Today on #BiotechHangout, Chris Garabedian, Brad Loncar, Josh Schimmer, Eric Schmidt and Tim Opler cover $INCY’s $2B share repurchase, stock buybacks & ‘broken’ R&D model, deals: Blackstone/Uniquity launch ($300M), $JNJ buys Proteologix ($850M) & recent deals on China assets to US, data: Bayer’s Ph3 readouts for menopause, $MRK TIGIT/PD-1 Ph3 safety concerns, $IONS/$BIIB discontinue ALS treatment, obesity ‘limited data’ vs $VKTX data transparency, $SGIOY & $AZN COVID-19 data, plus #ASGCT2024 recap, $BOLT discontinues oncology asset, $DVAX denied expanded use by FDA, $RXRX’s stock surge, short selling & meme stocks ($NVAX) & more: https://lnkd.in/exTkXyqq
Biotech Hangout
2mo
Closing out the $INCY discussion, Eric Schmidt says that $INCY’s buy back decision means they are embracing the view that they’re going to be good stewards of capital and prove that by returning capital, there’s a lot of value in the stock. “This will take away their ability to buy products and that is very unusual in our space. Most companies aspire to grow at all costs.” #BiotechHangout
Biotech Hangout
2mo
Moving on to data readouts, Tim Opler comments on $BIIB and $IONIS discontinuing the development of its experimental ALS drug. “Hats off to Biogen for trying. It’s a tough disease and Ionis has a smart approach and unfortunately, like many other studies, the trial didn’t pan out. My gut is that we’ll get there eventually.” #BiotechHangout
Biotech Hangout
2mo
The hosts highlight a few deals this week, starting with $TAK’s $100M bet on $ACIU with its anti-amyloid Alzheimer’s vaccine approach. $JNJ also bought Proteologix for $850M that’s focused on bispecific antibodies for immune-mediated diseases. Chris Garabedian adds that Uniquity Bio is the latest in a series of private financing rounds backing I&I. #BiotechHangout
Biotech Hangout
2mo
$NVAX has been up 180% in the last few days following a deal with $SNY. “I don’t think any of us thought the stock was going to double or triple,” adds Erics Schmidt. Brad Loncar reiterates that a lot of biotech investors are science nerds and physicians. “A lot of professional investors knew nothing about it, and I think it’s important if you’re in industry to not just have expertise in the sector, but also to understand mechanics of stocks itself.” #BiotechHangout
Biotech Hangout
2mo
Brad Loncar adds that it frustrates him a lot when companies sit on cash. “If our industry messaging is going to be innovation, you want to be smart about spending money and not just spending money to spend it. Either re-invest in innovation or return it to investors who will re-invest it into other innovations.” #BiotechHangout
Biotech Hangout
2mo
On the topic of recent Chinese license deals, Brad Loncar says, “Given everything happening in Washington with WuXi, you have to wonder if this is ever going to blow up in the in-licenser’s face.” He also adds that politicians may start to have a problem with some of these practices. #BiotechHangout
Biotech Hangout
2mo
Adding to the China in-licensing discussion, Eric Schmidt notes that one thing China doesn’t have is the capital markets system. “There is no ability for these companies to go public and maintain any advantage they may have, so they need to out-license to US to gain access to our market. We need to maintain that capital market as an advantage.” #BiotechHangout
Biotech Hangout
2mo
Adding to $INCY discussion, Josh Schimmer notes that companies that tend to be more business focused are the ones that struggle to get higher premium evaluations. “It’s frustrating that the biotech ecosystem hasn’t evolved to be more of a long-term, sustainable growth enterprise with capital efficiency and strong capital allocation.” #BiotechHangout
Biotech Hangout
2mo
“In China, you can do a trial of anything much quicker than in the U.S. Chinese companies are able to do Phase 1 investigator-led proof of concept studies quickly and come up with good assets that have clinical proof of concept. It’s a less risky bet if you’re a US company to in-license something like this,” adds Brad Loncar #BiotechHangout
How are analysts thinking about the obesity space? Josh Schimmer says “It’s overwhelming and we have a few analysts that are watching the space. Everyone is going to have a different framework and angle. You can’t ignore it and given the unmet need and the growing amount of innovation, it’s still reasonably manageable in the sense that beyond GLP-1 and other emerging targets, it’s still relatively bite sized in terms of what we need to be tracking and focused on.” #BiotechHangout