On today’s #BiotechHangout, Josh Schimmer, Brad Loncar, Tim Opler, Eric Schmidt, Sam Fazeli, Jacob Plieth and Madeleine Armstrong cover #ASCO24 highlights, shifting pharma oncology interests, more data: $LLY, $AGIO, $ANNX, $AMGN, plus competitive dynamics: $GPCR vs the big leagues, $BBIO / $BMRN, $CRNX / $NBIX, $VIR / $GILD, Lykos ad comm, Hengrui Form 483, II voting season, the latest on Biosecure, M&A, sector/macro highlights, & much more: https://lnkd.in/e-VyhpSV
Josh Schimmer asks what is the best approach to preparing for complex data dump at #ASCO2024? Madeleine Armstrong uses spreadsheets to organize titles. Jacob Plieth adds “you hope to catch most of the important stuff, but you can’t possibly get everything” and to keep in mind how data fits into a competitive field. #BiotechHangout
“If you’re a CAR T developer in the U.S. and have a novel antigen you’re going after, a Chinese company will be first in class,” says Brad Loncar. “Once these anti-China politicians understand this aspect, it will become a big issue and will be a part of the legislative process.” #BiotechHangout
In #ASCO takeaways, Jacob Plieth reports that USP1 is not cutting the mustard with $TNGX discontinuing its synthetic lethality approach. Adds that most exciting presentation was on GPC-3 targeting with CAR-T in solid tumors. All but 2 of 23 patients with liver cancer experienced tumor shrinkage. "Spectacular data that is something to keep an eye on.” #BiotechHangout
According to Tim Opler, T-cell engagers have overtaken ADCs and radio in the oncology space. “Pharma is on the hunt. Almost every pharma we talked to said expect us to be doing oncology licensing in M&A.” #BiotechHangout
A David and Goliath story in the GLP-1 space. Tim Opler highlights promising weight loss data from $GPCR that could challenge industry leaders. Sam Fazeli says, “If I was an investor only going for NASH or MASH, I would be watching out for GLP-1s.” #BiotechHangout
Brad Loncar highlights that investigator-sponsored trials can take weeks or months in China vs. years in the U.S. “Over the longer term, if China is able to test things and learn things so much faster, does that put us at a disadvantage for early term research in the long term?” #BiotechHangout
“There is too much good innovation within China,” continues Tim Opler while pointing out that political decision makers are out of touch with the needs of industry. #BiotechHangout
On potential GLP-1 cardioprotection that is independent of weight loss, Sam Fazeli says, “There’s a lot going on in the GLP-1 world and we are just scratching the surface of its biology.” #BiotechHangout
Opening the show with a recap of a busy week, Tim Opler notes from a macro perspective that inflation is beginning to come down. “We are looking at a good situation for the rest of the year from here.” #BiotechHangout
Madeleine Armstrong chimes in on #ASCO2024: lowlight was $CRBU, which released unimpressive data on its allogeneic CAR T program. Investors seem disappointed due to data as well as potentially cumbersome strategy that requires marching patient HLA to donor cells. “The longer this drags on, the more difficult it will be to justify that trial design.” #BiotechHangout