| | | |   | Good morning! Damian here. Note that we're taking Monday off for Presidents' Day, but the Readout will be back in your inbox bright and early on Tuesday. | | | What business does Wall Street have with CRISPR? Will there be a new ALS drug this year? And when can kids get Covid-19 vaccines?
We cover all that and more this week on “The Readout LOUD,” STAT’s biotech podcast. First, STAT’s Nicholas Florko joins us to preview the trials ahead for Robert Califf as he retakes the reins at the FDA — including a high-profile decision on a new treatment for ALS. Then, CRISPR pioneer Jennifer Doudna and financier Marty Chavez join us to talk about the future of genome editing and the investments they plan to make in it. We also discuss the latest on Eric Lander, the Covid-19 vaccine meeting that wasn’t, and the future of Chinese-developed cancer drugs.
Listen here. | Biotech's last-chance saloon “Exploring strategic alternatives” is one of those anodyne business phrases that companies use to gently inform shareholders and investors at large that, indeed, the s--t has hit the fan — and a cleanup might not be enough.
Yesterday, Yumanity Therapeutics announced it was “exploring strategic alternatives,” while also firing 60% of its employees. Last month, the FDA placed a partial clinical hold on Yumanity’s lead drug, an experimental treatment for Parkinson’s disease already dogged by a poor showing in an early stage study. Yumanity’s stock price is down more than 90% over the past year.
Similarly, Catalyst Biosciences, a literal penny stock, said yesterday that it had engaged a banker to explore all forms of alternative strategizing. Amazingly, Catalyst went public in 2015 through a merger with another blown-up biotech that had been seeking a strategic alternative to going bankrupt.
With biotech stocks suffering double-digit declines, valuations in free fall, and scores of companies worrying about dwindling cash, perhaps the healthiest strategic alternative is to simply stop exploring and just fade away. | Patients want change; providers agree — we need to disrupt the status quo Inequities within the U.S. healthcare system are worsening for medically disenfranchised patients. Genentech believes sustainable solutions require a deeper understanding of their experiences. We surveyed underserved patients and their healthcare providers to learn more about their perceptions of and experiences with the healthcare system. See what they had to say here. | The new Agios gets its first approval Agios Pharmaceuticals, a year removed from selling off its cancer business, won FDA approval for its first drug outside of oncology.
As STAT’s Adam Feuerstein reports, the FDA approved Agios’ mitapivat to treat pyruvate kinase deficiency, a rare form of anemia that destroys red blood cells. The company did not immediately disclose how much it would charge for mitapivat, which will sell under the brand name Pyrukynd.
Mitapivat’s approval marks what Agios hopes will be the first of many for the drug. The company is also developing it as a potential treatment for patients with sickle cell disease and two types of thalassemia.
Read more. | As biotech markets founder, private companies are cashing in The biggest biotech indices have been nearly cut in half over the past 12 months, but venture capitalists are still pouring hundreds of millions into private firms. What do they know that we don’t?
According to Atlas Venture partner Bruce Booth, the first quarter of 2022 is on pace to become biotech’s biggest ever for VC funding, with more than $7 billion committed in the first six week’s alone. This week alone, the genome-editing firm Synthego raised $200 million, while Kallyope raised nearly $250 million and Third Harmonic Bio raised more than $150 million.
There are a few potential explanations for the disconnect between venture investors and public markets. One is that this quarter’s deals likely came together months ago, before biotech stocks really started tumbling, making VC dollars a trailing indicator of market sentiment. Another is that 2022’s spate of private rounds is not a reflection of VC exuberance but rather the effect of companies putting off IPOs on account of the down market. If that’s the case, biotech might continue setting records for VC deals, but it could come at a cost for companies that had hoped to raise money on a friendlier public market. | More reads - Pfizer criticized over patent strategy for Covid-19 pill, despite a deal to broaden access in poor countries. STAT+
- JPMorgan banker: Biotechs should prepare for rare down rounds. Business Insider
- Nearly half of private investors think other startups may be just as bad as Theranos. Fortune
| Thanks for reading! Until next week,  | | | |
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