PODCAST
Novo Nordisk on M&A, and Bob Nelsen on U.S. competitiveness
Novo Nordisk's new CEO, Mike Doudstar, wants to make his company much more visible and active at JPM. In fact, he said at a live recording of the Readout LOUD podcast, he brought his whole executive team here to meet other companies.
And they're on the lookout for opportunities. Novo was willing to pay up to $10 billion to acquire obesity startup Metsera, before Pfizer ultimately secured the deal last year. And "we could have actually, on a different deal, something that was worth more, go twice, three times, four times more" due to the company's financial strength, Doudstar said.
We also spoke with ARCH Venture Partners' Bob Nelsen on the podcast.
He thinks U.S. regulators need to move much faster in order to help the industry compete with China. "How come we're not acting like we were in the pandemic all the time? We know we can go faster. Why aren't we going faster? Why did we go back to this old, shitty, slow system," he said.
"I don't blame China for being competitive. I blame the U.S. for not stepping up and competing," he added.
When asked about his thoughts on the FDA commissioner's new voucher program, he said, "I'm very much in favor of it and I think the issue is just the transparency of the process." Experts outside the FDA, including former veteran regulator Richard Pazdur, have raised concerns that the voucher program politicizes the drug review process.
Listen to the whole podcast here.
pharma
Pfizer CEO: Trump is a net positive, but FDA a concern
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said earlier this week that "the goal in obesity is to become a leading player." No surprise. But he was also asked about his prediction a year ago that President Trump would be a net positive for the pharmaceutical industry.
"Yes," he said, "but I have to say that I got scared big time" along the way. The big win, from his perspective: The United Kingdom agreeing to raise prices for medicines as part of a trade deal with the U.S. This, he said, changed the dynamic between European companies and the pharmaceutical industry and would not have happened without Trump, who, Bourla also reiterated, deserved a Nobel Prize for supporting the development of Covid vaccines.
But Bourla also expressed some worries about elements of the administration. He continued to say that the pressure it was putting on vaccines is "an anomaly that will correct itself" and reiterated that Pfizer is doing its own vaccine research, including developing a Lyme disease inoculation.
He also expressed concern about developments at the Food and Drug Administration, including the departure of former top official Richard Pazdur. Bourla called Pazdur "a legend in regulatory work globally" and said that he was "very concerned" when Pazdur resigned after only two weeks on the job.
BIOTECH
Why BioNTech moved beyond mRNA
BioNTech became internationally famous for developing the Covid vaccine sold by Pfizer. But in the time since, Ugur Sahin, the CEO, has pivoted the company back to his original goal: fighting cancer. In particular, the company's bispecific PDL1-VEGF antibody generated an $11 billion partnership with Bristol Myers Squibb. BioNTech's $28 billion market capitalization is almost double that of Moderna's.
Why did he pivot?
"I didn't see a game plan for many mRNA-based indications as a stand-alone approach in oncology," Sahin told STAT. Cancer vaccines that use mRNA are one way of attacking cancer; but other tools were needed. "I am an extreme believer, mRNA, but, but we have to use the super powers in a reasonable way," he said.
STAT also asked Sahin if he saw the U.S. backlash against mRNA and vaccines coming.
"Usually, I see a lot of things before they happen," Sahin said. "I didn't see this."
Gonzalo Fuentes/Pool via AP
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