Biotech Hangout

→ WHAT IT COVERS Biotech Hangout's 200th episode, recorded October 23, 2026, brings together seven co-hosts and Silence Therapeutics former CEO Ali Mortazavi to examine Moderna's cancer vaccine stock volatility, the Merck KGAA acquisition of Silence Therapeutics for $1.3 billion, bearish biotech market dynamics, pharma CEO social media engagement, and five-year industry retrospectives from veteran operators and investors.

→ WHAT IT COVERS Biotech Hangout Episode 199 examines the XBI's 700 basis-point two-week decline, record hedge fund degrossing over five years, three new IPOs raising $467M combined, Bristol Myers Squibb's nuanced IPF phase three results, celiac disease emerging as a competitive therapeutic battleground, and Moderna's cancer vaccine data ahead of ESMO.

→ WHAT IT COVERS Biotech Hangout Episode 198 covers Q3 2026 biotech market performance with XBI up 27% year-to-date, major BD deals including Regeneron-Sanofi's $8B INI collaboration and AstraZeneca's $2B Summit equity investment, FDA approvals for FOP and Parkinson's treatments, and clinical data from WCLC and EASD conferences covering lung cancer and GLP-1 obesity therapies.

→ WHAT IT COVERS Biotech Hangout Episode 197 covers XBI market pressure from long-short fund degrossing, Most Favored Nation drug pricing agreements, FDA commissioner confirmation hearings, and clinical data from Vertex, Amgen, Viking Therapeutics, Seldex, and Ionis across kidney disease, Sjogren's, obesity, urticaria, and IgAN indications. → KEY INSIGHTS - **MFN Revenue-Sharing Mechanism:** Pfizer's FOIA-revealed MFN agreement includes a provision requiring net revenue sharing with the US...

→ WHAT IT COVERS Biotech Hangout Episode 196 covers September 2026 biotech market conditions, including a 4% monthly decline despite 30% year-to-date XBI gains, Xenon's clinical pause in depression trials, Vertex's CF competitive moat, rare disease regulatory shifts, and reverse merger trends replacing traditional IPOs across the sector. → KEY INSIGHTS - **Biotech Market Sentiment:** XBI sits roughly 30% up year-to-date but has pulled back 9-10% from highs, driven by macro rate pressures,...

→ WHAT IT COVERS Biotech Hangout Episode 195 covers a turbulent week for biotech markets driven by oil-price inflation and rising Treasury yields, alongside major FDA leadership confirmations, Novartis's dual Phase 3 failures in LP(a) reduction and DM1, positive Phase 2 data from Roivant in pulmonary hypertension, and emerging oral amylin weight-loss data from Structured Therapeutics.

→ WHAT IT COVERS Biotech Hangout Episode 194 covers the XBI's 80% twelve-month rally, Moderna's mRNA cancer vaccine phase three success in melanoma, Revolution Medicines' FDA approval for pancreatic cancer at $478,000 annually, the Heidi Overton FDA commissioner nomination, ATTR cardiomyopathy gene silencer data failure, and escalating drug pricing concerns across newly approved therapies. → KEY INSIGHTS - **Biotech M&A vs.

→ WHAT IT COVERS Biotech Hangout Episode 193 covers XBI market performance, two high-profile clinical failures (10x Genomics HFpEF trial, Siona CF trial), the Jazz Pharmaceuticals $1.3B Actio acquisition, positive psychedelics phase three data from Definium, and the ongoing US-China biotech protectionism debate. → KEY INSIGHTS - **Biotech Market Bifurcation:** XBI outperforms the broader market year-to-date, but returns are highly uneven.

→ WHAT IT COVERS Biotech Hangout Episode 192 covers Q2 earnings season performance across biotech, the AstraZeneca-Bristol Myers merger speculation, 17 IPOs in 2026 with strong post-debut trading, reverse merger trends, FDA regulatory decisions on Miriam and Praxis drugs, Replimmune's approval, and US-China clinical trial competitiveness concerns raised by Strand CEO Jake Beecroft.

→ WHAT IT COVERS Biotech Hangout Episode 191 covers Q2 2026 biotech sector performance with XBI up 24% year-to-date, reverse merger trends, AI's role in drug discovery, major BD deals including J&J's $785M Sail Biomedicines partnership and argenx's $2.2B Forte acquisition, FDA advisory committee outcomes, and Alnylam's guidance cut on Amvutra. → KEY INSIGHTS - **Biotech Sector Positioning:** XBI is up 24% year-to-date versus S&P 500 at 9% and Nasdaq at 8%, with three structural tailwinds...

→ WHAT IT COVERS Biotech Hangout Episode 190 covers the reopening IPO window via Scribe Therapeutics' early-stage $120M offering, reverse merger financing trends, Colossal Biosciences' $20-30B valuation round, the MX Biopharma CMO fraud scandal, DYNE Therapeutics' DMD BLA acceptance, and two upcoming FDA AdCom panels for Replimmune and Capricor. → KEY INSIGHTS - **Early-Stage IPO Signal:** When biotech markets peak, risk tolerance expands and earlier-stage companies access public markets —...

→ WHAT IT COVERS Biotech Hangout Episode 189 covers Eli Lilly's $3.8B Atai acquisition, Roivant's upcoming brepacitinib launch for dermatomyositis, China's rising first-in-class drug innovation, Kalshi's clinical trial betting markets, Merck's oral PCSK9 inhibitor approval, and Biogen's mixed Phase 2 tau-targeting ASO data in Alzheimer's disease. → KEY INSIGHTS - **Eli Lilly's expansion strategy:** Lilly's acquisition of Atai for $2.

→ WHAT IT COVERS Biotech Hangout Episode 188 covers FDA regulatory shifts including CRL transparency rollbacks and lowered approval bars for rare diseases, the failed AstraZeneca/Ionis eplontersen TTR cardiomyopathy trial, Vertex's $9B Crinetics acquisition, Anthropic's Claude for Science AI platform, and upcoming Biogen anti-tau Alzheimer's data at AAIC London.

→ WHAT IT COVERS Biotech Hangout Episode 187 covers the XBI rally from 130 to 155-160, AbbVie's $10.9B Apogee acquisition, China asset spin-out transactions including Sarafa and Olin Biosciences, FDA normalization under potential new commissioners, oncology investment challenges, and clinical data updates across HS, psychedelics, and androgenic alopecia. → KEY INSIGHTS - **XBI Valuation Framework:** Pharma free cash flow years-to-acquire all SMID-cap biotech sits at 3.7x in 2026, up from 3.

→ WHAT IT COVERS Biotech Hangout Episode 186 covers mid-2026 biotech market performance, with XBI up 10.5% year-to-date, a record $771M Parabolas IPO, GSK's $10.9B acquisition of Nuvialent, Tango's 90%+ response rate PRMT5 inhibitor data in pancreatic cancer, and the evolving IPO and M&A landscape for private biotech companies. → KEY INSIGHTS - **IPO Market Calibration:** Biotech has produced roughly 12 IPOs by mid-2026, collectively raising over $4B, with the XBI outperforming the S&P 500 by...

→ WHAT IT COVERS Biotech Hangout Episode 185 covers ASCO 2026 highlights including PD-1/VEGF bispecifics, RAS inhibitor breakthroughs in pancreatic cancer, CDK4-selective inhibitors in breast cancer, GRAIL's multi-cancer detection trial failure, Abivax's ulcerative colitis safety signal, in vivo CAR-T early data, and the COINS Act debate over US-China biotech investment restrictions.

→ WHAT IT COVERS Biotech Hangout Episode 184 covers the 2026 IPO market health with 11 filings by May, Ginkgo Bioworks CEO Jason Kelly's national security argument against offshoring biotechnology to China, Eli Lilly's three vaccine acquisitions totaling $3.8B, and key ASCO oncology data previews including Revolution Medicines' pancreatic cancer results. → KEY INSIGHTS - **Biotech IPO benchmark:** Eleven biotech IPOs filed by end of May 2026 already matches or exceeds all of 2025's total.

→ WHAT IT COVERS Biotech Hangout Episode 183 covers Bristol Myers Squibb's $950M upfront deal with Hengrui, China's growing competitive threat to US biotech innovation, Isomorphic Labs' $2.25B Series B raise, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary's resignation, and upcoming data catalysts at ASCO, ADA, and ATS conferences across oncology and respiratory disease.

→ WHAT IT COVERS Biotech Hangout Episode 182 covers a record-breaking Q1 2026 secondary offering environment, three new M&A deals totaling over $6 billion, FDA leadership instability under Commissioner Makary, clinical data from Cytokinetics, Artiva, and J&J, and the accelerating influence of Chinese biotech assets on U.S. drug development pipelines.

→ WHAT IT COVERS Biotech Hangout Episode 181 covers May 2026 biotech market performance, with the XBI up 8% year-to-date outperforming the S&P 500 by 300 basis points. Hosts analyze 10 IPOs totaling $3.2 billion, major M&A activity led by Eli Lilly's six acquisitions, Revolution Medicines' pancreatic cancer phase three data, and Harmony Three's failed interim PFS analysis. → KEY INSIGHTS - **Biotech IPO Market Quality:** Ten biotech IPOs have raised $3.