pharmaphorum Podcast

The M&A market has been rebounding in the US, driven by factors like patent cliffs and improved balance sheets – but the question is whether this will play out in Europe and how the wave could differ.
In a new pharmaphorum podcast, web editor Nicole Raleigh speaks with Andrea Carta Mantiglia, partner and lead of the Healthcare & Life Sciences Focus Team at Italian law firm BonelliErede, about whether the current US biotech M&A surge will indeed extend into Europe.
The conversation touches upon the appetite for cross-border dealmaking, the growing role of private equity in European pharma and medtech, generational exits among family-owned pharma groups in Italy, and the role of digitalisation in all this.
You can listen to episode 268 of the pharmaphorum podcast in the player below, download the episode to your computer, or find it – and subscribe to the rest of the series – on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Podbean, and pretty much wherever else you download your other podcasts from.

Purespring Therapeutics is a precision nephrology company pioneering first-in-class, targeted genetic therapies designed to preserve kidney function.
In a new pharmaphorum podcast, web editor Nicole Raleigh speaks with Haseeb Ahmad, CEO of Purespring, who discusses transforming the treatment of kidney disease, an area of enormous unmet need, with more than 840 million people worldwide living with chronic kidney disease.
Indeed, Purespring’s lead programme is the podocyte-targeted gene therapy PS-002, which is for IgA nephropathy (or IgAN). The conversation also touches upon the evolution of the gene therapy landscape more generally, and where next with this type of innovation in the nephrology space.
You can listen to episode 267 of the pharmaphorum podcast in the player below, download the episode to your computer, or find it – and subscribe to the rest of the series – on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Podbean, and pretty much wherever else you download your other podcasts from.

Europe's biotech sector is facing an innovation cliff, with fewer clinical starts, tighter capital, and increasing development complexity.
In a new pharmaphorum podcast, web editor Nicole Raleigh caught up with Paul Bridges, president, consulting, at Parexel, and Charlotte Moser, Parexel’s chief medical officer, following BIO-Europe Spring in Lisbon, Portugal.
The conversation touches upon regulatory strategy and evolving policy shifts, trial design and execution – and the importance of patient centricity – as well as AI in drug development and medical leadership in drug development today.
You can listen to episode 266 of the pharmaphorum podcast in the player below, download the episode to your computer, or find it – and subscribe to the rest of the series – on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Podbean, and pretty much wherever else you download your other podcasts from.

Cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (or CTCL) is a rare form of non-Hodgkin lymphoma that begins in T lymphocytes, a kind of white blood cell that plays a crucial role in the immune system. And Citius Oncology is focused on developing and commercialising a targeted immune therapy for the initial indication of the treatment of persistent or recurrent CTCL.
In a new pharmaphorum podcast, web editor Nicole Raleigh spoke with Leonard Mazur, CEO and Chairman of Citius Pharmaceuticals about the launch of its first FDA-approved drug, Lymphir, for CTCL.
Mazur discusses the landscape of unmet need in this space, as well as Citius’ advancement of clinical trials in other areas without approved treatments and the future horizon for such oncological innovations.
You can listen to episode 265 of the pharmaphorum podcast in the player below, download the episode to your computer, or find it – and subscribe to the rest of the series – on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Podbean, and pretty much wherever else you download your other podcasts from.

The radiopharmaceutical sector is in the midst of a transformative year in 2026, with significant developments and challenges, including policy and reimbursement, increasing demand and growth within precision oncology and molecular imaging, and the need for specialised CDMOs when it comes to the intricate nature of radiopharmaceutical manufacturing.
In a new pharmaphorum podcast, web editor Nicole Raleigh speaks with Dr Andrew Cavey, CEO of ITM, about current and future radiopharmaceutical trends.
Dr Cavey discusses the evolution of radiopharma, beyond the original “two pillars” of GEP-NETs and PSMA, including the move towards a multi-isotope model, as well as ITM’s pipeline and the potential growth of the broader radiopharma ecosystem going forward.
You can listen to episode 263 of the pharmaphorum podcast in the player below, download the episode to your computer, or find it – and subscribe to the rest of the series – on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Podbean, and pretty much wherever else you download your other podcasts from.

2026 is the year of a major wave of pharmaceutical patent expirations, with numerous blockbuster drugs – spanning diabetes, immunology, cardiovascular, oncology, and other therapeutic areas – on the verge of losing market exclusivity.
In a new pharmaphorum podcast, web editor Nicole Raleigh speaks with Rebecca Guntern, chief commercial officer at Sandoz, for a conversation on the ‘golden decade’ for generics and biosimilars as so many blockbuster drugs come off patent.
Guntern discusses why the current wave of blockbuster biologics losing exclusivity is so significant for patient access and healthcare budgets, and the conversation also touches upon policy and regulatory changes still needed in order to unlock the full potential of biosimilars, as well as what should be expected from the next generation of biosimilars.
You can listen to episode 263 of the pharmaphorum podcast in the player below, download the episode to your computer, or find it – and subscribe to the rest of the series – on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Podbean, and pretty much wherever else you download your other podcasts from.

In a new pharmaphorum podcast, web editor Nicole Raleigh spoke with Lee-Ann Farrell, Head of National Programmes at Johnson & Johnson, about what delivery will look like in practice when it comes to the National Cancer Plan, the 10-Year Health Plan, and the Life Sciences Sector Plan.
The conversation ranges what comes next following the clear policy direction of the Plans, including how the system can move from ambition to implementation, particularly in ensuring innovation is adopted consistently and at pace across cancer care.
Farrell discusses the role of innovative medicines within evolving care pathways – as ambitions grow around earlier diagnosis, improved outcomes, and care closer to home – as well the dual role of innovative medicines, both as drivers of better patient outcomes and as contributors to economic growth and system sustainability.
You can listen to episode 262 to go here of the pharmaphorum podcast in the player below, download the episode to your computer, or find it – and subscribe to the rest of the series – on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Podbean, and pretty much wherever else you download your other podcasts from.

In a new pharmaphorum podcast, web editor Nicole Raleigh speaks with Kris Kaneta, chief product officer at Norstella, which is helping life sciences companies speed up development with instant strategy recommendations.
Kaneta discusses AI in drug trials and commercialisation and just what’s possible when clinical AI has access to a data set robust enough to allow it to make real strategic recommendations.
Kaneta also touches upon why patient-level data is pharma's most important asset in the AI race and the roadblocks that stand in the way of further expanding the efficacy of AI for clinical trials.
You can listen to episode 261 to go here of the pharmaphorum podcast in the player below, download the episode to your computer, or find it – and subscribe to the rest of the series – on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Podbean, and pretty much wherever else you download your other podcasts from.

In a new pharmaphorum podcast, web editor Nicole Raleigh speaks with Dr Ramy Younes, Corporate Vice President, Global Head of Clinical Development, CardioRenalMetabolism, at Boehringer Ingelheim.
The conversation explores the crisis beyond obesity that many clinicians and health systems are now grappling with: that obesity can’t be treated as a short-term, weight-loss lifestyle issue. Rather, it needs to be managed as a complex, chronic, multi-organ disease.
Younes discusses how liver disease is often missed in cardiometabolic risk and is referred to as the ‘liver blind spot’, as well as what integrated pathways can do to improve outcomes and ease system pressure.

In a new pharmaphorum podcast, web editor Nicole Raleigh sat down with Dr Cedrik Britten, chief medical officer at Immatics, to discuss novel PRAME-directed T-cell immunotherapies.
Targeting PRAME unlocks new treatment options for a broad patient population with significant unmet medical need. And to do so safely and effectively requires deep expertise in immunology, drug development, and beyond.
Britten explains how finding the right cancer target is only half the equation – the other half is creating the key that fits the lock to that cancer. So it is that, in addition to discovery of tumour-specific targets like PRAME, Immatics designs either engineered T-cell receptors (or TCRs) or bispecific molecules that recognise and bind to those targets.
Britten also shares his dreams for the future of the field; his hopes far into the distant horizon.
You can listen to episode 259 of the pharmaphorum podcast in the player below, download the episode to your computer, or find it – and subscribe to the rest of the series – on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Pocket Casts, Podbean, and pretty much wherever else you download your other podcasts from.