BioCentury This Week

UCB is the latest biopharma player to consummate a multibillion-dollar deal amid a surge in biotech M&A activity, acquiring Ken Song’s Candid Therapeutics, a company that emerged via the “NewCo” model to become one of the leading T cell engager companies. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s analysts discuss the $2 billion takeout and the opportunity in the TCE space.
BioCentury’s analysts also assess the drug development landscape for leukodystrophies, where more than two dozen biotechs are now matching therapeutic modalities to the genes, pathways and cell types driving distinct forms of white matter disease.
Plus, IPOs on NASDAQ by a trio of biotechs exceeded expectations this week, lifting hopes that the window for new listings is broadening and overall risk in the sector is on the wane.
Looking ahead to June, the analysts also preview the third BioCentury Grand Rounds U.S. conference, a translational research-focused meeting that brings together investors, pharma leaders, emerging biotechs, and academics to discuss opportunities and bottlenecks in disease biology discovery, therapeutic modality design, and enabling technology engineering. This episode of the BioCentury This Week podcast was brought to you by Jeito Capital.

View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/article/659365

#BiotechMA #TCellEngagers #Leukodystrophy #BiotechIPO #TranslationalScience

00:01 - Sponsor Message: Jeito Capital
02:19 - Grand Rounds Seattle
12:47 - UCB’s Candid Buy
20:27 - Leukodystrophies Pipeline
27:22 - Biotech IPOs

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More than 175 new oncology targets surfaced at this year’s American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting in San Diego, with the focus on new ways to enhance the immune response against solid tumors and to make existing immunotherapies more effective. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s analysts assess the new targets identified among the thousands of abstracts at AACR, as well as emerging pan-RAS inhibiting antibody-drug conjugates.
The analysts also discuss Eli Lilly's latest deal — for a JAK-2 inhibitor from Ajax — and what the current pace of M&A and partnerships says about the state of biopharma dealmaking. This episode also features Kurma Partners’ new venture fund and the latest in BioCentury’s Emerging Company Profile series, spotlighting U.K.-based rheumatoid arthritis company Elevara Medicines. This episode of the BioCentury This Week podcast was brought to you by IQVIA Biotech.

View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/article/659298

#AACR #OncologyTargets #Immunotherapy #BiotechMA #ADC

00:01 - Sponsor Message: IQVIA Biotech
02:50 - AACR: New Targets
11:08 - AACR: Pan-RAS Inhibitor ADCs
15:35 - Biopharma Deals
23:53 - Kurma's New Venture Fund
27:28 - Emerging Company Profile: Elevara

To submit a question to BioCentury’s editors, email the BioCentury This Week team at [email protected].
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Bispecific antibodies and dual-payload antibody-drug conjugates were in the spotlight at this year’s American Association for Cancer Research meeting in San Diego as biotechs unveiled their latest preclinical and first-in-human oncology data. On a special edition of the BioCentury This Week podcast, IQVIA Biotech CMO James Kyle Bryan joins BioCentury’s analysts to discuss what AACR revealed about modalities gaining traction, plus shares his perspective on de-risking clinical development and eliminating the “white space” that delays biotechs’ timelines in the clinic. This episode of the BioCentury This Week podcast was brought to you by IQVIA Biotech.

View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/article/659235

#AACR #BispecificAntibodies #ADC #OncologyData #ClinicalDevelopment 

00:01 - Sponsor Message: IQVIA Biotech
01:43 – AACR Early Signals
05:17 – Antibody Innovation
09:22 – Dual Payload ADCs
13:48 – De-Risking Drug Development
19:16 – Looking Ahead to ASCO

To submit a question to BioCentury’s editors, email the BioCentury This Week team at [email protected].
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The past week has delivered the largest M&A deal ever for a private, venture-backed biopharma, the second-largest follow-on ever for a NASDAQ-traded biotech and what could soon become the largest biotech IPO ever on NASDAQ. On the latest BioCentury This Week, BioCentury’s analysts discuss Eli Lilly's $3.25 billion takeout of in vivo CAR T company Kelonia, the market debut by obesity play Kailera and an upsized follow-on by Revolution on the back of its pancreatic cancer data.
The analysts also discuss how autoimmune T cell engagers are diverging from their oncology roots and the potential implications of President Donald Trump’s executive order on psychedelic therapies. BioCentury’s analysts also take time to remember Sofinnova Partners’ Denis Lucquin, father of French biotech. This episode of the BioCentury This Week podcast was brought to you by IQVIA Biotech.

View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/article/659183

#BiotechMA #BiotechIPO #CART #TCellEngagers #PsychedelicMedicine

00:01 - Sponsor Message: IQVIA Biotech
04:20 - Lilly's Kelonia Buy
10:31 - T Cell Engagers
23:07 - Psychedelics Executive Order
35:14 - CBER Director Search
37:37 - Public Markets Roundup
42:14 - Remembering Denis Lucquin

To submit a question to BioCentury’s editors, email the BioCentury This Week team at [email protected].
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A pathway proposed by FDA to cut the time it takes biopharma companies to get to first-in-human trials is more ambitious than similar policies in Australia, China and the U.K. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s analysts assess the proposal, as well as a concession for the biopharma industry on first-in-human studies in PDUFA reauthorization negotiations with FDA.
The analysts also discuss the latest pair of billion-dollar biotech deals: Gilead's $3.2 billion takeout of antibody-drug conjugate company Tubulis and the acquisition of Soleno by Neurocrine for $2.9 billion for its Prader-Willi asset. Finally, BioCentury’s analysts discuss the new $6.3 billion Blackstone Life Sciences fund and the €1 billion vehicle unveiled last week by European VC Jeito Capital. This episode of the BioCentury This Week podcast was brought to you by IQVIA Biotech.

View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/article/659127

#FDA #FirstInHuman #BiotechMergers #BiotechInvesting #LifeSciencesVC

00:01 - Sponsor Message: IQVIA Biotech
03:24 - FDA First-in-Human
11:44 - America First PDUFA Policy
17:43 - Gilead Buying Tubulis
23:41 - Blackstone's New Fund
28:37 - Jeito Capital
30:44 - Parker Institute

To submit a question to BioCentury’s editors, email the BioCentury This Week team at [email protected].
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