Episode 182 - May 8, 2026

On this week’s episode, Josh Schimmer, Paul Matteis, Eric Schmidt, Yaron Werber, and special guest STAT’s Allison DeAngelis open with what they describe as “a bananas week for biotech,” highlighting strong substantial secondary offerings, including Cytokinetics and Avalo Therapeutics. The conversation then turns to M&A, with multiple new deals announced in Q1 and continued activity this week, including UCB’s acquisition of Candid Therapeutics for up to $2.2B, Angelini’s $4.1B purchase of Catalyst Pharmaceuticals, and Bayer’s acquisition of Perfuse for up to $2.45B. The group also reflects on what feels like the year of developmental-stage biotech, highlighting investor focus on companies with pipeline events such as Vertex and Biogen, while commercial-stage companies have lagged. In regulatory news, the co-hosts discuss Sanofi’s decision to withdraw diabetes drug, teplizumab, from the Commissioner’s National Priority Review program, broader concerns about shifting goalposts and political influence, and contradicting outcomes including Replimune’s rejection versus Atara’s reversal. On the data front, the hosts discuss Cytokinetics’ Phase 3 results and subsequent $650M raise, as well as encouraging autoimmune data from Artiva Biotherapeutics. They also overview neurofilament as a biomarker following Clene’s data, and J&J’s decision to advance its DUET program despite failing to meet its primary endpoint in IBD. *This episode aired on May 8, 2026.