Ian Wendt

* Biopharma industry leader.

* Podcast host of the RealPharma podcast.

*

[Ian Wendt @Ian_Wendt_]

New Episode! "Breaking the Silence: Why Pharma Needs to Speak Up with Brian Reid"

🎙️ Real Pharma – Episode Title: Breaking the Silence: Why Pharma Needs to Speak Up Hosts: Na-Ri Oh & Ian Wendt Guest…

Player links & show notes: https://t.co/hs4VvYqH4u

[Ian Wendt @Ian_Wendt_]

New Episode! "Formulation as Strategy: Why CDMOs Matter More Than Ever"

Episode Title: Formulation as Strategy: Why CDMOs Matter More Than Ever Guest: Elizabeth Hickman, President & CEO, Austin Phar…

Player links & show notes: https://t.co/mCfgXvplf5

[Ian Wendt @Ian_Wendt_]

New Episode! "Untangling the IRA with Emma Cousin"

🎧 Hosts: Na-Ri Oh & Ian Wendt 🎓 Special Guests: Emma Cousin (PhD Candidate, Choice Institute – UW), Amos Fung (RealPharma Intern & Student Pharmaci…

Player links & show notes: https://t.co/GpRY8di3LI

[Ian Wendt @Ian_Wendt_]

New Episode! "Reinventing Cell Therapy with Acoustics"

Reinventing Cell Therapy with Acoustics, Microfluidics & High-Throughput Engineering In this episode, hosts Na-Ri Oh and Ian Wendt sit down wit…

Player links & show notes: https://t.co/jfqM6YkThv

[Ian Wendt @Ian_Wendt_]

New Episode! "Food as Medicine: Promise, Pitfalls, and the Politics of the Plate"

👩‍🔬👨‍⚕️ Hosts: Na-Ri Oh & Ian Wendt 🎧 Guest: Dr. Ron Shigeta – Biotech visionary, co-founder of IndieBio, and food i…

Player links & show notes: https://t.co/ANntMHHVMG

[Ian Wendt @Ian_Wendt_]

New Episode! "From Job Search to Power Move: How Top Talent’s Playing 2025"

🎙 Episode Title: From Job Search to Power Move: How Top Talent’s Playing 2025 🧠 Guests: Kristiaan Rawlings, Executive Dire…

Player links & show notes: https://t.co/vbT9gOfgmK

[Ian Wendt @Ian_Wendt_]

New Episode! "Where Policy Meets the Pharmacy Counter"

Where Policy Meets the Pharmacy Counter Featuring Congressman Jake Auchincloss Episode Summary In this episode of RealPharma , hosts Na-Ri Oh a…

Player links & show notes: https://t.co/IjeLYAqJDO

[Ian Wendt @Ian_Wendt_]

@goldrbxia Code

[Ian Wendt @Ian_Wendt_]

New Episode! "Conversations, Not Campaigns: The Art of Authentic Engagement in Healthcare"

Episode Title: “Conversations, Not Campaigns: The Art of Authentic Engagement in Healthcare” 🗣️ Episode Sum…

Player links & show notes: https://t.co/zivQvSRIt8

[Ian Wendt @Ian_Wendt_]

New Episode! "Building the Highway for AI in Pharma: A Conversation with Ilya Burkov"

🎙️ Episode Title: Building the Highway for AI in Pharma: A Conversation with Ilya Burkov 📍 Episode Summary In th…

Player links & show notes: https://t.co/bkMQ5OSWsb

[Ian Wendt @Ian_Wendt_]

New Episode! "Inside the CMC Black Box: A Deep Dive with Reza Oliyai"

🎙️ Episode Title: Inside the CMC Black Box: A Deep Dive with Reza Oliyai 🧾 Show Notes: What exactly is CMC — and why is it behin…

Player links & show notes: https://t.co/fYFFETy11y

[Ian Wendt @Ian_Wendt_]

MannKind grabs scPharmaceuticals in a $360M deal.

MannKind will pay $5.35 per share plus a $1 CVR — a 31% premium — to acquire scPharmaceuticals and its Furoscix on-body infuser. FuroScix delivers subcutaneous furosemide for heart failure/CKD patients and drove 96% sales growth in H1. MannKind expects to boost Furoscix’s opportunity in CKD with its endocrinology strengths.

Could this jumpstart at-home diuretic therapy and expand MannKind’s cardiometabolic footprint?

Sources: Fierce Pharma (Zoey Becker).

[Ian Wendt @Ian_Wendt_]

Argenx’s Vyvgart gets a boost.

New ADAPT SERON trial data show Vyvgart (efgartigimod alfa) improved MG‑ADL scores in seronegative myasthenia gravis and was well tolerated. Filing with FDA this year could add ~11k patients to its label.

With competition heating up among FcRn inhibitors, will these results accelerate payer coverage and adoption?

Sources: Fierce Pharma; Argenx.

[Ian Wendt @Ian_Wendt_]

PBM reform watch: AMA backs H.R. 4317 (119th Congress) pushing transparency, clawback limits, and pharmacy choice in Medicare.

If enacted, what shifts should biopharma plan for on rebating, formulary design, and specialty access?

Sources: https://t.co/QrxKSEpMKE; AMA.

[Ian Wendt @Ian_Wendt_]

GLP-1 pill wars heat up.

Eli Lilly’s oral GLP-1, orforglipron, hit 10.5% mean weight loss in T2D in Phase 3 and met A1C targets. Oral manufacturing & storage advantages could be huge vs injectables. Filing planned this year.

What does an oral option do to capacity, access, and pricing?

Sources: Reuters; FT; BioSpace.

[Ian Wendt @Ian_Wendt_]

New Episode! "Can We Say That? Dara Katcher Levy on the AdPromo Regulatory Landscape"

In this episode of RealPharma, Ian Wendt and Na-Ri Oh sit down with Dara Katcher Levy, a regulatory attorney at …

Player links & show notes: https://t.co/06nPmQyTt1

[Ian Wendt @Ian_Wendt_]

• Hearing aids and dementia risk. A long-term study of nearly 3 000 participants from the Framingham Heart Study found that adults under 70 who used hearing aids had a 61% lower risk of dementia over about 20 years.

• Timing matters. No significant dementia risk reduction was seen in those over 70 starting hearing aids, underscoring the importance of earlier intervention.

• Public-health implications. Experts say integrating hearing care into midlife preventive health could delay or prevent thousands of dementia cases.

Should hearing care be part of broader preventive-health strategies?

[Ian Wendt @Ian_Wendt_]

• 15% tariff cap sets new baseline. A U.S.–EU trade pact caps pharmaceutical import tariffs at 15%, far below earlier proposals of up to 250%.

• Hidden costs. Tariffs on active ingredients add little to finished-drug costs, but duties on finished products or key components like bottle plugs and glass could significantly raise manufacturing expenses.

• Onshoring accelerates. The deal is catalyzing domestic manufacturing: companies are partnering with U.S. CDMOs and investing in API plants. AbbVie, for example, is putting $195 M into its North Chicago site.

How will this tariff cap influence your supply-chain strategy?

[Ian Wendt @Ian_Wendt_]

• Medtech funding surges. Venture capital financing rebounded in 2025, with investors pouring cash into pulsed-field ablation and fluid-management systems for heart care.

• Layoffs and optimism. Biopharma layoffs exceeded 13 000 by July—up 31% year‑on‑year—driven by patent expirations, trial failures and regulatory pressures. Yet investors are cautiously optimistic, focusing on cardiorenal, oncology and neuropsychology while staying wary of vaccines and gene therapy.

• Shifting investment strategy. Venture funding is gravitating toward later-stage assets and targeted deals to offset looming patent cliffs.

Where do you see the biotech market heading as 2025 wraps up?

[Ian Wendt @Ian_Wendt_]

• Gilead pursues in vivo gene delivery. Gilead’s Kite Pharma is buying Interius BioTherapeutics for $350 M to acquire its in vivo CAR‑T gene‑delivery platform. Kite’s leadership believes combining Interius’ platform with its expertise will advance best‑in‑class therapies.

• XOMA expands its royalty arm. XOMA Corporation agreed to purchase Mural Oncology for up to $36 M, underscoring investor appetite for promising immuno‑oncology assets.

• Consolidation continues. These deals show that cell‑ and gene‑therapy platforms remain hot targets as big pharma refreshes pipelines.

What other M&A trends are shaping your expectations for 2025?