The Readout Loud podcast

42:34

We chat about positive data from Immunovant's autoimmune drug candidate, a patient death linked to Sarepta's gene therapy, and dispatches from our STAT Breakthrough Summit East in New York. We also bring on Zealand Pharma CEO Adam Steensberg to talk about his company’s amylin-targeting obesity treatment, the partnership deal it recently signed with Roche, and his thoughts on the industry's intense focus on weight loss.…

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345: The sudden withdrawal of a CDC nominee and what went wrong with Covid policies 31:00

12 days ago31:00

31:00

We bring on our colleague Sarah Owermohle to discuss the White House's sudden move to withdraw the nomination of Dave Weldon as its pick to run the CDC just hours before Weldon's confirmation hearing. It's also the five-year anniversary of the Covid-19 pandemic. We chat with Princeton political scientist Frances Lee about a new book she co-authored that offers an unflinching assessment of the U.S. policy responses to the pandemic and raises some provocative questions about what went wrong.…

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344: Trump's FDA commissioner nominee takes the hot seat 25:51

19 days ago25:51

25:51

Will Marty Makary be confirmed as the next commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration? Will he bring back employees laid off by DOGE? And what did he get wrong during his confirmation hearing? We discuss all that and more during this week's special episode.

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343: Turbulence at the FDA, Bluebird Bio's sale and young biotech VCs 32:01

26 days ago32:01

32:01

It’s a STAT reporter two-fer guest episode. First, Lizzy Lawrence joins from D.C. to dish on the upheaval and drama taking place at the FDA. Then, we chat with Jason Mast about Bluebird Bio, its fire sale to private equity and what lies ahead for the unsettled world of genetic medicines. Before those discussions, Allison provides some insight into the “new kids” on the biotech VC block.…

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342: FDA cuts, zombie biotechs, and too much weight loss? 41:00

5 weeks ago41:00

41:00

Mizuho analyst Jared Holz joins to discuss Adam's column on biotech's dark period. We also talk about Elaine's latest article on the push for greater and greater weight loss from obesity drugs, along with developments at Solid Biosciences and federal job cuts.

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341: NIH funding cuts, a U.S. brain drain, and bold claims from AI drug developers 26:39

6 weeks ago26:39

26:39

We bring on biotech reporter Jonathan Wosen to discuss the NIH's decision to dramatically cut funding for overhead costs paid to research institutions and the potential implications for U.S. biomedical innovation. We also chat with health tech reporter Brittany Trang about the claims that two drug developers, Absci and Generate:Biomedicines, have made about the capabilities of their artificial intelligence technologies, and why some experts are skeptical.…

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340: Crisis in CRISPR world, RFK Jr.'s promises, and a novel non-opioid pain drug 34:45

7 weeks ago34:45

34:45

We bring on our colleague Jason Mast to discuss the dramatic downturn in the once-swaggering field of CRISPR gene editing. We also talk about the advancement of RFK Jr.'s nomination to be HHS secretary, the latest pharma earnings, and the approval of a non-opioid pain drug from Vertex Pharmaceuticals.…

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339: RFK Jr.'s confirmation hearings, MASH drugs, and a controversial obesity ad 34:29

8 weeks ago34:29

34:29

Our colleague Rachel Cohrs Zhang joins us to break down RFK Jr.’s confirmation hearings, including some contentious questions about vaccines and autism from Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). But first, we chat about Akero Therapeutics and the results reported this week from a study of its experimental drug that showed, for the first time, reversal of cirrhosis in patients with severe MASH. We critique that Hims & Hers commercial. And lastly, we talk about a new fund from biotech VC Curie.Bio and the money it’s invested in a still-stealthy gene therapy company trying to tackle ALS.…

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338: Chinese biotechs, a WHO departure, and post-JPM thoughts 33:09

9 weeks ago33:09

33:09

We go over our closing thoughts from the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, including the chatter around Chinese drugs and a surprise run-in with a past cohost. Then, STAT's infectious disease reporter Helen Branswell joins us to explain the implications of Trump's decision to pull the U.S. out of the WHO.…

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337: Eli Lilly CEO on Trump, obesity drugs, and a guidance miss 58:47

10 weeks ago58:47

58:47

We're live at the J.P Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco! We bring on Eli Lilly CEO Dave Ricks for a wide-ranging conversation about his views on the incoming Trump administration, the effects of Medicare's drug price negotiation, Lilly's recent disappointing guidance, pricing of the company's obesity medication Zepbound, and more. We also discuss the latest news from the J.P. Morgan conference, including M&A deals, licensing of drugs from China, and the broader sentiment in the industry.…

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336: Pharma's big patent cliff, more obesity fundraising, and a failed ALS study 33:21

11 weeks ago33:21

33:21

We chat about how pharmaceutical companies are navigating a looming patent cliff. We also talk about yet another obesity startup and a failed study from Google’s secretive anti-aging company Calico.

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335: A deep dive on Makary, Vertex's pain data, & 2025 predictions 33:43

14 weeks ago33:43

33:43

STAT's FDA reporter Lizzy Lawrence joins us to discuss her profile of Marty Makary, Trump's nominee for FDA commissioner. Then, we discuss the results of Vertex's latest pain drug trial, the medication launches to watch in 2025, and present our burning questions for the biopharma industry.

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334: Pharma silence on RFK Jr. & parents trying to develop gene therapies for their children 34:30

15 weeks ago34:30

34:30

Washington correspondent John Wilkerson joins to discuss why drugmakers have not lobbied against Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s nomination to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, despite his repeated criticisms of the pharmaceutical industry. We also bring on our colleague Jason Mast to talk about the major hurdles in the field of gene therapy and how one father is trying to overcome them.…

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333: An H5N1 bird flu update and talent scarcity in the radiopharma field 27:55

16 weeks ago27:55

27:55

You might not be paying attention, or maybe you just hope it goes away. We’re referring to the serious bird flu outbreak that started a bit more than eight months ago. Well, bird flu is still here and the number of reported cases in people is growing. STAT’s infectious disease reporter Helen Branswell joins us for an update. But first, we break down the results from a GLP-1 showdown study that compared Eli Lilly’s Zepbound to Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy. Allison shares her recent reporting on a talent shortage that is posing new challenges to the fast-growing radiopharmaceutical industry.…

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332: Pfizer's new R&D head, a VC deep-dive, and a new FDA commissioner? 35:08

18 weeks ago35:08