The Readout Loud

How did Ireland become a hotspot for pharmaceutical manufacturing? What are the products that will come out of Flagship's latest startup centered around "preemptive medicine"? And who among the co-hosts is the best singer?

We discuss all that and more on this week’s episode of “The Readout LOUD,” STAT’s biotech podcast. We chat about the recent bounceback in biotech stocks, disappointing results from Bristol Myers Squibb's schizophrenia drug Cobenfy, new allegations about entrepreneur Sam Waksal, and more.

We also bring on STAT's European correspondent Drew Joseph to talk about the growth of pharma manufacturing in Ireland and how U.S. tariffs would impact global drug supply.

John Crowley, the CEO of industry lobbying group BIO, joins us to discuss the layoffs at the Food and Drug Administration, RFK Jr.'s comments on Novavax's Covid-19 vaccine, and how the trade group is communicating with the Trump administration. Then we discuss the latest news on the stock market and a congressional advisory group's recommendation that $15 billion be invested in U.S. biotechnology to ward off encroaching competition from China.

STAT’s FDA reporter Lizzy Lawrence joins to discuss her inside-the-agency reporting on how Robert F. Kennedy Jr. forced top FDA officials to resign at a time when newly sworn-in FDA Commissioner Makary is still figuring out how to get around the agency’s White Oak campus in suburban Maryland. Then: AstraZeneca presented positive mid-stage results this week on a PCSK9 pill that dramatically lowered cholesterol levels on top of traditional statins. R&D executive Sharon Barr joins to talk about why AstraZeneca views this experimental cardiovascular medicine as a key part of its growth strategy.

Adam, Elaine, and Allison discuss the Trump administration’s plan for huge job cuts and a restructuring of the country’s top health care agencies, the approval of the first drug to treat a devastating rare disease, and the bankruptcy of 23andMe. Then, they bring on the chief executive of startup Altis Labs to discuss new data from a study they conducted with AstraZeneca on an AI tool for cancer drug development.

We chat about positive data from Immunovant's autoimmune drug candidate, a patient death linked to Sarepta's gene therapy, and dispatches from our STAT Breakthrough Summit East in New York. We also bring on Zealand Pharma CEO Adam Steensberg to talk about his company’s amylin-targeting obesity treatment, the partnership deal it recently signed with Roche, and his thoughts on the industry's intense focus on weight loss.

We bring on our colleague Sarah Owermohle to discuss the White House's sudden move to withdraw the nomination of Dave Weldon as its pick to run the CDC just hours before Weldon's confirmation hearing. It's also the five-year anniversary of the Covid-19 pandemic. We chat with Princeton political scientist Frances Lee about a new book she co-authored that offers an unflinching assessment of the U.S. policy responses to the pandemic and raises some provocative questions about what went wrong.

Will Marty Makary be confirmed as the next commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration? Will he bring back employees laid off by DOGE? And what did he get wrong during his confirmation hearing? We discuss all that and more during this week's special episode.

It’s a STAT reporter two-fer guest episode. First, Lizzy Lawrence joins from D.C. to dish on the upheaval and drama taking place at the FDA. Then, we chat with Jason Mast about Bluebird Bio, its fire sale to private equity and what lies ahead for the unsettled world of genetic medicines. Before those discussions, Allison provides some insight into the “new kids” on the biotech VC block.

Mizuho analyst Jared Holz joins to discuss Adam's column on biotech's dark period. We also talk about Elaine's latest article on the push for greater and greater weight loss from obesity drugs, along with developments at Solid Biosciences and federal job cuts.

We bring on biotech reporter Jonathan Wosen to discuss the NIH's decision to dramatically cut funding for overhead costs paid to research institutions and the potential implications for U.S. biomedical innovation. We also chat with health tech reporter Brittany Trang about the claims that two drug developers, Absci and Generate:Biomedicines, have made about the capabilities of their artificial intelligence technologies, and why some experts are skeptical.