Illumina’s $8 billion limbo, a new treatment for ALS, & Emirati biotech funding

Is Illumina a victim of its own success? What makes the FDA change its mind? And how will petrodollars change biotech?

We cover all that and more this week on “The Readout LOUD,” STAT’s biotech podcast. Our colleague Matthew Herper joins us to discuss how Illumina, the biggest company in genomic sequencing, got into an $8 billion predicament. We also discuss a dramatic development for a new ALS treatment, the latest in cancer research, and a well-funded new player in biotech venture capital.

For more on what we cover, here’s the latest on Illumina; here’s the news in ALS; here’s more on Alnylam Pharmaceuticals; here’s the story on Mubadala Capital Ventures; here’s where you can find episodes of Color Code; here’s where you can subscribe to the First Opinion Podcast; and here’s our complete coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Be sure to sign up on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, 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].