Why is old exon science getting new traction? What’s unsettling biotech VCs? And who will be the next CEO of PhRMA?<br><br>Adam is out, so Elaine and Allison dive into the latest news, including how China and artificial intelligence are straining biotech VC firms, in addition to more M&amp;A. They also discuss how a cancelled Food and Drug Administration meeting led to a biotech’s demise. Plus, there’s new hope for an old theory on treating Duchenne muscular dystrophy. STAT reporter Jason Mast details the clinical testing underway.

396: A new trick for old science, and biotech VCs' scrambled playbook

The Readout Loud

Welcome to this week's episode of The Readout Loud, a weekly biotech podcast from STAT. I'm Allison DeAngelis. I'm Elaine Chen. Adam Forrestine is out this week. It's Thursday, April 9th. And this week, we're going to talk about a new hope for an old theory on treating Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Jason Mass joins us to detail the clinical testing underway. But first, a word from our sponsor and a recap of this week's news.

All right, Elaine, it is just us ladies this week. We kicked out Adam. He has vacated the premises, and we are taking over the podcast. It's so refreshing.

It really is. We will have Jason Mass on the podcast to bring a little, you know, male energy. But for right now, how you doing? I'm good. It's always nice with Adam. I'm kidding. I feel like I'm sounding good, but I should put out an disclaimer or disclaimer to listeners that I do have a little bit of a cold. So if my voice sounds atrocious, don't let me know. I don't want to hear it.

Elaine, should we kick off the news? Yeah, so the MNA streak that we've been seeing the past few weeks, it has continued. This week, Gilead Sciences said that it's going to spend more than $3 billion to buy the German biotech Tubulus. It's Gilead's attempt to boost its oncology pipeline. Tubulus specializes in antibody drug conjugates, and it has an ovarian cancer and non-small cell lung cancer treatment in early clinical testing.

Gilead's move also comes just a few months after it said it would acquire Arcelix in a deal worth $7.8 billion. Those two companies had already been working together on a multiple myeloma CAR-T therapy that could be approved later this year.

396: A new trick for old science, and biotech VCs' scrambled playbook

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.

396: A new trick for old science, and biotech VCs' scrambled playbook

Read the full transcript

The candid version is on a podcast, not the earnings call.

The candid version is on a podcast,
not the earnings call.