Episode 145 - June 13, 2025

On this week's episode, Josh Schimmer, Paul Matteis, Eric Schmidt and Yaron Werber kick off with an optimistic view of the current biotech state of affairs, citing the FDA is open for business, we’re seeing companies successfully launch and M&A is happening, though the Trump Administration’s Most Favored Nation plan still looms. In regulatory news, UroGen’s FDA approval of Zusduri for tumor ablation in recurrent low-grade, intermediate-risk non–muscle-invasive bladder cancer was seen as a sign the FDA is continuing to be flexible and business as usual. Where it’s not business as usual, concerns were raised about RFK Jr.’s dismantling of the ACIP and worry for the future of vaccine practices. With a continued amount of investor activism against boards, the group opined on ADAR1’s letter to Keros’ board and Deep Track’s battle with Dynavax. The group shared some excitement around the emerging field of psychedelics, including a bullish perspective on Compass Pathways' upcoming data readout. The conversation shifts to questions about biotech’s current focus on M&A versus building large companies. The episode concludes with EULAR and EHA conference updates and the favorable data sets coming out of those meetings, leading to a discussion on what’s holding CAR-T valuations back in the I&I space. *This episode aired on June 13, 2025.