A new pill, molnupiravir, from Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, and partner Merck & Co. Inc., could cut hospitalizations and deaths from COVID-19 in half. The companies are already seeking emergency use authorization in the U.S. and global governments are pledging to buy big lots of the medicine, pending regulatory approvals.

But some people are already crying foul over the proposed price, $712 for a treatment, which includes twice daily doses for five days – because the U.S. government helped pay for the research. Molnupiravir was invented at Emory University and had partial funding and support from the U.S. government.

Joseph Allen, executive director of the Bayh-Dole Coalition, joined the BioWorld Insider Podcast this week to explain how this scientific discovery may have never had a chance to move out of the university onto pharmacy shelves without the government’s support of innovation. The cost of health care, including drugs, is an entirely separate topic and should be treated as such, he said.

Allen explained that the Bayh-Dole Act, which then-Senator Joe Biden voted for in 1980, also has something called a march-in provision. In the absence of good-faith efforts being made to commercialize an invention discovered with government support, it enables the government to force licensing of the technology to another party. While some have argued the same mechanism could be used to set the price of federally funded medicines, Allen said that’s never been the law’s intention.

However the pricing saga plays out, the pill would be a far more convenient alternative to other currently used therapies which are injected.

Listen to BioWorld Insider podcast to better understand the controversial story behind the story.

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As James Peyer, the CEO of Cambrian Biopharma Inc., watched his grandfather fail every cancer treatment and pass away, he also saw the structure of his future company being born. Waiting until people became sick was the wrong way to treat disease, he found. Instead, Cambrian was created to develop anti-aging therapies, a unique business model that fits the new field of geroscience. To do that, Cambrian became a biotech business, a VC fund and an incubator. Peyer spoke to the BioWorld Insider Podcast about his pipeline and how he goes about fundraising in a little understood field.

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After many years of research and development, drug-induced weight loss has matured into a viable therapeutic option. But do the drugs directly help people become healthier or is it the weight loss? There are longstanding concerns that the health effects of weight might be overrated. And new studies show fitness improves health outside of weight. So, can a person still be considered healthy despite being over a “normal” weight? How will future medical science consider what is called the obesity epidemic? In this edition of the BioWorld Insider podcast, BioWorld Science Managing Editor Anette Breindl, discusses her new analysis of multiple studies related to weight loss, metabolic health and fitness which in many ways goes against the mainstream health care state of mind about obesity.

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We wrapped up 2022 and are preparing for 2023 on this BioWorld Insider podcast. Staff writer Lee Landenberger talked to four CEOs, visionaries of companies producing new science and drug development. The CEOs offered their insights into what happened this year and looked at the challenges and opportunities for next year.

• Karen Zaderej, CEO of Axogen Inc., detailed a successful phase III study of its peripheral nerve repair product, Advance Nerve Graft, despite staffing challenges at hospitals.
• Sean Bohen, CEO of Olema Oncology Inc., whose company is developing therapies to treat women's cancers, reflected on how Olema overcame financing challenges.
• Rob Ross, the CEO of Surface Oncology Inc., spoke about how equity funding has dried up and has forced Surface to be creative in order to keep moving forward with its antibody against IL-27 to treat non-small-cell lung cancer.
• Rob Etherington, the CEO of Clene Nanomedicine Inc., revealed how his company will be leaning into strategic M&A and licensing opportunities to keep its multiple sclerosis candidate, which can improve function on top of standard-of-care MS drugs, moving forward.

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An analyst recently observed that mental health treatments are stuck where cancer was 50 years ago. However, there have been major advancements in developing psychedelic medicines to address that problem. BioWorld staff writer Lee Landenberger talked with James Lanthier, the CEO of Mindset Pharma, which is developing what it calls “next-generation” psychedelic medicines to treat neurological and psychiatric disorders. Lanthier discussed challenges facing companies developing psychedelic treatments and how to overcome the one-size-fits-all, trial-and-error approach to mental health treatment that often seems stuck in the past.

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BioWorld writers bring you the details of new R&D alliances, financings, IPOs and M&A every day. These stories are the heartbeat of the relationships between industry giants and their smaller, more innovative peers. But what's the top-line read for dealmaking these days? With nearly 1,000 biopharma deals completed through early August amid a volatile economic climate, there's a lot to talk about. Join the BioWorld Insider podcast as we talk with Senior Analyst Karen Carey, whose data-driven research delivers a detailed picture of the ups and downs. For starters, the sector has seen sharp declines this year in stocks and less money being raised. “What we are seeing seems to be a correction of the intense enthusiasm – the zeal for biopharma during 2020 and 2021 when nobody knew what was going on with COVID,” Carey said.

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In Extending the human lifespan, a BioWorld special report, the team examined the latest science, the key biological drivers that can be targeted pharmacologically and the companies developing potential “Fountain of Youth” candidate drugs. In this episode of the BioWorld Insider Podcast, the team discussed the report’s highlights and key takeaways. In what could be a holy grail for humanity, anti-aging drugs would simultaneously reduce the risk of multiple age-related illnesses in one. BioWorld found that investments in life-extending drugs and the number of clinical trials are on the rise. Can we hopscotch over the many diseases of aging? The impact could be staggering. Equitable access to drugs and therapies tackling aging could reduce health care costs in a major way and improve quality of life.

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