| |   | Hello, one and all. Damian here with an update on the ever-growing list of executive vacancies in biotech and a look at Robert Califf's bid to become FDA commissioner again. | | | One step closer to an FDA commissioner Robert Califf, President Biden's pick to lead the FDA, narrowly cleared a key Senate hurdle Monday night, teeing up a final vote on his confirmation later this week. It’s been a tough slog through Congress for Califf, ever since a handful of key Democrats came out in opposition to his confirmation over his ties to the drug industry and his handling of opioids when he last held the FDA commissioner job under former President Obama. Anti-abortion activists also urged Republicans to oppose him.
As my colleagues Nicholas Florko and Rachel Cohrs write, the Monday vote is a clear signal that Califf will likely squeak through the rest of the Senate confirmation process. Several Republicans, including Sen. Roy Blunt of Missouri, voted to advance his nomination. The final tally was 49 to 45.
Read more. | How far can Moderna really fall? Last summer, as Moderna traded for more than $400 a share, Jefferies analyst Michael Yee dubbed it “the Tesla of biotech,” and reasonable largely parties concluded that the company’s valuation had departed from reality. Then it fell 30% in October. Then another 30% in November. Now Moderna has lost nearly 70% of its all-time-high valuation, and those reasonable parties are starting to wonder: At what point does Moderna become cheap?
The analysts at Cowen did some math, figuring that Moderna’s roughly $19 billion in cash equates to about $40 per share. They estimate Moderna’s blockbuster Covid-19 vaccine will generate another $25 billion in cash over the next two years, which adds another $50 per share. That means Moderna would have $90 per share in cash alone by the end of 2023, and that’s without accounting for further sales of its vaccine or the potential success of any of its many pipeline programs.
With all that in mind, Moderna’s current share price — about $141 after a 12% decline yesterday — still has a ways to fall before it trades close to its near-term cash value. But if the trend continues, at some point even the company’s many skeptics might give it another look. | You’re invited to the CRISPR Quest Intellia Therapeutics CEO John Leonard takes the stage on Feb. 24 to discuss what’s next for the company now that it's published data showing that CRISPR could be used in the body to combat disease. Sign up now to join this discussion. | Biotech’s great resignation continues One arguable silver lining to biotech’s recent downturn is that it has brought about a wave of executive resignations, thereby opening up jobs in the upper ranks across the industry.
The latest comes from Quantum-Sci, which said yesterday that CEO John Stark handed in his resignation last week and will be replaced on an interim basis by the company’s founder, famed entrepreneur Jonathan Rothberg. Quantum-Sci, which has lost nearly 60% of its value since going public through a SPAC last year, sells technology that allows for the sequencing of proteins to find new drug targets.
Earlier this month, two top executives from Cortexyme, whose investigational treatment for Alzheimer’s disease missed its goals in a trial last year, resigned from their positions. Days before, Sio Gene Therapies, formerly known as Axovant Sciences, said CEO Pavan Cheruvu had resigned “to pursue new opportunities,” just as the company “deprioritized” its most advanced pipeline treatment to conserve cash. The same day, Chinook Therapeutics, down 24% this year, said in a filing with the SEC that its chief medical officer had resigned. The company decided not to issue a press release on the matter. | The therapeutic video game company needs its SPAC to work Akili Interactive is going public through a SPAC to raise more than $400 million and market its FDA-cleared video game to treat ADHD. Akili’s financials, posted yesterday ahead of the SPAC merger, paint a picture of a cash-burning company that needs this deal to go through if it hopes to survive.
In the first nine months of 2021, Akili booked revenue of just $377,000 while spending about $41 million to keep the doors open. The company had roughly $95 million in cash as of Sept. 30, which would fund its operations only until early next year.
That means Akili needs its SPAC to work. In the best-case scenario, all of the SPAC investors will back the merger and Akili will receive $250 million of their money plus another $162 million private investment. But if investors pull out of the deal, which has happened more and more in the SPAC market, Akili could be left with the private money alone. And if the total amount raised dips below $150 million, the company could be left with no deal at all. | More reads - No more waffling: Belgium discloses penalties for failing to report clinical trial results. STAT+
- Biotech money shock: Investors unwind speculative bets as pandemic fears fade. Bloomberg
- Knowledge and attitudes concerning aducanumab among older Americans after FDA approval for treatment of Alzheimer's disease. JAMA
| Thanks for reading! Until tomorrow,  | | | |
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