#40 - Sacked, stacked & stealth-taxed

The coffee break biotech roundup, by SomX

Hello, my keen-eyed tariff-trackers,

This week, a DeepMind spinout pockets $600M to speed up drug discovery, AstraZeneca makes a neat addition to its cell therapy toolkit, the FDA loses nearly a fifth of its workforce, Pfizer’s tax practices are under the microscope, and Trump’s new tariffs are ruffling feathers across biopharma.

Until the next round of resignations,

Dodo

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Discover 🔍

💰 DeepMind spinout Isomorphic Labs raises $600m from Thrive Capital (Sifted): Isomorphic is on a mission to cut drug discovery time in half, cleverly building on DeepMind's AlphaFold breakthroughs. They've expanded the tech beyond protein folding to model how molecules interact – a key bottleneck in drug development. Since spinning out in 2021, they've quadrupled R&D spending after securing £182m from Alphabet last September; CEO Hassabis confidently projects their first AI-designed drug will reach clinical trials by the end of 2025.

Our take: With this rather substantial treasure chest, Isomorphic can now play both sides of the field – partnering with pharma giants while quietly building their own drug pipeline without the usual fundraising scramble. Their DeepMind pedigree isn't just for show; it gives them genuine scientific credibility in a field crowded with AI pretenders. While many are still figuring out how to spell "in silico," Isomorphic is going full steam ahead.

👋 Firings sweep across FDA as former leaders lament the gutting of drug agency (Endpoints): Employees discovered they'd been sacked when their security badges simply stopped working – a jarring way to learn you're jobless amid the FDA’s fire and rehire merry-go-round since Trump's return. This devastating employment blow will see a staggering 19% of the agency departing, with 3,500 heading for the exit. This is on top of Peter Marks, the top FDA official overseeing vaccines and gene therapies, being forced to resign after the classic "resign or be fired" ultimatum.

Our take: Biopharma now faces a regulatory black hole that has companies nervously recalculating timelines as the Biotech ETF tumbles. The US might return to the era of "frustrating delays" – devastating for strapped biotechs working on rare disease treatments. The sector, which thrives on predictability, not regulatory roulette, may now need to look toward Europe while it sorts out its regulatory identity crisis.

🧫 AstraZeneca pays up to $1bn for biotech firm ‘that could transform cell therapy’ (The Guardian): Britain's biggest listed company continues its shopping spree by snapping up EsoBiotec. The Belgian biotech develops in vivo CAR-T cell therapies and promises to deliver cancer treatments to patients in minutes instead of weeks. With only 10-20% of eligible patients currently receiving cell therapy due to various bottlenecks, EsoBiotec's infusion approach could dramatically expand access “at a fraction" of traditional costs, while easing pressure on strained health systems worldwide.

Our take: EsoBiotec's approach is rather crafty: instead of genetically modifying cells in a lab, targeted lentiviruses – delivered by injection – can transform patients into their own cellular factories, slashing cell therapy timelines. For AZ, this strengthens their cell therapy portfolio programs, neatly following their $1.2bn Gracell acquisition, and furthers their pivot from pill-pushers to pioneers of advanced therapies.

⚖️ Senate investigation claims Pfizer shifted profits offshore in what could be pharma's 'largest tax-dodging scheme' (FiercePharma): Four years into a Congressional probe of Big Pharma's tax break abuse, Democratic lawmakers have zeroed in on Pfizer's financial gymnastics. In 2019, the company reported zero taxable US profits, despite raking in $20 billion from American sales by funnelling earnings through offshore subsidiaries – a disappearing act they are alleged to have repeated in both 2018 and 2020. Naturally, Pfizer sees the situation differently.

Our take: This rather cheeky "round-tripping" trick, where US sales magically transform into foreign income, exploits the 2017 Tax Act's loopholes to slash rates in half. With Amgen, AbbVie and friends playing the same offshore game, lawmakers may decide now is the time to push for reforms to crash this tax-avoidance party. The days of accounting acrobatics could be numbered, forcing companies to rediscover the novel concept of actually paying their fair share!

And finally…

📈 FTSE 100 pharma giants GSK and Astrazeneca appear to swerve Trump tariffs (City AM): Pharmaceuticals seem to have dodged the tariff bullet in Trump's 'Liberation Day' address, though uncertainty still shadows the sector as 10% baseline tariffs might snag imported medicines – a concern which has sent the FTSE 100 into a nosedive. Meanwhile, experts highlight unanswered questions around the specific effects on production and the potentially inflationary impacts of trade levies.

Our take: Even with a pharmaceutical get-out-of-tariff-free card, "globalised supply chains" remain vulnerable. Raw materials and manufacturing equipment could still face that pesky 10% tax, potentially sending production costs skyward. This might turn international manufacturing from a cost-saving strategy into a financial liability. This dodo bets companies with American production facilities are feeling pretty smug right now.

Tune in 🎧

🚦 Mixed Signals and Emerging Technology with Amy Zegart
Explore how emerging tech – from AI to biotech – is reshaping US national security strategy, and why policymakers urgently need better tools to navigate the global innovation race.

🇺🇸 GLP podcast: Greenpeace USA might go broke; RFK Jr. fibs about measles vaccine; Marty Makary spells trouble for FDA?
A defamation lawsuit, anti-vax claims, and a potential FDA shake-up collide in this episode unpacking science, politics, and the risks to public health credibility.

👻 Is the Spirit of Asilomar Still Haunting Biotechnology?
Fifty years on from the 1975 Asilomar Conference, a new summit revisits its legacy – exploring how past hopes, missteps, and debates continue to shape today’s biotech governance and public trust.

Apply ✍️

🔬 Production/Lab Technician, Multus: Love a good SOP and a perfectly packed shipment? Keep cell culture media flowing from lab bench to box in this hands-on production role.

🎓 Graduate Medical Mechanical Engineer, Cambridge consultants: Handy with a hex key and a hypothesis? Design and prototype next-gen medical devices from idea to impact.

🔎 R&D Test Engineer, NVision: Got a thing for fluid dynamics? Collaborate on test rigs, optimise prototypes, and bring bold designs to life in a fast-paced, multidisciplinary lab.

RSVP 📆

💬 07.04 | SomX Healthtech Talks @ Google | London, UK: SomX Healthtech Talks is back for 2025 – kicking off on 7 April with a brand new conversation in healthtech and biotech.

🇸🇪 09-10.04 | Tumour Models Summit Nordics | Stockholm, Sweden: For the first time, the Tumour Models Summit Nordics unites pharma, biotech, and research leaders across the thriving Nordic biotech ecosystem.

🤝 17.04 | Pharma & Healthcare Startups, Investors and Professionals Networking Night | London, UK: A night of networking with fellow Healthcare startups, entrepreneurs, and professionals

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