Vered Bisker-Leib, PhD

Epoch 16: Sweat Equity - Your Weekly Biotech News Fix Designed to be consumed as a quick scroll with underlying links for more detail 👉 How to deal with biopharma layoff stress 👉 Series A biotech funding surges in Q1 👉 RNAi is coming $ARWR 👉 #AACR24 most exciting oncology biotechs 👉 $DTIL $LLY terminamos 👉 GLP-1 for sleep apnea $LLY 👉 Degrader momentum $ARVN $PFE $NVM 👉 New VC funds! Caanan & $REGEN 👉 Update on neuroscience / neuropsych 👉 Massive Obesity newco announced And more! https://lnkd.in/dEkBy2bY

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When should biotech platform companies choose to remain independent and grow to become the next big pharma, versus exit via M&A? To answer this, we should first ask: Why do biotechs typically position themselves for M&A rather than long term independent growth? Biopharma M&A is the preferred route of exit for most founders and investors for two key reasons: 1) Rapid, lump sum cash liquidity for shareholders. 2) Hand off risk to partners. Sell assets to big pharma to leverage their capabilities in navigating the long, expensive and risky path to commercialization (e.g., FDA approval, payer negotiations, manufacturing, marketing, sales and distribution) One downside of this is that, post M&A, the hard-earned platform capabilities (the people, knowledge, technology and practices that constitute a biotech) are stripped for parts and largely lost. In the choice between independent growth vs. M&A for biotechs, I propose a simple heuristic for identifying "platform escape velocity". When the risk adjusted return yielded by a (continuously compounding) biotech platform outweighs the value of a wholesale M&A exit for the same timeframe, then the balance tips in favor of independent growth over acquisition. Factors to consider: (1) Time frame to exit. Weighing a sizable M&A in 3 years versus a theoretically larger public market cap in 10 years can be challenging. (2) Sharpe Ratio. What is the projected delta in profit between independent vs. M&A commercialization? (3) Platform rate of compounding. How much does compounding economies of scale in your platform bend your PoS/RAR for each incremental asset? (4) Cost of Commercialization. Are you capitalized, equipped, and staffed as an independent biotech to commercialize? H/T David K. Yang

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In this position paper, Marc argues that #Oncology is the next therapeutic frontier for the application of value-based agreements. As a country and society, we must move towards value-based health - from therapeutics to the provisioning of healthcare services. Thought leaders like Peter have been discussing the societal value and importance of therapeutics for some time. It's now time to put our money where value is created, not destroyed. #NoPatientLeftBehind

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May 6 and 7, 2024 headlines from the Collabrity Report, a daily summary of financings for therapeutic biotechnology company executives and investors - www.collabrityreport.com New! Collabrity Report (CR) Analytics Novo-Gates-Wellcome’s $300 Million Fund Raise Zenas’s $200 Million Series C Cellectis’s $140 Million Equity Investment ADC’s $105 Million Public Offering Eledon’s $50 Million Private Placement Memo’s $50 Million Series C Prolouge’s $50 Million Venture Financing…More Skylark’s $40 Million Series A Plus’s $18 Million Private Placement T2’s $15 Million Equity Investment Eiger’s Asset Sale

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June 20 and 21, 2024 headlines from the Collabrity Report, a daily summary of financings for therapeutic biotechnology company executives and investors - www.collabrityreport.com New! Collabrity Report (CR) Analytics J&J’s $850 Million Acquisition of Proteologix Tectonic’s Merger with AVROBIO and $131 Million Private Placement iOnctura’s $86 Million Series B Ascentage’s $75 Million Equity Investment Forbion’s $75 Million Fund Raise āshibio’s $40 Million Seed Round and Series A Emergent’s $30 Million Asset Sale Rapafusyn’s $28 Million Series A Coeptis’s $4 Million Series A Mustang’s $3 Million Registered Direct Offering Sonnet’s $3 Million Warrant Exercise Tharimmune’s $2 Million Private Placement ProJenX’s $1 Million Grant NephroDI’s Series A

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Epoch 17: Sweat Equity - Your Weekly Biotech News Fix Designed to be consumed as a quick scroll + links to the source articles 👉 Biopharma hirings & VISAs 👉 $MRNA working with OpenAI ChatBots 👉 $BIIB PPD drug estimated $500M PYS 👉 David Baker desings peptide-like drugs 👉 $BIIB update on M&A strategy 👉 $DAWN accelerated approval for pediatric cancer 👉 Japan biotech pharma collaboration 👉 Xaira launches with $1B financing 👉 MASSIVE BMS RIF 👉 $REGN gene editing deal with Mammoth 👉Endeavor $132M financing for fibrosis 👉Neurocrine with major breakthrough in MDD And more! https://lnkd.in/dEkBy2bY

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What should the teams that may not be good enough (or never will be good enough) do? Keep trying? Keep learning? Learn from the best? Level up each time? Find complementarity? Suffer? Suffer each time? Though that might not be the worst thing? Try to find an undiscovered path or build a route where there is none? Build up to this type of company through other companies or other business models first? Just do earliest stage only and find someone to take it from there? goosedata talks about how hard this modality is specifically, but every successful development journey from start to finish is never easy #PursueAllStrategicAltenatives

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Very happy to see this interesting discussion on The Future of Life Sciences: Recording from Foley & Lardner LLP. And it was quiet a surprise to see our good friend Andreas Goutopoulos (at 1:05:00) mentioning BIOEMTECH as an example of a Greek preclinical CRO. His words were really touching and we look forward to working with Actithera and be part of their promising compounds. https://lnkd.in/dN3xemZf #HIN #HellenicInnovationNetwork #targetedtherapy #drugdiscovery #radiopharmaceuticals, #preclinicalresearch, #molecularimaging #nuclearmedicine

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FibroGen, Inc.'s new CMO, Deyaa Adib, MD isn't fazed by the competition in prostate cancer. Their FG-3246 boasts an impressive 8.7 months PFS in Phase 1, and they're calling out others to show their data! Here's the challenge: PSA isn't the only measure that matters, PFS is key. They believe FG-3246 stacks up well against competitors, even Novartis' Pluvicto. Intrigued? Different companies report data differently, making comparisons tricky. Stay tuned as more info emerges, but FibroGen seems confident they're in the fight! #ProstateCancer #ClinicalTrials #ADC #FibroGen FibroGen throws down the prostate cancer gauntlet | ApexOnco - Clinical Trials news and analysis (oncologypipeline.com)

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Century Therapeutics Raises $60 Million, Acquires Clade Therapeutics, and Expands Pipeline of Allogeneic, iPSC-Derived Cellular Therapies - https://lnkd.in/ehDg3gC9 Century Therapeutics, Inc (NASDAQ: IPSC), an innovative biotechnology company developing induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived cell therapies in immuno-oncology and autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, announced plans to expand clinical development for its lead program, CNTY-101, a CD19-targeting iNK cell therapy, into additional autoimmune disease indications. CNTY-101 is currently being evaluated in a clinical trial in B-cell malignancies (ELiPSE-1) as well as a planned clinical trial in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) (CALiPSO-1), which is on track to be initiated in the first half of 2024. Century plans to pursue additional autoimmune disease indication regulatory filings in 2024. Century’s increased research and development activities in autoimmune diseases are further supported by a $60 million private placement of its common stock to certain institutional investors. Concurrently, Century announced pipeline and platform enhancements through the acquisition of Clade Therapeutics, Inc. (“Clade”), a privately-held biotech company focused on discovering and delivering engineerable, off-the-shelf, scalable, and consistent stem cell-based medicines, with a focus on iPSC-derived αβ T cells. The acquisition brings additional iPSC-focused pipeline programs and technology to Century spanning across cancer and autoimmune diseases. “Today’s news signifies a transformative milestone for Century, as we accelerate and broaden our research and development initiatives in autoimmune diseases and iPSC-derived cell therapy on a larger scale. With support from a distinguished group of investors, coupled with the acquisition of Clade, we are poised for continued success,” said Brent Pfeiffenberger, Pharm.D., Chief Executive Officer of Century. “Under the leadership of a pioneering team of scientists and senior leaders with decades of experience in stem cell biology and iPSC differentiation enabled by significant capital investment from their investors, Clade has established a discovery engine with industry-changing potential,” said Hy Levitsky, M.D., President of R&D of Century. Read more at: https://lnkd.in/ehDg3gC9 #ipsc #cancer #autoimmunediseases

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Epoch 23: Private Biotech Capital Allocation Trends 👉Favored therapeutic areas by investors 👉Which modalities are attracting capital 👉Guess which stages of development investors prefer? https://lnkd.in/dEkBy2bY

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Wondering how you will navigate the new FDA stance on LDTs? We are here to discuss strategies and paths to success. Contact i5 BioPartners to learn more.

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We started out Q1 with cautious optimism and the numbers continue to show the confidence was warranted. Biopharma M&A activity more than doubled nationally during the year’s first three months, coinciding with a rebound in venture capital deals as well as a flurry of IPOs. These are all good signs that the drug development cycle is normalizing and should translate into additional funding being available at the seed and Series A stages. Certain to be on the minds of funders and startups attending #AlignSummit24 on Thursday! https://lnkd.in/erEiJm6S  

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Recap from #ISCT2024 Roundtable Discussion with Donald B. Kohn and Steve Grossman “Rare Diseases and Patient Access – The Mission and The Challenges”. Top 3 Takeaways: 1. A global repository for data ,gained through research and clinical trials that are not advancing, is ideal to ensure that efforts for rare disease research and drug development are able to be mined for gold. 2. Reclaiming an asset that is not take forward by a partner puts the follow-up burden back on the original IP holder as they seek to partner and further finance trials. 3. Could re-insurance be a solution for broader access of rare disease therapies?

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The surge in approvals for #cellandgenetherapy (CGT) products offers hope for patients with chronic and #rarediseases that have long been without treatment options. The robust pipeline of innovative treatments presents compelling opportunities for investors, not only in early-stage ventures but also in midmarket and larger companies across the industry vertical. As the number of approved CGT products continues to rise, investors are increasingly interested in sectors such as raw materials, manufacturing equipment and services, and logistics. With the potential for substantial growth ahead, understanding the complexities and opportunities of the CGT market will be essential for investors seeking to capitalize on this development. 

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Roivant and Kinevant Sciences Complete Enrollment in RESOLVE-Lung, a Phase 2 Study Evaluating Namilumab for Chronic Pulmonary Sarcoidosis Namilumab is a fully human monoclonal antibody that inhibits granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), a pro-inflammatory cytokine believed to play a key role in the pathogenesis of sarcoidosis   RESOLVE-Lung is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 2 study designed to be supportive of registration that enrolled 107 pulmonary sarcoidosis patients whose disease is not well-controlled despite currently available treatments   Topline results are expected by the end of calendar year 2024 (See link below for full press release) Roivant Sciences, Kinevant Sciences, Foundation For Sarcoidosis Research, #biotech #sarcoidosis https://lnkd.in/e_FrizXs

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