Jacob Bell

Senior reporter covering neuroscience, M&A and cutting-edge drug technologies for @biopharmadive. Formerly @TheStreet, @educationweek, @mcclatchydc.

[Jacob Bell @realJacobBell]

In case you missed it, our latest feature takes a deep dive into a very interesting area of drug research: ion channels. These proteins made $VRTX one of the world's wealthiest biotechs. Now others are getting in on the action. #biotech #science #biopharma https://t.co/osZNcjK4xE

[BioPharma Dive @BioPharmaDive]

Parkinson’s drug from Biogen, Denali comes up short https://t.co/CAVj7QVugH $BIIB $DNLI by @realJacobBell

[Ned Pagliarulo @NedPagliarulo]

Jacob is a masterful storyteller and this feature from last year is a good example.

ASBPE agrees - Jacob's story won National Gold for best feature and anchored a portfolio they judged to be "best body of work by a staff journalist" (announced y'day).

Give it a read!

[Jacob Bell @realJacobBell]

And thank you to @ASBPE for these honors, I really can't express how much they mean (probably not the best admission for a writer).

[Jacob Bell @realJacobBell]

Extremely proud to say the American Society of Business Publication Editors awarded me Best Body of Work by a Staff Journalist and Best Feature at their national awards ceremony yesterday. @ASBPE

[Jacob Bell @realJacobBell]

The work is, of course, far from finished. If you have ideas for a story that needs telling, please reach out. Thank you to my BioPharma Dive team, whose support gave me the bandwidth to investigate this topic and write these stories.

[Jon Gardner @ByJonGardner]

Read this Deep Dive for @realJacobBell 's excellent scientific and business reporting, and for one of the best outro quotes I've read in awhile.

[Daphne Zohar @daphnezohar]

Biotech M&A on track to have 2nd most active year in history w/ more early stage deals. Nice summary of which funds have benefited from recent M&A from Stifel @TimOpler $XBI $IBB

[Ben Fidler @BentheFidler]

RBC: Revolution, Xenon, Arrowhead among top #biotech takeover targets https://t.co/h1toH9szrU by @realJacobBell $ARWR $XENE $RVMD $DYNE

[Liz Essley Whyte @l_e_whyte]

NEW

FDA vaccines chief Vinay Prasad will leave the agency at the end of April

Gift link below

[Jacob Bell @realJacobBell]

This is an incredible ending for a therapy I've followed for years. If you're interested in the backstory, here's a feature from 2020, when the FDA issued an astonishing rejection to Roctavian's approval application. https://t.co/JsGdGZpUb3

[Jacob Bell @realJacobBell]

BioMarin has chosen to pull its once highly anticipated gene therapy for hemophilia from the market. The therapy struggled commercially, which led $BMRN to search for a potential buyer. In the company's latest earnings, it reveals it couldn't find one.

[Jacob Bell @realJacobBell]

$NBIX "has the scarcity value of being one of only several biotech companies whose ~$3B in existing commercial revenue is expected to grow by more than 50% by 2030 and be durable well into the next decade," he wrote.

[Jacob Bell @realJacobBell]

In a new note, RBC Capital Markets analyst Brian Abrahams poses a question: Could Neurocrine Biosciences be a takeout target? $NBIX

[Jacob Bell @realJacobBell]

So, Abrahams writes, while $NBIX hasn't often been seen as a takeout target, if this gap continues between where investors vs. analysts value the stock, Neurocrine could certainly be attractive to a large pharma acquirer.

[Jacob Bell @realJacobBell]

"This is why clear, pragmatic, consistent regulatory guidance is essential. The types of individualized genetic therapies that we're trying to develop simply do not fit in the traditional model of drug development."

[Jacob Bell @realJacobBell]

Rebecca Ahrens-Nicklas, an attending physician at CHOP and part of Baby KJ's treatment team: "Disease communities face real uphill battles when it comes to developing new therapies." #FDA #HHS

[Jacob Bell @realJacobBell]

"The biggest hurdle, though, is moving beyond a first in human trial to regulatory approval. Getting past that gap is what allows treatments to become commercially available, reimbursed and scaled so all patients who need them can access them ... "