David Baltimore’s legacy, Atlas fund, MASH pipeline, urticaria and more

Nobel winning molecular biologist made landmark contributions to the biopharma industry

Molecular biologist and Nobel Prize winner David Baltimore made foundational contributions to the biopharma industry and was the essential figure behind such research centers as the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research and the Broad Institute. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, BioCentury’s analysts discuss the legacy of Baltimore, who passed away this past weekend at 87. Baltimore’s discovery of reverse transcriptase is a rare example of a finding whose transformative potential was immediately understood, argued Editor in Chief Simone Fishburn on the podcast.

The analysts also discuss Atlas Venture’s new $400 million opportunity fund. According to Director of Biopharma Intelligence Stephen Hansen, Atlas’ decision to raise its largest later-stage vehicle to date, after raising its last flagship fund at the same size as that fund’s predecessor, reflects a changing environment that demands more private capital further along in companies’ life cycles. 

Also in the episode, the BioCentury team discusses the growing clinical development pipeline for metabolic-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), including what the early launch data from Rezdiffra resmetirom from  Madrigal Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NASDAQ:MDGL) mean for the field, how the advent of GLP-1 therapies may affect the prospects of competing mechanisms, and what role combination treatments may play in treating the indication.

Executive Editor Selina Koch and Executive Director of Biopharma Intelligence Luaren Martz dive into another growing clinical pipeline stocked with mechanistic diversity, chronic urticaria, to discuss the takeaways of a recent landscape article by Biopharma Analyst Tierney Baum.

Blockbuster drug Dupixent dupilumab featured both in the urticaria analysis and the team’s discussion of recent late-stage atopic dermatitis data from  Sanofi (Euronext:SAN; NASDAQ:SNY). The efficacy of the pharma’s amlitelimab may not have bested Dupixent, but BioCentury’s analysts lay out reasons why it may still gain market share.