Ep. 307 - How Cancer Regulation is — and isn’t — Changing at FDA

Grand Rounds heads to Europe: first meeting Sept. 17 in Cambridge, U.K.There are many reasons why it may be the European biomedical ecosystem’s moment to shine, and advances at the academia-industry interface are a core part of that story, particularly in Cambridge, U.K. — the site of the inaugural BioCentury Grand Rounds – Europe conference.On a special edition of the BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s analysts are joined by four leaders in the Cambridge, U.K., life sciences community to preview the Sept. 17-19 meeting: Kathryn Chapman, executive director of Innovate Cambridge; Anne Horgan, partner, Cambridge Innovation Capital (CIC); Sally Mardikian, business development director, Astrazeneca plc (LSE:AZN; NASDAQ:AZN); and Kristin-Anne Rutter, executive director of Cambridge University Health Partners (CUHP).The BioCentury team and its Cambridge counterparts discuss the conference’s themes and how they relate to the region’s strengths, and offer both some tough love and a warm invitation to early-stage innovators looking for science-forward investors and partners.View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/article/656373#biotech #biopharma #pharma #lifescience #Discovery #Translation #BioCenturyGrandRoundsEuropeReach us by sending a text

Oncology regulation has been less affected by recent changes in FDA leadership than other parts of the agency. On a special sponsored edition of the BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s analysts assess what has and hasn’t changed at FDA when it come to regulating cancer therapeutics. Special Guest Liz O’Brien joins BioCentury’s analysts to discuss how biotechs can navigate FDA’s Project Optimus and EMA’s Joint Clinical Assessment as well as the differences between the two agencies. O’Brien is a former EMA regulator who is now therapeutic expert, oncology and women’s health, drug development solutions at BioCentury This Week sponsor ICON Biotech. View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/article/656371#biotech #biopharma #pharma #lifescience #FDA #cancer #CAR_T00:01 - Sponsor Message: ICON Biotech02:30 - FDA Cancer Regulations07:48 - Project Optimus25:12 - CAR T REMS RemovalTo submit a question to BioCentury’s editors, email the BioCentury This Week team at [email protected] us by sending a text

Treg-based cell therapies are nearing a clinical proof-of-concept inflection point, but in an environment that has dramatically shifted with the advent of CAR T therapies for autoimmune diseases. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s analysts discuss what these cell therapies need to show to be relevant in the fast-changing I&I world, and which types of indications may best suit the cells’ unique profile.The team also explores the biotech sector’s ongoing struggle to capture the interest of generalist investors, and what the next major theme might be to draw them back.The analysts then break down the key provisions in the recently passed U.S. reconciliation tax bill, highlighting the positive and negative developments, as well as the missed opportunities for the industry. This episode of BioCentury This Week was sponsored by IQVIA Biotech. View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/article/656376#biotech #biopharma #pharma #lifescience #CellTherapy #TregTherapy #CAR_T00:01 - Sponsor Message: IQVIA Biotech01:19 - Treg Inflection Point10:57 - Biotech's Next Big Story22:36 - Tax Bill ConsequencesTo submit a question to BioCentury’s editors, email the BioCentury This Week team at [email protected] us by sending a text

The Trump administration’s overhaul of FDA is still underway, but the agency has already veered away from its decades-long trajectory in ways that will profoundly reshape medical product development and the lives of U.S. patients. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s analysts assess who the winners and losers are likely to be as FDA changes shape.The analysts discuss a pair of in vivo CAR T companies: Esobiotec, whose story offers a case study in product-focused strategy, and Capstan Therapeutics, whose in vivo CAR T platform for immunological disorders attracted a buyer in Abbvie. The team also analyzes why data from Compass Pathways for psilocybin therapy COMP360 disappointed investors despite hitting the endpoint, and how molecular glues could be the future of selective CDK2 targeting. This episode of BioCentury This Week was sponsored by ICON Biotech.View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/article/656341#biotech #biopharma #pharma #lifescience #RandD #drugapproval00:01 - Sponsor Message: ICON Biotech02:26 - BioCentury Grand Rounds Europe05:02 - FDA's Future15:03 - Psychedelics22:53 - Esobiotech's Fast Exit31:37 - Molecular Glues and CDK234:43 - Abbvie's Capstan BuyTo submit a question to BioCentury’s editors, email the BioCentury This Week team at [email protected] us by sending a text

Publicly traded U.K. investment firm and company builder Syncona is restructuring its fund amid ongoing market challenges in the biopharma industry. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s analysts discuss how the firm will steer its portfolio toward returns for shareholders, while aiming to build a new fund away from public markets. The analysts then assess Eli Lilly's takeout of cardiovascular base editing company Verve, and what Washington Editor Steve Usdin calls FDA’s new “two-track” future for evaluating new therapies for approval — those with clear-cut benefits and those with ambiguous efficacy safety and efficacy profiles — in light of the many departures of senior FDA staff. They also discuss NASDAQ’s largest biopharma IPO — by Caris —  in two years, the latest obesity readouts, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary’s priority pathway and Usdin’s Q&A with new BIO Chair Fritz Bittenbender. This episode of BioCentury This Week was sponsored by ICON Biotech.View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/article/656266#biotech #biopharma #pharma #lifescience #finance #CV #FDA00:01 - Sponsor Message: ICON Biotech02:14 - Syncona Restructures Fund10:08 - Lilly's $1B Verve Takeout21:45 - FDA's 2-Track FutureTo submit a question to BioCentury’s editors, email the BioCentury This Week team at [email protected] us by sending a text

The tragic death of a second non-ambulatory DMD patient treated with Sarepta's Elevidys gene therapy marks a turning point for the field and should drive all stakeholders to come together to figure out how to safely treat patients with this new modality. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s analysts discuss the opportunity FDA, companies and patient advocates have to share data and identify a safe path forward for the gene therapy field, both in DMD and beyond.The analysts also review promising early data for amylin agonists to treat obesity from Metsera and Eli Lilly, and discuss the vision for FDA’s future laid out by Commissioner Marty Makary and CBER director Vinay Prasad. This episode of BioCentury This Week was sponsored by ICON Biotech.View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/article/656214#biotech #biopharma #pharma #lifescience #obesity #FDA #DMD00:01 - Sponsor Message: ICON Biotech01:19 - Gene Therapy Safety11:55 - Amylin in Obesity18:17 - FDA's FutureTo submit a question to BioCentury’s editors, email the BioCentury This Week team at [email protected] us by sending a text

With federal funding at risk and VCs increasingly focused on de-risked assets, academia is facing unprecedented headwinds despite rapid advancements in innovation. One potential bright spot: Pharma, which is turning to academia to access first-in-class innovation. But many in pharma complain it is difficult to work with academia.On a special Grand Rounds edition of the BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury analysts and special guests discuss a new way of thinking and a new era of collaboration between academia and industry.View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/article/656177#biotech #biopharma #pharma #lifescience #Discovery #Translation #BioCenturyGrandRounds00:00 - Introduction02:38 - Key Findings07:42 - Collaboration and Opportunities 25:52 - BioCentury Grand Rounds EuropeTo submit a question to BioCentury’s editors, email the BioCentury This Week team at [email protected] us by sending a text

Translational trends at this year’s ASCO meeting featured new and selective ways to target cell surface receptors on solid tumors. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s analysts discuss the findings from Executive Director of Biopharma Intelligence Lauren Martz’s deep dive into first-in-human studies at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting, including how immunocytokines, solid tumor CAR Ts and Chinese innovation are thriving in early trials.The analysts also examine the signs of strain and resilience in biotech’s crossover investors, as well as FDA’s plans for revamping rare disease regulation. This episode of BioCentury This Week was sponsored by ICON Biotech.View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/article/656139#biotech #biopharma #pharma #lifescience #RandD #DrugDevelopment00:01 - Sponsor Message: ICON Biotech02:11 - ASCO’s First-in-Human Trials12:46 - Crossover Investor Health Check22:54 - FDA's Rare Disease PlansTo submit a question to BioCentury’s editors, email the BioCentury This Week team at [email protected] us by sending a text

Dealmaking by a pair of pharmas has given the biotech industry its best day of transactions in months, tallying nearly $13 billion in guaranteed payments across two deals. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s analysts discuss how the takeout of Blueprint Medicines for $9.1 billion up front gives Sanofi a drug for a rare immunological disorder and bolsters the French pharma’s already strong presence in immunology. The analysts also assess the $3.5 billion partnership between BioNTech and Bristol Myers Squibb for an asset targeting cancer’s hottest target, PD-(L)1 x VEGF, and underwhelming data from the leading asset against the target, PD-1 x VEGF bispecific ivonescimab, from Summit and Akeso Inc. Those data coincided with the kick-off of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting in Chicago, where almost a dozen companies were presenting readouts for another hot target, CLDN18.2. Evopoint is among the companies; its program recently attracted Astellas as a partner. Meanwhile, the biopharma industry is racing to counter the White House’s most favored nation drug pricing strategy. BioCentury’s Washington analyst, Steve Usdin, explains the urgency and details some of industry’s options.View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/article/656097#biotech #biopharma #pharma #lifescience #deals00:00 - Introduction04:39 - Sanofi Buys Blueprint09:22 - BMS-BioNTech20:01 - Hot Targets23:40 - Drug PricingTo submit a question to BioCentury’s editors, email the BioCentury This Week team at [email protected] us by sending a text

Dutch biotech Merus’ EGFR x LGR5 bispecific antibody has caught investors’ attention in the run-up to ASCO as a new approach to block EGFR signaling. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s analysts discuss Phase II data from Merus for petosemtamab as they preview the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s upcoming annual meeting. The analysts also assess a setback in a gene therapy trial for Rocket Pharmaceuticals, renewed interest in cancer target EpCAM, and a flurry of biopharma activity on the Hong Kong stock exchange. Finally, the team previews BioCentury’s second annual Grand Rounds R&D meeting, which takes place next week in Chicago. This episode was sponsored by Jeito Capital.View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/article/656038#biotech #biopharma #pharma #lifescience #RandD #DrugDevelopment00:01 - Sponsor Message: Jeito Capital24:52 - HK IPOs07:12 - ASCO16:37 - EpCAM20:16 - RocketTo submit a question to BioCentury’s editors, email the BioCentury This Week team at [email protected] us by sending a text