with 144 biotechs raising an aggregate of $8 billion, up $1 billion from the prior two years. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s Danielle Golovin assesses which companies VCs backed last year and what their investments say about where technology is headed.
Washington Editor Steve Usdin offers a perspective on why compounded Wegovy is an assault on the biopharma industry and also explains how the spending bill signed into law last week is a rebuke to proposed White House biomedical cuts.
And Executive Editor Selina Koch unpacks her interview on The BioCentury Show podcast with neuroscientist and Seaport Chair Steven Paul, noting that while serendipity drives drug discovery in psychiatry, it’s engineering that gets it across the finish line.

View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/article/658367

#BiotechFinancing #SeriesAFunding #VentureCapital #DrugDiscovery #BiopharmaPolicy

00:00 - Introduction
02:15 - Start-up Spotlight
11:03 - Compounded Wegovy
18:10 - Congress Rebuffs Trump Cuts
23:50 - Steve Paul on Neuropsychiatry

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RNAi and exon-skipping therapies headline the list of regulatory and pivotal data catalysts in 2026, while new lipid-lowering mechanisms, modalities, and precision medicines define cardiovascular disease catalysts this year. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s analysts discuss the most important milestones of the year in new modalities, CV and renal diseases.
The analysts also discuss a new regulation in China introducing orphan drug exclusivity that could incentivize development of rare disease therapies.

Dig into the BioCentury’s catalyst picks and the new China policy below
• 2026 Catalysts: The rise of RNAi
• 2026 Cardiovascular Catalysts: Lp(a) on the Horizon
• 2026 Obesity Catalysts: Launches, readouts and challengers
• 2026 Catalysts: Breakthrough progress in renal disease
• AZ signals all-in on obesity via CSPC deal for $1.2B up front
• China’s orphan drug exclusivity could bolster market, incentivize development

View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/article/658286

00:00 - Introduction
02:28 - RNAi and Antisense Therapies
06:37 - Neuromuscular and Musculoskeletal
10:33 - Renal Disease Catalysts
22:26 - China's New Orphan Rules

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New 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 is rethinking CNS drug discovery with a whole-human-brain model, and another on Elkedonia S.A.S., a French start-up aiming at ELK1 to reboot neuroplasticity in depression.

View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/article/658189

00:00 - Introduction
03:14 - Speeding China's Innovation
10:36 - Neuro Catalysts
22:01 - Newcos

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The biotech bull is back, and buysiders believe this market has staying power for the first time in nearly five years. On a special episode of the BioCentury This Week podcast, Director of Biopharma Intelligence Stephen Hansen and colleagues discuss Hansen’s 2026 Public Markets Preview, which found interest rates, policy in Washington and fundamentals finally aligning and a wave of launches and M&A that could keep capital flowing into the sector.

View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/article/658154

#BiotechBullMarket #PublicMarkets #BiotechMA #IPOOutlook #FDApolicy

00:00 - Introduction
00:41 - Market Sentiment
07:55 - Biotech's Next Wave
14:47 - Lingering Concerns
23:29 - IPOs
26:47 - M&A

To submit a question to BioCentury’s editors, email the BioCentury This Week team at [email protected].

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Next-generation induced proximity technologies are coming of age after a decade of industry focus on PROTACs. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s analysts discuss Senior Biopharma Analyst Danielle Golovin’s four-part analysis of how next-generation targeting chimeras (TACs) are evolving. The analysts assess the $2.2 billion takeout of Rapt Therapeutics by GSK, which gave the pharma an allergy asset that the biotech sourced in China in 2024, and movement in Washington on priority review vouchers, NIH’s budget and the White House’s “most favored nation” drug pricing policy. The analysts also discuss takeaways from their meetings on the sidelines of the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference.

View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/article/658112

#InducedProximity #TargetingChimeras #BiotechMA #DrugPricingPolicy #JPMHealthcare

00:00 - Introduction 
03:17 - JPM Highlights
09:17 - GSK's Acquisition of RAPT
14:46 - Next-Generation Targeting Chimeras
21:41 - MFN and Pediatric PRVs

To submit a question to BioCentury’s editors, email the BioCentury This Week team at [email protected].

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The 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 speed” in the clinic, and what’s changing for start-ups in Japan.
Joining BioCentury were Panacea Venture’s James Huang, MayTech Global Investments’ Ingrid Yin, DLA Piper’s Ting Xiao and CBRE’s Matt Gardner.
The podcast was recorded at the 12th East-West Healthcare Reception, hosted by BioCentury, MayTech Global and Panacea.

View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/article/658081

#JPMHealthcare #AsiaBiotech #ChinaBiotech #RNAiTherapeutics #BiotechCapitalMarkets

00:00 - Introduction
02:02 - Split Screen 2026 
05:57 - China's Rapid Progress
08:01 - AI and Biotech
16:58 - Deal Prices
22:56 - Public Markets
28:47 - Innovation Across Asia

To submit a question to BioCentury’s editors, email the BioCentury This Week team at [email protected].

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Riding the tailwind of a strong 2H25, the days leading up to biotech’s annual kickoff meeting in San Francisco delivered billions in capital raised and more than two dozen deals announced. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s analysts discuss two of the largest deals announced at the start of the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, a partnership for a bispecific between AbbVie and RemeGen and the launch of “NewCo” AirNexus Therapeutics by Haisco Pharmaceutical and a syndicate led by Frazier Life Sciences.
The analysts also discuss Washington Editor Steve Usdin’s policy outlook for the year ahead, and Executive Director of Biopharma Intelligence Lauren Martz’s analysis of trends in FDA’s 2025 approvals.

View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/article/658052

#JPMHealthcare #BiotechFinancing #BiopharmaPartnerships #FDAApprovals #BiotechPolicy

00:00 - Introduction
01:55 - JPM Deals
11:49 - Policy Outlook
19:30 - Trends in Drug Approvals

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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 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 what’s next for rare pediatric disease priority review vouchers, and from Europe’s opportunity as FDA enters uncertain terrain to Japan’s evolving biotech landscape.

Early bird rates for BioCentury and BayHelix’s fifth East-West Biopharma Summit end Friday. Act now to join investors, dealmakers and innovators in Seoul this March to source innovation from Asia, or accelerate your own pipeline by finding the right Asia partner.

View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/article/657978

#BiotechOutlook #FDAUncertainty #GlobalBiotech #RarePediatricDiseasePRV #NIHLeadership

00:00 - Introduction
01:46 - 2026 Outlook
03:56 - Policy Landscape
11:48 - Priority Review Vouchers
15:03 - Global Perspectives
16:57 - Spotlight on Japan
21:55 - European Biotech Opportunities

To submit a question to BioCentury’s editors, email the BioCentury This Week team at [email protected].

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