Scrip's Five Must-Know Things - Mar.2, 2026

March 2, 2026

16 min episode · 2 min read

Episode

16 min

Read time

2 min

AI-Generated Summary

Published Mar 15, 2026

Key Takeaways

✓GLP-1 Retention Strategy: Zealand CEO Adam Steensburg argues the obesity market will be won on treatment persistence, not maximum weight loss. Up to 12% of Americans have tried GLP-1 therapies, yet only a fraction remain on treatment, with roughly half citing gastrointestinal side effects as the reason for stopping.
✓AI-Accelerated Drug Discovery: MSD's chief AI officer reports that deploying AI and in silico simulations has doubled the number of molecules entering discovery. Their TEDDY foundation model improves target identification, while AI-assisted clinical documentation has cut some preparation timelines from multiple weeks down to just two days.
✓CAR-T Expansion Targets: Penn Medicine's Bruce Levine identifies CAR-T persistence, tumor trafficking, and manufacturing constraints as the core barriers limiting efficacy beyond B-cell cancers. Researchers are pursuing dual-targeting CARs, inhibitory CAR designs, and CRISPR-based epitope editing specifically to crack acute myeloid leukemia and solid tumors.
✓2025 Deal Market Recovery: Biopharma M&A total potential value rose 402% versus 2024, with average deal size reaching $1.8B, up 93%. Alliance average deal value surged 643% to $429.6M, and six of the ten largest alliances by value involved a major company licensing assets from a China-based biotech firm.

What It Covers

Scrip's weekly briefing covers five biopharma developments: Zealand's GLP-1 durability argument, MSD's AI-doubled discovery pipeline, CAR-T advances at Penn Medicine, a 400%-plus rebound in 2025 deal values, and a halved US IPO market.

Key Questions Answered

•GLP-1 Retention Strategy: Zealand CEO Adam Steensburg argues the obesity market will be won on treatment persistence, not maximum weight loss. Up to 12% of Americans have tried GLP-1 therapies, yet only a fraction remain on treatment, with roughly half citing gastrointestinal side effects as the reason for stopping.
•AI-Accelerated Drug Discovery: MSD's chief AI officer reports that deploying AI and in silico simulations has doubled the number of molecules entering discovery. Their TEDDY foundation model improves target identification, while AI-assisted clinical documentation has cut some preparation timelines from multiple weeks down to just two days.
•CAR-T Expansion Targets: Penn Medicine's Bruce Levine identifies CAR-T persistence, tumor trafficking, and manufacturing constraints as the core barriers limiting efficacy beyond B-cell cancers. Researchers are pursuing dual-targeting CARs, inhibitory CAR designs, and CRISPR-based epitope editing specifically to crack acute myeloid leukemia and solid tumors.
•2025 Deal Market Recovery: Biopharma M&A total potential value rose 402% versus 2024, with average deal size reaching $1.8B, up 93%. Alliance average deal value surged 643% to $429.6M, and six of the ten largest alliances by value involved a major company licensing assets from a China-based biotech firm.

Notable Moment

Despite the fastest drug launch ever recorded for oral Wegovy, Zealand's CEO contends that most patients surveyed do not prioritize weight loss exceeding 20%, directly challenging the industry's prevailing focus on headline efficacy numbers.

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