Listen: How the FDA thinks about Covid-19 vaccines, biotech’s SPAC fascination, & Biogen’s case in Alzheimer’s

Whose voice rings loudest at the FDA? Is it wise to give hedge funds a blank check? And how will the Biogen saga end?

We discuss all that and more this week on “The Readout LOUD,” STAT’s biotech podcast. First, STAT’s Helen Branswell joins us to discuss a momentous FDA meeting about Covid-19 vaccines and why its lack of fireworks is heartening to public health experts. Then, University of Michigan business professor Erik Gordon calls in to discuss biotech’s sudden fascination with blank-check companies and the inherent risk that brings. Finally, we dive into aducanumab, Biogen’s oft-debated treatment for Alzheimer’s disease, ahead of an all-important vote in November.

For more on what we cover, here’s more on the FDA’s vaccine meeting; here’s the last big biotech SPAC deal; here’s the latest on aducanumab; and here’s STAT’s complete coverage of the coronavirus pandemic.

We’ll be back next Thursday evening — and every Thursday evening — so be sure to sign up on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts.

And if you have any feedback for us — topics to cover, guests to invite, vocal tics to cease — you can email [email protected].

Interested in sponsoring a future episode of “The Readout LOUD”? Email us at [email protected].