The Readout Loud

Why are AbbVie executives feeling the M&A blues? What does it take to slice $12 billion from Amgen’s market value? And why are STAT’s D.C. correspondents working so hard? 

We talk about all that and more on this week’s episode of the “The Readout LOUD,” STAT’s biotech podcast. It’s a “Chatty Cathy” episode! Elaine, Allison and Adam lead off with a discussion about AbbVie’s M&A miscue following the failure of a closely followed schizophrenia drug. You’d hate us if obesity drugs weren’t mentioned, so we oblige with a tick-tock on what went down between Amgen and a Wall Street analyst who noted a possible safety issue with the obesity drug candidate MariTide. 

To dig into how the election results could affect all things biopharma, we brought on three guests for this episode: Lizzy Lawrence, STAT’s FDA reporter, Baird analyst Brian Skorney, and longtime biotech executive Daphne Zohar.

Adam, Allison, and Elaine get into the Halloween spirit this week, discussing their favorite candies — and Eli Lilly and Pfizer's surprise earnings reports. Then, they discuss what a Trump or Harris presidency could mean for health care and the biopharma industry, and what investors and biopharma executives think about either outcome.

Will an activist investor campaign against Pfizer lead to big changes at the struggling Pharma giant? Why are some experts questioning the regulatory standards used to approve gene therapies for Duchenne muscular dystrophy? What’s the difference between Novo Holdings and Novo Nordisk, and will it impact a $16 billion acquisition of Catalent? And what lies ahead for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the Make America Healthy Again movement?

Elaine, Allison, and Adam chat about investors' interest in using CAR-T to treat autoimmune conditions, the latest developments with the supply of Eli Lilly’s blockbuster weight loss drug, and the invisible medical groups behind the dozens of telehealth platforms providing GLP-1 drugs. They also look back at STAT's two-day summit that brought together biopharma executives, scientists, policymakers and patient advocates for conversations about the future of health care.

First, biotech veteran John Maraganore calls in to discuss his new startup, City Therapeutics, this week's Nobel Prize awards, and the nerdy accolade he just received. Then STAT's Megan Molteni tells us about "CRISPR baby" scientist He Jiankui and his new cryptocurrency financier.

Our colleague Mohana Ravindranath joins us to talk about Micky Tripathi, charged with coordinating how AI is used across different government agencies and more broadly across the health care industry. We also chat about some important biotech study readouts due before the end of the year, a new, well-funded obesity company, and the successful serial CEO running it. Finally, Adam and Allison lament the fact that Elaine hasn't yet watched the first episode of this season's "Great British Baking Show."

We’re excited to share the first episode in a new podcast series on generic drugs from Tradeoffs. It’s called ‘Race to the Bottom,’ and each week the show examines the problems undermining the generic drugs we all rely on — and how we could fix them. Take a listen, and we’ll see you next week.

Our colleague Jonathan Wosen joins us to discuss the recent setbacks and wins in oncology R&D, including Genentech's decision to shut down its cancer immunology group, and the global ambitions of Akeso, the Chinese biotech behind Summit Therapeutics’ recent positive results. We also chat about the latest news in the life sciences, including Pfizer’s sudden announcement to pull its sickle cell drug and the imminent approval of Bristol Myers Squibb’s schizophrenia treatment.

Mizuho analyst Jared Holz joins us to discuss what the Federal Reserve's long-awaited decision to lower interest rates means for biotech stocks and startups. Elaine, Adam, and Allison also discuss the latest news in life sciences, including the use of cannabinoid receptor drugs in weight loss and the Lasker Awards, a.k.a. "America's Nobel."