Ep. 342 - 2026 Biotech Kickoff

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<v Jeff Cranmer>Welcome to Biotech 2026, as the BioCentury This Week podcast kicks off its seventh season.

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<v Jeff Cranmer>We have some opening thoughts for the year in biotech from Editor in Chief Simone Fishburn and Washington Editor Steve Usdin.

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<v Jeff Cranmer>Along the way, we will talk about how advocates are regrouping after the Senator from Vermont, Bernie Sanders has blocked Pediatric PRV reauthorization and we'll take a look.

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<v Jeff Cranmer>At the Land of the Rising Sun Japan biotech is looking to level up.

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<v Jeff Cranmer>Before we get to all of that, hey, BioCentury's is hosting its 5th East-West Summit in Seoul this March.

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<v Jeff Cranmer>Early bird rates expire on Friday.

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<v Jeff Cranmer>Come join us in biotech's next up and coming region, source innovation from Asia or accelerate your own pipeline by finding the right Asia partner.

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<v Jeff Cranmer>And if you wanna learn more, look for me, look for Josh at JP Morgan next week.

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<v Jeff Cranmer>We'd be happy to tell you all about it.

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<v Jeff Cranmer>And if you're planning to wander around the soggy streets of San Francisco next week, look no further than BioCentury's JPM Guide.

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<v Jeff Cranmer>That's Jpmguide.com, to help you navigate all of the conferences and receptions and satellite meetings that will be kicking off, as early as Saturday.

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<v Jeff Cranmer>Alright, let's cut to the chase.

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<v Jeff Cranmer>Simone, Steve, Happy New year.

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<v Jeff Cranmer>Simone, how are you looking at biotech as we kick off the year?

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<v Jeff Cranmer>We've done a lot of year end stuff.

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<v Jeff Cranmer>you can check out The Best of BioCentury.

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<v Jeff Cranmer>You can check out our analyst picks on BioCentury.com, but now we're moving on.

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<v Jeff Cranmer>We're looking ahead.

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<v Jeff Cranmer>Simone, where's your head at?

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<v Simone Fishburn>Well, first of all, I want to tell you, Jeff, that my phone reliably informs me that we will not be walking around the rain or soggy streets next week San Francisco.

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<v Simone Fishburn>I've got lots of little sun pictures.

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<v Simone Fishburn>Therein lies the story of 2026.

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<v Simone Fishburn>So as we got onto this call, I was telling Steve how I was kicking off my letter from the editor with a lot of good news, and he said that is the split screen of 2026, which is the theme we are going with because there's really reason.

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<v Simone Fishburn>On the financial front and the biotech funding front for optimism.

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<v Simone Fishburn>We've had a good run at the end of 2025.

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<v Simone Fishburn>Obviously we don't know how sustainable it is, but follow-ons are up the XBI ended up even so, you know, used that word IPO few times.

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<v Simone Fishburn>There's generally a feeling that biotech is sort of coming outta the woods.

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<v Simone Fishburn>Stephen Hansen is gonna be writing a story saying the bear market is over.

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<v Simone Fishburn>We can look at approvals, which were a little down from the year before FDA, drug approvals, but really pretty, pretty robust there.

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<v Simone Fishburn>if you think that generally the number of approvals per year is a, is a good number.

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<v Simone Fishburn>so yeah, there's a, a lot of positive momentum within biotech.

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<v Simone Fishburn>People seem to have shrugged off, absorbed the  tariff uncertainty and all the rest of that and, and shrugged it off.

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<v Simone Fishburn>And so the gears, the financial gears of biotech are, still churning.

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<v Simone Fishburn>And now I'm gonna throw it to Steve who's gonna give us the other split screen kind of reality

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<v Jeff Cranmer>Well first, don't sleep on innovation.

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<v Jeff Cranmer>I mean, everybody we talked to we had Stelios on.

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<v Jeff Cranmer>Uh, they talk about how the science has never been better, the innovation's never been better.

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<v Jeff Cranmer>So I did wanna make a pitch for what's happening in, in the labs before, uh, Dr.

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<v Jeff Cranmer>Gloom and Doom, uh, joins us.

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<v Jeff Cranmer>See, Steve's not all that bad.

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<v Jeff Cranmer>He is, uh, he, he is, he, he might be a little more chipper.

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<v Jeff Cranmer>He is just back from Argentina.

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<v Jeff Cranmer>he's seen, maybe he's seen the light, Steve.

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<v Steve Usdin>I don't know about the light.

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<v Steve Usdin>Look, the, the thing is, we're actually, we're, we're kind of going into an experiment, right?

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<v Steve Usdin>So the thesis for biotech and for the life sciences for the last couple of decades has been that the United States had a competitive advantage because it had the most stable, progressive, science-based regulatory system in the world.

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<v Steve Usdin>Because, it invested generously in.

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<v Steve Usdin>basic research that really created the engine.

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<v Steve Usdin>And that, that, that basic research then was translated into biotech companies, that generated innovations, that then were commercialized by either bigger biotech companies or, pharma companies.

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<v Steve Usdin>We're gonna be seeing a lot of enthusiasm, around the, the finances in, in 2026.

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<v Steve Usdin>And as Simone said, a split screen because there's also a lot of concern about some of these fundamental pillars of, of the industry.

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<v Steve Usdin>Let's start with FDA.

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<v Steve Usdin>there's tremendous uncertainty about what FDA is going to be doing, going forward.

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<v Steve Usdin>The Center for Drug Evaluation and Research now is being directed by Tracy Beth H who has regulatory experience, no qualifications for the job other than political fealty to Marty Makary, the FDA Commissioner, and the vision of Robert F.

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<v Steve Usdin>Kennedy Jr. The HHS Secretary.

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<v Steve Usdin>There's likely to be a great deal of uncertainty.

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<v Steve Usdin>As I said at at FDA.

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<v Steve Usdin>There's also a sense that the Commissioner's National Priority Voucher Program is going to create different kinds of flows at FDA, it's gonna make it more unpredictable of what's gonna get approved and in, and what speed.

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<v Steve Usdin>It's coming on top of a, a, a situation where there's, there's large numbers of FDA staff who have left the agency over the last few months, making it much more difficult for the agency to do its routine work.

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<v Steve Usdin>Um, it's going to be prioritizing work around the, uh, these, um, priority vouchers.

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<v Steve Usdin>and it's, it's unclear what that's gonna mean for other kinds of, of activities.

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<v Steve Usdin>Then shifting over to, um, to NIH, which has really been the you know, kind of the the nursery for, um, innovation in, in the United States.

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<v Steve Usdin>There's tremendous amount of uncertainty at, at NIH.

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<v Simone Fishburn>Steve, um, just, I know there was recent news from NIH.

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<v Simone Fishburn>Tell us about the latest thing in terms of one of the directors at one of the institutes at NINDS, right?

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<v Steve Usdin>Yeah, that's right.

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<v Steve Usdin>so it's, it's actually quite extraordinary.

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<v Steve Usdin>On December 30th, Jay Bhattacharya, the Director of NIH, sent out a memo announcing that Dr. Walter Koroshetz, will be concluding his service as Director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

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<v Steve Usdin>His last day is gonna be January 24th.

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<v Steve Usdin>The extraordinary thing about it is that Bhattacharya wrote in the memo that he supported Dr. Koroshetz.

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<v Steve Usdin>He wanted Koroshetz to stay.

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<v Steve Usdin>And he said that Koroshetz's performance as Director has been exceptional.

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<v Steve Usdin>However, the Department of Health and Human Services has elected to pursue a leadership transition.

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<v Steve Usdin>That's actually, if you, if you think about it, basically what Bhattacharya is saying is that he's not running NIH, Kennedy is.

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<v Simone Fishburn>Yeah, I have a couple of questions about this one.

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<v Simone Fishburn>I mean, yeah, it's extraordinary on two fronts.

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<v Simone Fishburn>One is that's really like saying I'm not making the decisions here.

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<v Simone Fishburn>I think we heard that very early on in his tenure when he joined, and they, you know, there'd been a lot of people laid off and he said, well, I wasn't behind all of that, but, but he wasn't really, you know, um, he, he hadn't been there very long.

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<v Simone Fishburn>Now he's been, uh, I can't remember Steve at least six months, maybe nine.

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<v Simone Fishburn>I, I forget exactly when he took the role.

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<v Simone Fishburn>So that's extraordinary.

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<v Simone Fishburn>And the other thing is that it is really saying in black and white that this is a political decision.

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<v Simone Fishburn>I have now one follow up question for you, because I know, in our, one of the pieces end of year pieces you projected about FDA and how long RFK Jr.

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<v Simone Fishburn>might stay in his role at HHS.

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<v Simone Fishburn>Do you think that this all goes is badly for, for Dr.

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<v Simone Fishburn>Bhattacharya or not necessarily?

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<v Steve Usdin>It's hard to predict what's gonna happen with Bhattacharya.

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<v Steve Usdin>But I, my sense of it is that Kennedy is probably going to be out by this time next year.

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<v Steve Usdin>I think he's not gonna last much longer than the midterms and all of the public health leadership thats closely associated with him is likely to follow.

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<v Steve Usdin>And, and some of them may leave before he does, but there's a tremendous amount of damage that has been done and that will be done over the course of the next year.

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<v Steve Usdin>So I, I'm not sure that that's really something to be sanguine about at all.

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<v Simone Fishburn>I mean, it's just that Jay Bhattacharya is an acolyte, you know, he was from Stanford.

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<v Simone Fishburn>He is part of the group that had a narrative around government's actions with COVID, and suppression of voices and so on.

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<v Simone Fishburn>And I think he  entered NIH claiming that he was going to foster open communication and people shouldn't be scared of, what they wanted to say.

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<v Simone Fishburn>we know that that's not actually really born out, but, but I'm talking about something different here.

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<v Simone Fishburn>It really seems that there's now daylight between him and the administration on this.

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<v Simone Fishburn>So I don't really know how to read that.

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<v Simone Fishburn>Does that just mean that he's gonna continue to roll over and do what the administration or at least, uh, the head of HHS wants or will he at some

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<v Steve Usdin>Absolutely

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<v Simone Fishburn>or will he at some point say, this isn't for me.

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<v Steve Usdin>no ab absolutely, he's, he's given no evidence that he's going to, um, stick up for, um, science or for the scientists at NIH.

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<v Steve Usdin>I don't think that this is the last director who's going to be terminated regardless of what, um, Bhattacharya says.

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<v Steve Usdin>And I think that it's, it's deeply concerning.

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<v Steve Usdin>Look, this is the sixth largest Institute at NIH.

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<v Steve Usdin>It does extraordinarily important work, and it's going to be turned over we don't know who, but you can bet it's gonna be somebody who, believes in Kennedy's philosophy and, and is going to be, you know, subservient to Kennedy.

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<v Steve Usdin>The Eye Institute, um, director may be the next one to go.

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<v Steve Usdin>And so on down the line, this is part of a,  in an upheaval that's going to take a very, very long time to correct if it, if it's possible ever to correct it.

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<v Steve Usdin>And it is not losing.

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<v Simone Fishburn>Question though, Steve, I just wanna jump in.

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<v Simone Fishburn>You've mentioned a couple of other folks, but going back to the head of NINDS, can you just outline if there were specific things you can point to that are counter to the philosophy of this HHS.

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<v Steve Usdin>I don't know.

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<v Steve Usdin>And I, and the people I've spoken with at NIH don't know either.

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<v Steve Usdin>It's really baffling.

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<v Steve Usdin>He is a highly respected scientist.

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<v Steve Usdin>He played as Bhattacharya noted in his memo announcing his departure Koroshetz's played a leading role in the NIH Brain Initiative, guiding high risk, high reward research that's expanded our ability to map brain cells and circuits, link neural activity to behavior and lay the groundwork for more precise interventions across neurological and psychiatric diseases.

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<v Steve Usdin>He was involved in partnerships that cut across NIH.

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<v Steve Usdin>I think this is just part of an anti-science agenda, emanating from Robert F.

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<v Steve Usdin>Kennedy Jr. I don't know that there's any particular thing that, Dr. Koroshetz did or represented that led to his being forced to leave.

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<v Jeff Cranmer>Okay, Steve.

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<v Jeff Cranmer>You had a story last week about, what's happening with the pediatric vouchers Priority Review Vouchers.

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<v Jeff Cranmer>This has been going on for some time now.

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<v Jeff Cranmer>Can you bring us up to speed, on what the latest is?

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<v Steve Usdin>So this is Priority Review Vouchers for, companies that develop drugs for rare pediatric conditions.

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<v Steve Usdin>There's broad bipartisan support.

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<v Steve Usdin>There's broad support among patient advocates among the tiny biotech companies that rely on PRVs to bring therapies for rare cancers, for rare neurological conditions and other conditions forward.

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<v Steve Usdin>And there have been an extraordinary lobbying campaign or advocacy campaign that had brought republicans, democrats, conservatives, liberals, everyone across the board in Congress together to want to reauthorize the PRV program.

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<v Steve Usdin>On the last day of the Senate session this year, there was an attempt to pass it, it needed, um, universal, consent.

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<v Steve Usdin>And, um, Senator Sanders, Bernie Sanders, independent from Vermont, opposed it.

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<v Steve Usdin>He blocked it.

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<v Steve Usdin>He said that he was blocking it because he wanted the Senate to vote in favor of some unrelated healthcare provisions.

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<v Steve Usdin>He knew, when he stood up and did that, that there was no chance, uh, that the Senate was going to do that.

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<v Steve Usdin>The things that he's asked for would cost billions of dollars.

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<v Steve Usdin>They haven't been, debated and they haven't gone through the normal order that would be needed to consider some of those things.

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<v Steve Usdin>And even in the unlikely event that the Senate had agreed to his demands, it wouldn't get through the house.

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<v Steve Usdin>You know, so, he, he wasn't negotiating.

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<v Steve Usdin>He was basically vetoing the reauthorization of Priority Review Vouchers.

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<v Steve Usdin>Individual patients who I've spoken with and patient families are devastated by it.

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<v Steve Usdin>But they're, um, they're going to, to, to move forward.

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<v Steve Usdin>There's an attempt now to get the PRV legislation attached to a continuing resolution that Congress has to pass before the end of January in order to prevent a government shutdown, or if there is a government shutdown, there'll be an attempt to attach that to whatever legislation is passed to reopen the government.

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<v Jeff Cranmer>All right.

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<v Jeff Cranmer>Thanks for that, Steve.

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<v Jeff Cranmer>We're gonna take a quick break and we'll be back.

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<v Alanna Farro>BioCentury This Week is brought to you by The 5th East-West Biopharma Summit in South Korea.

00:14:23.629 --> 00:14:31.070
<v Alanna Farro>An arc of innovation is emerging across Asia, and Western biopharma leaders are taking note-from cross-border deals to newcos.

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<v Alanna Farro>In March, 2026, The 5th BioCentury-BayHelix East-West BioPharma Summit visits South Korea for the first time.

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<v Alanna Farro>Meet the biopharma leaders putting Korea innovation on the global map.

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<v Alanna Farro>Discover if Korea is the next hotspot for NewCo formation.

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<v Alanna Farro>Plus, meet biopharma innovators from India to Singapore, to China and Japan.

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<v Alanna Farro>Register now at BioCenturyEastWest.com.

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<v Jeff Cranmer>We are back on the BioCentury This Week podcast.

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<v Jeff Cranmer>And just another reminder that the early bird deadline for East-West ends this Friday, January 9th.

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<v Jeff Cranmer>So reach out to us.

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<v Jeff Cranmer>We'd love to tell you more about the conference.

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<v Jeff Cranmer>Simone, we talked a lot about what's going on in the U.S.

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<v Jeff Cranmer>Take us a step beyond that.

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<v Simone Fishburn>Well, thanks, Jeff.

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<v Simone Fishburn>to be thinking more globally than the US right now, and there are many reasons for that.

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<v Simone Fishburn>First of all, I think that, no conversation in biotech is complete without talking about China.

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<v Simone Fishburn>BioCentury has been talking about China for a long while now.

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<v Simone Fishburn>Frankly, I would be delighted if I could go the entire 2026 without somebody telling me that the quality of the data from China isn't really that good.

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<v Simone Fishburn>It's nonsense, and that they don't really do innovation, that's nonsense.

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<v Simone Fishburn>It's nonsense.

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<v Simone Fishburn>It ignores the very reality that China biotech is becoming more and more innovative and sophisticated this is partly because they are investing as we are not in the US in their life sciences sector.

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<v Simone Fishburn>Having talked about investing in the life sciences sector, you can see other parts of the world really seeing that as an area to grow the U.K., Europe, we'll talk a little bit about Europe.

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<v Simone Fishburn>And now as BioCentury's conferences reflect, South Korea is quite often mentioned as another place for early clinical trials.

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<v Simone Fishburn>Uh, Australia Long has been one, and this idea of getting early clinical data fast is becoming more and more important in biotech and the US is not really putting itself as the destination to enable that.

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<v Simone Fishburn>So we saw this in our survey, many people saying, actually we are handling FDA risk by taking our clinical trials overseas.

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<v Simone Fishburn>I also wanna talk a little bit about innovation, but here is where I'm gonna throw to you, Jeff, because what we see is  several other areas of the world that have been sort of dormant for a while, that have not really seen, I mean, China was like this to some degree.

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<v Simone Fishburn>No one really saw it as a threat until it was, or an opportunity if you prefer.

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<v Simone Fishburn>And so you've done a, a recent large piece that I want you to talk about in Japan, which I think everybody knows, has a sort of Japan pharma very strong foothold.

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<v Simone Fishburn>But nobody had, has really, they've never really managed to foster a biotech ecosystem.

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<v Simone Fishburn>But you seem to find that that's changing, right?

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<v Simone Fishburn>Jeff?

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<v Simone Fishburn>Tell us about that.

00:17:37.823 --> 00:17:38.423
<v Jeff Cranmer>Yes, Simone.

00:17:38.423 --> 00:17:39.124
<v Jeff Cranmer>Thanks for that.

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<v Jeff Cranmer>Japan, has long been a source of innovation, in biopharma behind the U.S. it's the number two country of origin for blockbuster drugs, after the U.S. But unlike the US all those blockbusters have come from Japanese pharma, as,  you kind of alluded to there, and not the biotech.

00:17:59.845 --> 00:18:14.792
<v Jeff Cranmer>Um, talk to a lot of VCs from Japan and the US including, uh, Ken Horne of AN Venture Partners, Robert Weisskoff of F-Prime Capital.

00:18:14.792 --> 00:18:18.363
<v Jeff Cranmer>Both, have been going to Japan for a very long time.

00:18:18.663 --> 00:18:27.105
<v Jeff Cranmer>And what they've been saying is that they just have felt like the science is spectacular, but there's sort of this been this missed opportunity.

00:18:27.105 --> 00:18:35.146
<v Jeff Cranmer>And part of that is because everyone sort of, I think knows there's sort of, Japan's reputation is a bit risk off.

00:18:35.380 --> 00:18:39.984
<v Jeff Cranmer>there's the sort of the stereotype of the salary man, you join one company for life.

00:18:40.219 --> 00:18:44.756
<v Jeff Cranmer>Uh, it's kind of the antithesis of that biotech entrepreneurial spirit.

00:18:45.022 --> 00:18:54.199
<v Jeff Cranmer>And yet, all along there's been this great science coming out of Kyoto, out of Tokyo, out of Osaka the universities there.

00:18:54.465 --> 00:19:03.909
<v Jeff Cranmer>And they sort of go into these, or they have been going into these biotechs that they aren't necessarily set up to fail, but they're not set up to succeed.

00:19:03.909 --> 00:19:20.925
<v Jeff Cranmer>They're undercapitalized, they're led by academics, and they, they've sort of lacked the knowhow, the, the, the management, uh, knowhow, the VC leadership to get the innovation into proper sized biotechs.

00:19:21.492 --> 00:19:22.094
<v Simone Fishburn>Yeah, Jeff.

00:19:22.260 --> 00:19:38.644
<v Simone Fishburn>I think most people know that Japan's behind the Seminole PD ones and many of the other big breakthroughs, but I think we also know from things like Nobel Prize that, you know, on the technology front, they've, they've in fact been pioneering areas like stem cells and that kind of research.

00:19:39.044 --> 00:19:45.683
<v Simone Fishburn>So maybe you can just talk about, I think what's really, we've had the academics, we've, we've got the sort of know-how from the pharmas.

00:19:45.951 --> 00:19:48.452
<v Simone Fishburn>Obviously what's been lacking is capital, right.

00:19:48.686 --> 00:20:00.031
<v Simone Fishburn>And so VCs, so just maybe briefly just talk about, do you have sort of numbers of the way that that picture is changing in terms of Japan being seen as an investment opportunity?

00:20:00.298 --> 00:20:05.203
<v Jeff Cranmer>Yeah, I mean, um, in terms of numbers, we're starting to see some really large funds, um.

00:20:05.737 --> 00:20:10.909
<v Jeff Cranmer>AN Ventures has just raised the largest Japan dedicated fund.

00:20:11.442 --> 00:20:14.579
<v Jeff Cranmer>You have longtime players such as University of Tokyo.

00:20:15.513 --> 00:20:28.292
<v Jeff Cranmer>Edge Capital Partners, which launched in 2004, billion dollars in assets under management, just raised a$326 million sixth fund.

00:20:28.727 --> 00:20:35.534
<v Jeff Cranmer>And this is coupled by a lot of capital support from the Japanese government.

00:20:35.534 --> 00:20:43.608
<v Jeff Cranmer>They have a two for one matching program for programs backed by accredited VCs.

00:20:44.009 --> 00:20:51.516
<v Jeff Cranmer>And I I, I think the last point I wanna make, the, the one thing that I found really interesting is the sort of the new strategies that are taking place there.

00:20:51.782 --> 00:20:59.790
<v Jeff Cranmer>One, you have some companies like Fast Track Initiative, and Remiges Ventures.

00:21:00.192 --> 00:21:06.365
<v Jeff Cranmer>Both are building companies, based on IP from Japanese Academia.

00:21:06.664 --> 00:21:20.846
<v Jeff Cranmer>Remiges is deploying sort of an incubator model that it launched, uh, five years ago, where the firm's R Discovery unit kind of handles the nuts and bolts that, that generally trip up young biotechs.

00:21:21.145 --> 00:21:28.185
<v Jeff Cranmer>Brings each project forth until the point at which they can attract capital and sort of leave the nest.

00:21:28.519 --> 00:21:33.291
<v Jeff Cranmer>And then you have F-Prime, you have ANV among others.

00:21:33.625 --> 00:21:59.017
<v Jeff Cranmer>who are starting to build companies that, that marry, venture money and management chops from the US with Japanese innovation, and are building these companies that are, you know, right from the get go, global cross border companies that, have one foot in Japan, one foot in the U.S.

00:21:59.284 --> 00:22:02.220
<v Jeff Cranmer>leveraging the inexpensive R&D.

00:22:03.288 --> 00:22:09.928
<v Jeff Cranmer>capabilities and talents, and innovation out of Japan with, C-Suites from the U.S.

00:22:10.528 --> 00:22:15.901
<v Simone Fishburn>I think it's super interesting, especially when you hear things like for F-Prime, a lot of the western investors going in there.

00:22:16.268 --> 00:22:19.704
<v Simone Fishburn>I'm gonna come back to Europe, bring the conversation back to Europe in a minute.

00:22:19.938 --> 00:22:41.292
<v Simone Fishburn>But I wanna make this point because it's really important to BioCentury and it's one of the reasons why we were in China very early, really seeing the opportunity there because we do believe that this is a global business and biotech is a global business, so we do hold our conferences in these different regions of the world so that we can shine a light on that.

00:22:41.526 --> 00:22:48.299
<v Simone Fishburn>I think the South Korea, the conference in Seoul, The East-West, which is in March, is gonna be super interesting.

00:22:48.500 --> 00:22:56.641
<v Simone Fishburn>It does aggregate, or congregate, I should actually say, innovators and investors from other regions, but it also shines a spotlight on that.

00:22:57.041 --> 00:23:03.481
<v Simone Fishburn>And bringing it back to Europe this year, we're actually in Prague, who doesn't wanna go to lovely Prague for Bio€quity in May.

00:23:03.682 --> 00:23:07.385
<v Simone Fishburn>But I feel that, obviously I talk a lot about the U.K.

00:23:07.385 --> 00:23:12.457
<v Simone Fishburn>and um, I know the U.K. as a, as a nation financially has a lot of problems right now.

00:23:12.457 --> 00:23:17.895
<v Simone Fishburn>But everything that I listen to and read talks about investment in the life sciences sector.

00:23:18.063 --> 00:23:32.644
<v Simone Fishburn>And Steve, I think you were early earlier talking about the European Union making a plane now recognizing the opportunity as the US makes it hard to do innovation, at least from a public investment point of view.

00:23:32.844 --> 00:23:39.317
<v Simone Fishburn>And you know, Europe seems to be seeing that opportunity in terms of both investment and attracting talent.

00:23:39.483 --> 00:23:41.286
<v Simone Fishburn>Did you have any thoughts to contribute there?

00:23:42.319 --> 00:23:42.753
<v Steve Usdin>Well sure.

00:23:42.753 --> 00:23:53.365
<v Steve Usdin>Yeah, I think obviously, people in leadership positions in Europe are looking at what's happening with regulatory agencies in the United States and with science funding, and seeing if there are ways that they can capitalize on it.

00:23:53.698 --> 00:23:57.469
<v Steve Usdin>Their high profile scientists are leaving the United States for positions in Europe.

00:23:58.369 --> 00:24:11.048
<v Steve Usdin>The EMA leadership has invited CEOs of pharma companies for a meeting with Emer Cooke the head of EMA, and, um, with the EMA's Chief Medical Officer, in April.

00:24:11.282 --> 00:24:20.491
<v Steve Usdin>I think that this is gonna be part of a, a larger effort for Europe to make a play for companies to invest in innovation in Europe.

00:24:20.858 --> 00:24:24.429
<v Steve Usdin>I'm gonna be talking on the podcast next week about the Biosecure Act.

00:24:24.429 --> 00:24:39.510
<v Steve Usdin>But I think that, you know, there, there are ways that that's going to, again, it's gonna create or could create competitive advantages for companies that in Europe that aren't necessarily subject to some of the restrictions in dealing with China that the US companies are feeling.

00:24:40.278 --> 00:24:45.383
<v Jeff Cranmer>Well thanks for that, Steve, Simone, let's hope it's an exciting year for biotech.

00:24:45.450 --> 00:24:56.461
<v Jeff Cranmer>I am, uh, confident we'll see a lot of great innovation and a lot of stories to watch in Europe, in Asia, and obviously the US as well.

00:24:56.827 --> 00:25:14.613
<v Jeff Cranmer>You can read some of BioCentury's year-end coverage our analysts picks and predictions The Best of BioCentury, uh, Legends Lost looking at the scientists, entrepreneurs and investors who left their mark on the biotech industry.

00:25:14.945 --> 00:25:27.224
<v Jeff Cranmer>Coming up soon, we'll have our annual look at the catalyst we are looking for in the coming year, as well as Stephen Hansen's 2026 Public Markets Preview.

00:25:28.259 --> 00:25:29.861
<v Jeff Cranmer>Thank you for listening.

00:25:29.861 --> 00:25:36.000
<v Jeff Cranmer>If you like what you're hearing, like, subscribe, tell your friends about us, send us a question.

00:25:36.535 --> 00:25:40.971
<v Jeff Cranmer>Kendall Square Orchestra provides the music for BioCentury This Week.

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<v Jeff Cranmer>The group connects science and technology professionals and other members of the Greater Boston community to collaborate innovate and inspire through music, while supporting causes related to healthcare and education.