Live from Boston: How pharma thinks about China

The results of the midterm elections could swing control of Congress — with a range of potential impacts for biopharma, from the US posture towards China to drug pricing. After the results are called, we’ll be live with regular guest and DC politics and policy expert Nick Shipley talking about what the vote means for the biotech and pharma industry.Stay ahead of biopharma. Get the Main Edition in your inbox M-F at 11:30 AM ET. Sign up: https://shorturl.at/OBB3D

Anthropic announced this week that it had acquired Mithril Medicine, a one-person biotech. It’s an early test of the idea that, with heavy use of AI and contracts with external labs, a biotech could run without much (or any) human guidance. We’ll talk about how one- and no- employee companies are getting built and what they mean for the future of biopharma.Stay ahead of biopharma. Get the Main Edition in your inbox M-F at 11:30 AM ET. Sign up: https://shorturl.at/OBB3D

For weeks, biotech and pharma have been waiting for the Treasury Department’s proposed rule on the COINS Act and how it would affect the industry. Thursday’s announcement was a surprise: a broad set of drug technologies made the list of prohibited China investments by US entities. Will the rule kill off the US drug industry’s partnering with China biotech, which has led to scores of deals in 2025 and 2026? It’s certain to set off a rush of lobbying as industry tries to influence the rule. On today’s show we’ll get into what we know, what we don’t, and what’s still to be decided. Stay ahead of biopharma. Get the Main Edition in your inbox M-F at 11:30 AM ET. Sign up: https://shorturl.at/OBB3D

There isn't a lawmaker on Capitol Hill who's publicly taken a more conservative stance to biopharma's deal spree in China than Rep. John Moolenaar (R-MI), chairman of the House Select Committee on China. He's been the architect of recent legislative proposals that'd clamp down on deals there and also what data regulators can review. So how did this issue rise to his attention? And how committed is he to pressing the issue? Live from Endpoints’ ⁠China Biotech Debate: Washington, DC⁠ ⁠on September 15, 2026.

What do you do when you announce a drug program, then turn around and find out that there are a dozen competitors in China working on the same idea? For many US biotechs, the answer has been to hide their work as long as possible, limiting what they share with the outside world in the hope that it will keep new competitors from emerging (and passing them by). It's a tactic that's been adopted broadly in US biotech, and has led to calls for changes to the patent system. But is it a long-term solution or a short-term fix? And what are the unintended consequences of an R&D and intellectual property system that's less transparent? Live from Endpoints’ ⁠China Biotech Debate: Washington, DC⁠ ⁠on September 15, 2026.

Huge genetic databases. Drug ingredient supply chains. A next pandemic. War with Taiwan. Economic competition. A huge number of topics and scenarios get lumped into the "China biosecurity" conversation — some present and real, some far-fetched and far-off. So what are we really talking about when we talk about China and bio-risk? What deserves the attention and policy action? Which ones are fear-mongering? Live from Endpoints’ ⁠China Biotech Debate: Washington, DC⁠ ⁠on September 15, 2026.

If investment restrictions are the potential consequences to a drug industry that's looked overseas for new assets and early trials, then what's the incentive to come back? The FDA is working to figure it out, and a new agency pilot program is meant to reinvigorate early human research in the US. But is it enough? And is the FDA moving with the urgency that many in the industry say is required? Live from Endpoints’ China Biotech Debate: Washington, DC⁠ on September 15, 2026.

As large pharma companies increasingly turn to China to fill their pipelines, what long-term affect will it have on their strategy and operations? Pfizer's Andrew Baum shares the large drugmaker perspective on acquisitions, R&D, and how the industry could change in the years to come.Live from Endpoints’ China Biotech Debate: Boston on August 6, 2026.

Should investors embrace China’s fast-moving, fast-growing biotech sector, or should there be barriers to protect and preserve an industry that the US has dominated for decades? Ginkgo Bioworks CEO Jason Kelly, RA Capital Management's Peter Kolchinsky, and MIT professor Fiona Murray debate all sides of the flashpoint issue.Live from Endpoints’ China Biotech Debate: Boston on August 6, 2026.

In a world where promising drugs are quickly copied, improved on and raced into trials, is science still a differentiator? Strand Therapeutics CEO Jake Becraft and Roivant Sciences CEO Matt Gline discussed what actually counts as innovation, and if where the innovation happens matters for how the industry brings programs to patients. Live from Endpoints’ China Biotech Debate: Boston on August 6, 2026.