Listen: What’s next for Roche, a debate over second boosters, & Vertex’s recent success

What’s on tap for Roche and its closely followed cancer immunotherapy? Are we all headed for another shot with a Covid-19 vaccine? And what explains the recent success of Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ R&D pipeline?

We cover all that and more this week on “The Readout LOUD,” STAT’s biotech podcast. Reporter Andrew Joseph joins us to discuss the FDA and its meeting with outside advisers that considered questions about Covid-19 boosters and the potential for updated vaccines that better match the circulating strains of SARS-CoV-2. We’ll also dive into a look at Vertex and hear from its top executives about two experimental, but potentially groundbreaking, treatments for pain and type 1 diabetes. And as we often do, we’ll kick off the podcast with a Chatty Cathy round of hot takes on this week’s news.

For more on what we cover, here’s STAT’s coverage of the FDA Covid-19 vaccine advisory panel, reports on Vertex’s pain drug and a prominent new executive hire, and our quarterly calendar of stock-moving biotech events.

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