BioCentury This Week

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

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Biotech has been resilient as the financial markets teeter under global volatility. For now, M&A and financings, if not IPOs, are continuing, but will the Mideast conflict halt biotech’s recovery? On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s Stephen Hansen breaks down the near-term and long-term outlook for a biotech industry hoping to continue the growth of 2H25.
BioCentury’s analysts also discuss the impact of the Trump administration’s tariffs on the biopharma industry and last week’s biggest deals: the pending $6.3 billion takeout of Centessa  by Eli Lilly and the proposed $5.6 billion acquisition of Apellis by Biogen.

IQVIA Biotech sponsored this episode of the podcast. Register now as a delegate or apply to join the 2026 Presenting Company Class before the 26th Bio€quity Europe May 4-6 in Prague sells out.

View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/article/659040

#BiotechMarkets #BiotechMA #GlobalVolatility #DrugPricingPolicy #BiopharmaStrategy

00:01 - Sponsor Message: IQVIA Biotech
05:09 - 2Q26 Preview
17:09 - Pharma Tariffs
24:04 - C-Path Initiative
26:32 - Lilly Deal
32:19 - Biogen Deal

To submit a question to BioCentury’s editors, email the BioCentury This Week team at [email protected].
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Biotech innovators around the world are finding speed to be the driver for investment and partnering — speed to early human data and speed to de-risk assets. The new momentum from Asia, in particular China, has added a fresh challenge for European biotech on top of falling equity and R&D investment in Europe and a complex drug pricing landscape. On a special edition of the BioCentury This Week podcast on the eve of the 26th Bio€quity Europe conference, EQT Life Sciences' Christoph Broja and Prague Bio CEO Petra Kinzlová join BioCentury’s analysts to discuss the challenges faced by European biotech today and what the best strategy is to compete in this new era.

Kinzlová also describes a growing biotech ecosystem in the Czech Republic, which will host Bio€quity Europe May 4-6.

View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/article/659002

#EuropeanBiotech #ClinicalDevelopmentSpeed #ChinaBiotech #DrugPricing #BiotechInvestment

01:10 - Bio€quity Europe Preview
04:32 - Czech Innovation Hubs
09:52 - Pricing, Trials, Funding
13:07 - Fixing Trial Bottlenecks
17:49 - Pension Capital and Risk

To submit a question to BioCentury’s editors, email the BioCentury This Week team at [email protected].
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A flurry of deals, several with sizable upfront payments, has energized the biotech sector in March. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s Paul Bonanos assesses last week’s deals by Merck, which is laying out $6.7 billion to acquire Terns, and Gilead, which is buying Ouro for about $1.7 billion up front.
Gilead’s deal comes as the Foster City, Calif.-based biotech is looking to defend its position in HIV while resetting in inflammation and immunology and growing its oncology footprint through business development. BioCentury’s Lauren Martz analyzes the company’s pipeline following her recent conversation with CMO Dietmar Berger.
Turning to the U.K., Editor in Chief Simone Fishburn details her conversation with CEO of MHRA, Lawrence Tallon, regarding what new reforms in the U.K. mean for drug developers and how he views initiatives helping to build the sector and place the U.K. in the race to become a destination for clinical trials.

Rates for the 26th Bio€quity Europe May 4-6 in Prague increase after this week. Register now as a delegate or apply to join the 2026 Presenting Company Class before the conference sells out.

View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/article/658974

#BiotechMA #BiopharmaStrategy #DrugDevelopment #UKBiotech #ClinicalTrials

00:00 - Introduction
01:09 - Merck Buying Terns
04:31 - Gilead, Galapagos Deal
09:35 - Growing Gilead
19:20 - Tallon's Vision for U.K. Biotech

To submit a question to BioCentury’s editors, email the BioCentury This Week team at [email protected].
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After 20 years of platform building and resets, Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals is making a bid to become a large-cap biotech. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s analysts discuss how the company has built a pipeline and set of enabling technologies that could enable a steep period of value creation based on RNAi.
The team then analyzes the $2 billion deal between Synnovation and Novartis for a pan-mutant-selective PI3Kα inhibitor. The analysts also assess where AI is integrating into the biotech venture funnel and provide insights into ultra-rare disease advocacy, FDA’s search for a successor to CBER Director Vinay Prasad, and the Trump administration’s most-favored nation (MFN) drug pricing policy.

View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/article/658892

#RNAiTherapeutics #BiotechMA #PI3KAlpha #AIDrugDiscovery #DrugPricingPolicy

00:00 - Introduction
01:14 - Bio€quity Europe
05:33 - Arrowhead
16:49 - Synnovation Novartis
20:00 - AI in Biotech Venture
27:07 - Rare Disease Advocacy
31:22 - MFN Pricing Policy

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