BioPharm Executive

Nearly 100 biotechs went public amid the industry’s IPO frenzy in 2021, driven by an influx of pandemic-driven investments. But many of those companies have little to show investors.

After advancing in lockstep through the pandemic, the fortunes of the biotechs have diverged as their use of COVID-19 windfalls has taken shape.

Opening up about drug pricing decisions is not optional for biopharma anymore. For the sake of credibility, companies should embrace it.

With the biopharma industry performing better of late, analysts, executives and other industry watchers are “cautiously optimistic”—a term heard all over the streets of San Francisco at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference earlier this month.

Attendance at the Biotech CEO Sisterhood’s annual photo of women leaders and allies in Union Square doubled this year. There’s still more work to do.

As drug candidates discovered via AI move into later-stage clinical trials, the technology seems to be doing as promised: speeding drug development.

Biohaven has suffered a few setbacks in recent months, including an FDA rejection and a missed $150 million benchmark payment, but CEO Vlad Coric looked for the brighter side at JPM, specifically emphasizing a serendipitous discovery that could get the company in the obesity game.

Henry Gosebruch, who has $3.5 billion in capital to deploy, is thinking broad as he steers the decades-old biotech out of years of turmoil. 

Speaking on the sidelines of the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, Novo business development executive Tamara Darsow said the company is gunning for obesity and diabetes assets.

Pharmas will need to provide their latest stance on the Most Favored Nation drug pricing plans, while biotech finally gets a break after a few tough years.