In this week’s episode, Daphne, Josh and Tim are joined by Michal Preminger, Head of Johnson & Johnson Innovation, and Jacob Plieth, Evaluate Vantage journalist, to discuss the latest in biotech takeovers, data readouts and FDA news. Tim kicks off the episode with an update on macro events and his recent analysis on aggregate enterprise value of companies with good clinical data versus not so go good clinical data. Michal leads a discussion on the intersection of academia and the venture capital community and Jacob goes in-depth on his coverage of the Clinical Trials on Alzheimer’s Disease conference (CTAD). In M&A news, Daphne covers Merck’s acquisition of Imago BioSciences, Horizon Therapeutics’ takeover interest, and AstraZeneca’s move into cell therapy with the acquisition of Neogene Therapeutics. Josh then discusses Mirum’s decision to discontinue their ICP program and the challenges of developing drugs in the pregnancy setting. Lastly, Jacob gives his American Society of Hematology (ASH) Annual Meeting predictions and the group debates biotech versus pharma productivity.

Community of experts and insiders joining Biotech Hangout (formerly known as Biotech Clubhouse) include Daphne Zohar, Josh Schimmer, Bruce Booth, Tim Opler, Chris Garabedian, Michal Preminger, Dawn Bell, Rob Perez, Otello Stampacchia and more.