Stéphane Bancel at the Endpoints #JPM20 breakfast panel in San Francisco, January 2020 (Photo: Jeff Rumans, Endpoints News)
April 8, 2021 09:21 AM EDTUpdated April 9, 04:20 PM
People
Publisher's note

The CHIC in­ter­view: Stéphane Ban­cel on Mod­er­na's overnight trans­for­ma­tion, the new time­line on vac­cine de­vel­op­ment and his one re­gret in 2020

Arsalan Arif

Founder

The China Healthcare Investment Conference — better known as CHIC — took place last week in Shanghai at the Ritz-Carlton Pudong. Endpoints partnered with CHIC this year in an effort to highlight the global nature of drug development, and John Carroll conducted two virtual “fireside chats” that was broadcast to attendees. We’ll be sharing both with the Endpoints Premium audience, and first up is a one-on-one interview with Moderna’s Stéphane Bancel.

John Carroll has been covering Moderna and Bancel since the very beginning. He started their conversation by noting it was the first time he’s taken a drug from a company he’s covered from its inception. They go on to discuss how Moderna is being transformed by cash-flow earlier than expected, Bancel’s one big regret in 2020, and much more.

Their conversation is below, and we hope you enjoy.

Endpoints Premium

Premium subscription required

Unlock this article along with other benefits by subscribing to one of our paid plans.

SPONSORED
March 20, 2023 06:00 AM EDT

Has the mo­ment fi­nal­ly ar­rived for val­ue-based health­care?

Sean Dodge

Healthcare Technology Analyst, RBC Capital Markets

RBC Capital Markets’ Healthcare Technology Analyst, Sean Dodge, spotlights a new breed of tech-enabled providers who are rapidly transforming the way clinicians deliver healthcare, and explores the key question: can this accelerating revolution overturn the US healthcare system?

Key points

Tech-enabled healthcare providers are poised to help the US transition to value, not volume, as the basis for reward.
The move to value-based care has policy momentum, but is risky and complex for clinicians.
Outsourced tech specialists are emerging to provide the required expertise, while healthcare and tech are also converging through M&A.
Value-based care remains in its early stages, but the transition is accelerating and represents a huge addressable market.

Alaa Halawa, executive director at Mubadala’s US venture group
March 22, 2023 08:00 AM EDTUpdated 02:30 PM
Bioregnum
Discovery

The ven­ture crew at Mubadala are up­ping their biotech cre­ation game, tak­ing care­ful aim at a new fron­tier in drug de­vel­op­ment

It started with a cup of coffee and a slow burning desire to go early and long in the biotech creation business.

Wrapping up a 15-year discovery stint at Genentech back in the summer of 2021, Rami Hannoush was treated to a caffeine-fueled review of the latest work UCSF’s Jim Wells had been doing on protein degradation — one of the hottest fields in drug development.

“Jim and I have known each other for the past 15 years through Genentech collaborations. We met over coffee, and he was telling me about this concept of the company that he was thinking of,” says Hannoush. “And I got immediately intrigued by it because I knew that this could open up a big space in terms of adding a new modality in drug discovery that is desperately needed in pharma.”

Endpoints Premium

Premium subscription required

Unlock this article along with other benefits by subscribing to one of our paid plans.

March 22, 2023 06:09 PM EDT
Pharma
FDA+

FDA ad­vi­sors unan­i­mous­ly rec­om­mend ac­cel­er­at­ed ap­proval for Bio­gen's ALS drug

Max Gelman

Senior Editor

A panel of outside advisors to the FDA unanimously recommended that the agency grant accelerated approval to Biogen’s ALS drug tofersen despite the drug failing the primary goal of its Phase III study, an endorsement that could pave a path forward for the treatment.

By a 9-0 vote, members of the Peripheral and Central Nervous System Drugs Advisory Committee said there was sufficient evidence that tofersen’s effect on a certain protein associated with ALS is reasonably likely to predict a benefit for patients. But panelists stopped short of advocating for a full approval, voting 3-5 against (with one abstention) and largely citing the failed pivotal study.

Endpoints News

Keep reading Endpoints with a free subscription

Unlock this story instantly and join 163,500+ biopharma pros reading Endpoints daily — and it's free.

March 23, 2023 03:00 AM EDT
People
Manufacturing

Genen­tech to stop com­mer­cial man­u­fac­tur­ing at Cal­i­for­nia head­quar­ters

Tyler Patchen

News Reporter

Genentech is halting commercial manufacturing at its California headquarters — and laying off several hundred employees.

The move is the result of a decision Genentech made in 2007 to relocate manufacturing operations from its South San Francisco headquarters location to other facilities or move the work to CDMOs, said Andi Goddard, Genentech’s SVP of quality and compliance for pharmaceutical technical operations, in an interview with Endpoints News. Genentech has made changes in capabilities and invested more in technology, so it doesn’t need as many large-scale manufacturing facilities as it did in the past, she said.

Endpoints News

Keep reading Endpoints with a free subscription

Unlock this story instantly and join 163,500+ biopharma pros reading Endpoints daily — and it's free.

March 21, 2023 12:30 PM EDT
AI
Pharma
Marketing

Chat­G­PT with phar­ma da­ta de­buts for med­ical meet­ings, be­gin­ning with AACR

Beth Snyder Bulik

Senior Editor

What do you get when you combine ChatGPT generative AI technology with specific pharma and clinical datasets? A time-saving tool that can answer questions about medical conference abstracts and clinical findings in seconds in one new application from ZoomRx called FermaGPT.

ZoomRx is debuting a public version of its generative AI product specifically for medical conferences beginning this week for the upcoming American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) annual meeting that runs April 14-19.

Endpoints News

Keep reading Endpoints with a free subscription

Unlock this story instantly and join 163,500+ biopharma pros reading Endpoints daily — and it's free.

March 22, 2023 10:49 AM EDT
FDA+

FDA+ roundup: Leg­isla­tive asks for 2024 fo­cus on more au­thor­i­ties, gener­ic drug com­pe­ti­tion

Zachary Brennan

Senior Editor

The FDA’s legislative priorities for the next year highlight the agency’s focus on expanding generic drug competition, backstopping the supply chain and growing its current authorities.

On the new authorities front, FDA is seeking to expand its mandatory recall authority for all drugs, as the agency has been embroiled in a long process to remove some from the market. Covis Pharma refused to pull its preterm birth drug Makena, which won accelerated approval, for almost five years after failing its confirmatory trial. The company has since reversed course after a negative adcomm.

Endpoints Premium

Premium subscription required

Unlock this article along with other benefits by subscribing to one of our paid plans.

March 22, 2023 08:58 AM EDTUpdated 12:51 PM
People

'Band­ing to­geth­er': 50 fe­male biotech ex­ec­u­tives lay out plans for board di­ver­si­ty, new com­pa­nies and men­tor­ing founders

Kyle LaHucik

Associate Editor

Earlier this month, during the Silicon Valley Bank meltdown, Angie You recalled the speed with which female biotech CEOs were helping each other connect with bankers, get their wires through and assuage concerns during a financial implosion.

This past weekend, 50 of about 125 women who are part of that Slack group and a broader coalition self-dubbed the Biotech Sisterhood met in person in Cancun for the second rendition of an annual summit connecting female biotech CEOs. The attendance list doubled that of the inaugural gathering in Arizona 12 months ago.

Endpoints News

Keep reading Endpoints with a free subscription

Unlock this story instantly and join 163,500+ biopharma pros reading Endpoints daily — and it's free.

March 23, 2023 03:31 AM EDTUpdated 04:45 AM
R&D
Pharma

Sanofi, Re­gen­eron boast PhI­II win with Dupix­ent in COPD, clear­ing first bar for ex­pan­sion

Amber Tong

Senior Editor

Dupixent, the blockbuster anti-inflammatory drug from Sanofi and Regeneron, has cleared a high-stakes Phase III study in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, the companies announced Thursday morning.

If they hold up in a second, identical trial, the data pave the way for Dupixent to become the first biologic to treat patients whose COPD remains uncontrolled despite being on maximal standard-of-care inhaled therapy — the patient population studied in the pivotal program. The companies had spotlighted this as a key readout as they look to expand the Dupixent franchise and explore its full potential.

March 21, 2023 10:54 AM EDT
People

Who are the women break­ing bar­ri­ers in drug de­vel­op­ment? Nom­i­nate them for End­points' an­nu­al re­port

Nicole DeFeudis

Editor

Amber Tong

Senior Editor

Today, we’re opening nominations for our fifth annual Women in Biopharma R&D special report.

Over the last four years, we’ve honored 80 women whose extraordinary accomplishments have changed the game in biopharma R&D. We’re looking for big thinkers, scientists, executives and other enterprising women who are breaking barriers in drug development and inspiring the next generation of leaders.

The CHIC in­ter­view: Stéphane Ban­cel on Mod­er­na's overnight trans­for­ma­tion, the new time­line on vac­cine de­vel­op­ment and his one re­gret in 2020

Has the mo­ment fi­nal­ly ar­rived for val­ue-based health­care?

The ven­ture crew at Mubadala are up­ping their biotech cre­ation game, tak­ing care­ful aim at a new fron­tier in drug de­vel­op­ment

FDA ad­vi­sors unan­i­mous­ly rec­om­mend ac­cel­er­at­ed ap­proval for Bio­gen's ALS drug

Genen­tech to stop com­mer­cial man­u­fac­tur­ing at Cal­i­for­nia head­quar­ters

Chat­G­PT with phar­ma da­ta de­buts for med­ical meet­ings, be­gin­ning with AACR

FDA+ roundup: Leg­isla­tive asks for 2024 fo­cus on more au­thor­i­ties, gener­ic drug com­pe­ti­tion

'Band­ing to­geth­er': 50 fe­male biotech ex­ec­u­tives lay out plans for board di­ver­si­ty, new com­pa­nies and men­tor­ing founders

Sanofi, Re­gen­eron boast PhI­II win with Dupix­ent in COPD, clear­ing first bar for ex­pan­sion

Who are the women break­ing bar­ri­ers in drug de­vel­op­ment? Nom­i­nate them for End­points' an­nu­al re­port