Simone Botti

Oldie but Goldie

Exclusive: VelaVigo inks another US biotech deal as China drug development scene booms A hot antibody discovery team in China has signed its second US biotech deal in less than six months, marking the latest sign of the industry's flourishing wave of China-to-US drug development partner...

The center of gravity for early-stage biotech innovation is quickly shifting to China, who is already an early stage CRO powerhouse. The US still has primacy in clinical research but after the NIH and FDA cuts this primacy will disappear in a few years.
endpts.com/china-based-...

Another blow from Trump's axe to the NIH. Support for Healthtech almost completely disappears: ASTP's budget goes from >60m$ in 2023 to 9m$. The proposed plan also axes HHS’ digital health care research program, which is currently housed under the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.(STAT)

Netherlands pours $1.5B into biotech in pursuit of global leadership ambitions The Dutch government is committing €1.3 billion ($1.5 billion) to support biotech as part of a broader raft of measures designed to make the Netherlands a global leader in the sector by 2040.

A very good move. But Europe needs its own NIH and also needs a EU wide push to increase R&D spending (also across defense ) to US levels.

endpts.com/netherlands-...

Exclusive | Drug Development Is Slowing Down After Cuts at the FDA The agency is missing deadlines and not responding to biotech companies, forcing some to push back clinical trials.

I dedicated my life to develop ( or help develop ) treatments that would truly heal or make people’s life better. The US ecosystem and the FDA were the cornerstone on which this effort depended. No more. This damage cannot be undone

www.wsj.com/health/healt...

OpenAI Is A Systemic Risk To The Tech Industry Before we go any further: I hate to ask you to do this, but I need your help — I'm up for this year's Webbys for the best business podcast award. I know it's a pain in the ass, but can you sign up and...

The Mother Of All Potemkin Villages. Read this report until the end, it's truly worth it.

In any case TL;DR: OpenAI is an unsustainable castle of cards whose collapse will most probably shift primacy of AI to China

www.wheresyoured.at/openai-is-a-...

How a downturn in biotech may be felt in Kendall Square, an industry hub We may be witnessing a remaking of biotech — including the famed Kendall Square of Cambridge, Mass.

It was good while it lasted. This might truly be US Biotech's Ozymandias moment:
www.statnews.com/2025/04/14/k...

After ‘coding error’ triggers firings, top NIH scientists called back to work Neuroscience institutes tells 10 scientists placed on leave it’s working on a “long-term” solution to officially reinstating them

Biomedical research in the USSR never recovered from Lysenkoism and the Soviet regime. USA’s biomedical research will nefer recover from Trump and DOGE.
www.science.org/content/arti...

A disproportinate number of this talent actually came from China or has Chinese heritage. They might feel much more at home in China than in the US.

Pair this data point with the dearth of companies being started in the US, the fustercluck with the FDA, the cuts at the NIH, and the disdain for knowledge of this administration and you’ll see US biotech crumble in the next 5 years

China might quickly overtake the US and a lot of talent trained in the US will flow back to China

Marks’ exit at FDA rattles an already teetering biotech industry FDA biologics chief Peter Marks resigns over vaccine dispute with HHS Secretary RFK Jr., causing biotech stocks to drop. Moderna down 11%, Sarepta down 7.5%, uniQure down 20%.

Stick a fork in it. US Biotech is cooked. endpts.com/biotech-mark...

Too long for a BSky post. It has been much better

Also a few US deals but bulk is Israel & EU

VC Investor and CEO since 2000. Israel and EU. Everything from venture creation to large B rounds both on the investor and CEO side. Therapeutics, MedTech, Digital Health, Diagnostic, you name it. If you want more details check my profile on LI: Simone Botti

Working in biotech:
No news you still have your job until there is news
Good news you'll probably lose your job (to acquisition)
Bad news you lose your job (to a RIF)
Great news is fantastic for investors. You are still fired upon acquisition

Our investments are like ultramarathons where your shoes and water might be taken if you do not make a very competitive intermediate time. SV investments are mostly like horse races where you don't own the horse, are not the jockey and you just dress with funny hats and cheer from the sidelines

No reputable biotech investor put their money int Theranos. Most of the vaporware AI/Digital Health companies (that spectacularly crash and burn) have SV founding investors. "Traditional" Biotech VCs have an extremely finely tuned BS detector.

Writers Unite: let’s bankrupt Mark Zuckerberg. He trained his AI on an illegal archive of our work. He made billions off of us. Now he must pay $150,000 per violation by law. For the 145 instances of my name in the DB that’s $20M for me.

Follow along and see how you can sue him too.

They either get mad or they just simply lie and/or commit fraud

@50501movement.bsky.social It reminds me of the Kaplan Street protests in Israel. In the end we were able to stop Bibi’s attempt to gut our judiciary. We brought 10% of the population in the streets. We are out every week for two years now. Help support and grow this movement !

Power Cut A week ago, analyst TD Cowen revealed that Microsoft had canceled leases "totalling a couple hundred MWs," with "at least two private data center operators across multiple US markets." The report also...

www.wheresyoured.at/power-cut/ What’s that smell? It’s GenAI. It’s toast

Wazzaaaaaaaaaapp!

They mention Guantanamo Bay as another option. I am all for sending them there without changing the location's current destination of use

They mention Guantanamo Bay as another option. I am all for sending them to Guantanamo Bay, without modifying its existing destination of use

Pharma CEOS Speaking Up, Damn It

Again from one of the few strong sane voices left @dereklowe.bsky.social. Big Pharma success stands on the shoulders of public research giants. But Big Pharma CEO's current stature and behavior is more fit for a flea circus
www.science.org/content/blog...

Censeo Carthaginem esse delendam

Censeo Carthaginem esse delendam

This initiative might be well intentioned, but its not the right way to go about it. The right way is to massively protest these cuts and try to move more public money into basic research