Ep. 94 - Frazier's James Li on China’s Rapidly Evolving Biotech Deal Landscape
The frenzy among Western companies to access China’s biotechnology innovation is remaking the landscape for cross-border dealmaking, with assets becoming more expensive and partnerships earlier and broader than ever before. That’s being driven by exceptional capital efficiency, access to patients and speed of development, said Frazier Life Sciences’ James Li on The BioCentury Show podcast.Among multinational companies, “every company has an army on the ground hunting for assets,” said Li, who has more than 30 years of biotech experience, as an investor, company builder and executive at an MNC and a biotech.View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/article/657156#ChinaBiotech #Biopharma #CrossBorderDeals #LifeSciences #DrugDevelopment #HealthcareInnovation #BiotechInvesting00:00 - Introduction 02:18 - Evolution of an Ecosystem 04:31 - NewCo Deals 10:30 - Japan, Korea 15:30 - Dealmaking
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Ep. 93 – BIO’s Fritz Bittenbender on Trump 2.0, MFN Threats & Pharma’s Concessions
President Donald Trump’s demands for “most favored nation” drug pricing presents the biopharma industry with an immense public policy challenge. Drug companies are convinced that meeting the president’s demand to reduce U.S. prices to levels below those of other industrialized countries would decimate the industry. On this episode of The BioCentury Show, Fritz Bittenbender, SVP of Roche's Genentech unit and chairman of BIO, discusses the industry’s responses to the MFN challenge, and some of the under-appreciated nuances of policy options. He notes that reducing or eliminating payments to PBMs would lead to higher insurance premiums. While drug companies are scrambling to meet Trump’s Sept. 29 deadline to make voluntary pricing concessions, Bittenbender says a more comprehensive deal should be made that reduces out-of-pocket costs, preserves patient access and supports biomedical innovation. The interview touches on other hot button public policy issues, presenting the biotech industry’s views on reforming the Medicare drug pricing negotiation program, tariffs, and prospects for reviving the Biosecure Act.View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/article/657021#DrugPricing #HealthPolicy #MFN #BIO #DrugPolicy #MedicarePartD #MedicarePartB #PBMs #Tariffs #InnovationVsAccess00:00 - Introduction00:48 - MFN Drug Pricing11:06 - Tariffs18:27 - China Policy23:58 - Vaccines27:03 - IRA
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Ep. 92 - Reimagining FDA: Steve Usdin on Designing the Drug Regulator of the Future
If you could redesign FDA from the ground up, what would it look like? That’s the fundamental question underlying the 2025 BioCentury Back to School essay, authored by BioCentury Washington Editor Steve Usdin, who has been a leading voice on regulation and policy for over two decades. The topic is especially meaningful in this era of FDA turmoil, when regulatory risk has piled on top of the market pullback, making biotech appear an unusually hazardous domain for investors. But while the current landscape has underscored the need, FDA reform has been on the table long before this administration came into power. On this edition of The BioCentury Show, Usdin and Editor in Chief Simone Fishburn discuss the key arguments, and some specific concepts, within Back To School, which reimagines the U.S. drugs regulator.View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/article/656928#FDA #DrugRegulation #Biopharma #LifeSciences #Biotech #PublicTrust00:00 - Introduction02:38 - Restructuring FDA18:04 - A Learning Regulatory Agency27:48 - Global View31:04 - Talent32:54 - User Fees
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Ep. 91 – Annalisa Jenkins: How MHRA’s Reset Could Revive U.K. Biotech
A new head at MHRA, a streamlined government life sciences strategy, and a more sophisticated innovation ecosystem have Annalisa Jenkins optimistic about the future of U.K. biotech — and its potential to carve out a stronger global role.On The BioCentury Show, Annalisa Jenkins, chair of Gemma Biotherapeutics, discussed the evolving landscape of biotech in the U.K. and the critical hurdles it faces as it implements the latest strategy. Jenkins, who was president and CEO of Dimension Therapeutics, is a committee member on the Science Board to FDA, a board member of Genomics England and Faster Cures, and chair of the court at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/article/656787#UKBiotech #MHRA #BiotechStrategy #GrowthCapital #RegulatoryScience #TalentAttraction00:00 - Introduction02:52 - State of U.K. Biotech13:15 - Improving U.K.’s Path to Clinic18:50 - What’s Next for MHRA24:53 - Changes at FDA29:58 - Working with China
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Popular Episode - Vertex’s Winning Formula: Altshuler on Choosing the Next Breakthroughs
This is a previously recorded episode of The BioCentury Show from March 19, 2025. Subscribe to this channel to listen to each new episode. Visit TheBioCenturyYouTube.com to access and watch all prior episodes.Vertex’s approach to research, defined over a decade ago to beat the dismal odds of success in biotech, remains core to its strategy, even as the industry evolves and technologies expand. While that strategy, which EVP and CSO David Altshuler calls “serial innovation,” has seen the company launch eight drugs since 2011 and jump market cap tiers on the success of its cystic fibrosis portfolio, it’s now being tested in other areas as Vertex expands to pain, renal disease, Type I diabetes, and more. In conversation with Editor in Chief Simone Fishburn on The BioCentury Show, Altshuler discussed the rising interest in causal biology and the role of AI, noting that the fundamentals of picking targets and programs have not changed.View full story: https://www.biocentury.com/article/655408#biotech #biopharma #pharma #lifescience#RandD #DrugDevelopment #AI00:00 - Introduction02:17 - Causal Biology08:54 - AI in R&D, at Vertex16:42 - Academia-Industry Interface22:08 - Cell Therapy for Diabetes25:44 - Gene Therapy for DMD
Tune in to BioCentury’s in-depth conversations with global leaders who are advancing the future of medicine.Join our Senior Editors in face-to-face discussions with scientific KOLs, top executives, VCs, and key policymakers, dissecting the most urgent public health issues.The BioCentury Show is THE only place where BioCentury’s experts join top innovators and global influencers to show how science is being turned into medicine.Don't miss this event, every two weeks, now available as a video webcast or audio podcast.
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