With all the hype around Covid and monkeypox, it’s easy to forget that viruses aren’t the only infectious game in town. Bacteria caused 3 million worldwide deaths in 2019, at a rate at least five times that of the flu. So why does it still take so long to identify & treat a bacterial infection?

The biotech sector is experiencing the most severe downturn of at least the last 20 years. There have been many other downturns in the more recent past, but this one is different. Here Peter Kolchinsky discusses why - and how we’ll rebound.

Though its program failed in clinical trials, Nektar kicked off an appreciation for what might be possible with a better IL-2. As other companies carry on with programs in part inspired by Nektar’s early data and vision, we explore failure in biotech, ignoring the naysayers, and the value of carrying on when the odds are slim.

Some might consider Trikafta’s gains to be “good enough” for CF patients. But I think we can do better. And that’s why we’re so excited to introduce the world to Sionna.

When a biotech company is valued at around the same amount of cash it has sitting in the bank, is it a safe investment? Some investors might think so - and so we looked at the data. The answer might surprise you.

Created through the fusion of parallel efforts at RA Capital and Atlas Venture, TRIANA is a newly launched biotech that is building its pipeline using a target-first, rational approach to molecular glue discovery.

When I received detailed communications about my companies on a regular basis, I found I was both more likely to remember what was going on when it came time for the next board meeting and less likely to continually call my CEOs to figure out the bottom line. “Board love notes’ are a win-win.

Members of TechAtlas work closely with the Investment Team and our portfolio companies to put data into context, identify breakthroughs, and develop conviction about how to solve particular problems given what we know of all the different technologies in development.

Ah, the American Old West. Where the buffalo roamed, cowboys fought, and Coke still had cocaine. A LOT of things had cocaine. Only the most vigilant and educated physician or pharmacist could hope to keep harmful or useless drugs off their shelves. And if we can still find physicians prescribing ivermectin for COVID today, imagine how hard finding reliable information must have been back then. 

As a Swede who has lived in the United States for ~25 years, I’ve experienced two very different healthcare systems. As a child and young adult, I took free (or nearly free) healthcare for granted. However, when I left Sweden to pursue a graduate degree in the US, I was shocked to realize that the system here is very different. I learned new words like ‘deductible’ and ‘copay’ that were not previously part of my vocabulary.

The biotech job market is hotter than ever and it’s not likely to cool down in 2022. So if you’re thinking about joining the Great Resignation and jumping into a new role at a biotech startup, it’s crucial to learn how to think about valuing competing equity offers.

Biotech board members and management teams are increasingly asking how their companies can benefit from what RA Capital and others call a “Series I” IPO process (also known as a data-driven or logic-based IPO). Here we’ve compiled common questions and answers.

In this month’s episode, we discuss the latest COVID news. Then Peter Kolchinsky talks with our guest, Dr. Joshua Cohen of Tufts Medical Center, about how they estimate the value of a drug.

Covid has flooded a barren vaccine startup landscape with capital. And that has revealed some valuable lessons for investors, company builders, Congress, and the public.

As more established targeted protein degradation companies produce promising data in the clinic, newcomers have been greeted with sustained enthusiasm from the investment community. Here we revisit a few key intellectual and scientific breakthroughs & focus on molecular glues as an exciting new frontier.

The story of Alexander Fleming is a popular one. As it should be - it’s a good story about one of the most important discoveries in medical history, penicillin. But most people only know the first act of the play.

In this month’s episode of RA TV, we look back at the past year for biotech, examine today’s headlines, and contemplate the future of this pandemic — and maybe the next one.

LENZ Therapeutics CEO Eef Schimmelpennink spoke with RApport about how last year’s acquisition of Pfenex by Ligand gave him a chance to seek out a new challenge, the benefits of breaking the mold, and helping 120 million Americans ditch their reading glasses.

In biotech - an industry where companies live or die by the success of a lead asset - how much impact does a successful management team have? And more broadly, how should we define success? Is it a matter of stock price? The ability to drive an acquisition? Do your employees even like you as a person?

Listen in as RA Capital’s TechAtlas Associates convene to discuss recent Covid-19 news. Learn about the emerging Delta variant, new data from Novavax and CureVac, and the potential association between mRNA vaccines and myocarditis.