Government
In this episode of Denatured, as part of our series on the European life sciences investment ecosystem, you’ll be hearing from Ksenija Pavletic, partner and chief commercial officer at Jeito Capital and Thierry Laugel, managing partner at Kurma Partners. We dive into France’s biotech ecosystem and what still needs to happen for more early innovation to translate into investable, scalable biotech.
Under the temporary reign of top food executive Kyle Diamantas, the FDA will sustain programs initiated by former Commissioner Marty Makary, including the Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher initiative.
Strong science and early support are not enough on their own. Europe needs more capital depth, cross-border investor backing and a lighter policy framework to keep companies scaling at home, according to two venture capitalists.
In this episode of Denatured, as part of our series on the European life sciences investment ecosystem, you’ll be hearing from Regina Hodits, managing director at Angelini Ventures and Sofia Ioannidou, VC partner at Andera Life Sciences. They explore Germany’s biotech and life sciences ecosystem, including the science, infrastructure and policy changes needed to help European companies scale globally while staying rooted in Europe.
FDA veteran Richard Pazdur outlined his priorities for the next FDA commissioner but stopped short of putting himself forward as a candidate to lead the agency at an RBC Capital Markets event on Tuesday.
After less than three weeks on the job, Katherine Szarama is being replaced by Karim Mikhail as acting head of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. Mikhail had previously spent more than 20 years at Merck and joined the FDA last year.
Just a few days after FDA Commissioner Makary resigned, ally Tracy Beth Høeg is also leaving the agency. Her departure comes amid reports of tension over a commissioner’s voucher for Sanofi’s diabetes drug.
With Commissioner Marty Makary’s exit, the FDA will enter a period of “unprecedented” and “prolonged” leadership vacuum, analysts at Capital Alpha predicted, noting that the government will have trouble finding someone who will want to take the FDA’s reins.
The FDA is looking to retool drugs with sufficient evidence to support their use in other indications, particularly those with unmet need.
The widely covered impending ouster of FDA Commissioner Marty Makary not long after the exit of controversial biologics head Vinay Prasad highlights the severe turnover rates at the highest rungs of leadership at the health department.
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