Episodes

No megadeals, no retreat: China’s average deal fell to $1.7B, but it still holds 58% of global licensing value. In the Asia-focused Episode 39, Geoff Meyerson, CEO of Locust Walk, reviews 2026 Q3 trends across China, Japan, and Korea. Last quarter’s question was whether China’s record deal sizes would hold. They didn’t, but volume did, and that matters more. China: $25B in licensing across 15 deals and a third straight billion-dollar-plus venture quarter. The Hang Seng Biotech Index rebounded 2...

M&A has already topped all of 2025, and China still holds 58% of global licensing value. In Episode 38 of Biotalk, Geoff Meyerson, CEO of Locust Walk, unpacks our 2026 Q3 Report: Global Trends in Biopharma Transactions. Licensing: $48B across 41 deals. Value fell 33% from Q2 on just a 5% drop in volume: the story was deal size, as Q2’s megadeals rolled off. Upfronts rebounded to 10% of deal value. M&A: $173B year-to-date, already above full-year 2025, as buyers shifted toward de-risked, approv...

During the Asia-focused Episode 37 of Biotalk, Geoff Meyerson, CEO of Locust Walk, reviews key trends from the 2026 Q2 Report: Global Trends in Biopharma Transactions, across China, Japan, and Korea. China: Drove ~60% of first-half global licensing value, with the average deal nearing $3B and anchored by the $15B+ Bristol Myers Squibb–Hengrui collaboration. Venture financing posted a second straight billion-dollar-plus quarter ($1.2B) at a three-year high in deal volume. Japan: The Nikkei hit ...

During Episode 36 of Biotalk, Geoff Meyerson, CEO of Locust Walk, unpacks our 2026 Q2 Report: Global Trends in Biopharma Transactions, covering capital markets, strategic deals, and regional trends. Market Overview: 2026 Q2 confirmed that 2025’s momentum was durable: strategic activity stayed exceptionally strong, public markets kept reopening, and Europe’s venture market rebounded sharply. China cemented its lead in global licensing while the U.S. dominated M&A and public markets. Strategic T...

During the Asia-focused Episode 35 of Biotalk, Geoff Meyerson, CEO of Locust Walk, reviews key 2026 Q1 Report: Global Trends in Biopharma Transactions trends across China, Japan, and Korea. China: Dominated global licensing with 66% of deal value -up from 48% in full-year 2025 -anchored by CSPC–AstraZeneca ($18.5B) and Innovent–Lilly ($8.5B). Venture financing surged to a three-year high of $1.2B across 17 deals, led by Corxel Pharmaceuticals’ $287M oral GLP-1 Series D. Out-licensing remains th...

During Episode 34 of Biotalk, Geoff Meyerson, CEO of Locust Walk, unpacks our 2026 Q1 Report: Global Trends in Biopharma Transactions, covering capital markets, strategic deals, and regional trends.  Market Overview: Q1 2026 was defined by continuity rather than reversal. Licensing tied a three-year high, M&A recorded its strongest first quarter ever, and U.S. capital markets reopened meaningfully with the return of biotech IPOs. China’s dominance in global licensing expanded further, while Eur...

During the Asia-focused Episode 33 of Biotalk, Geoff Meyerson, CEO of Locust Walk, reviews key 2025 Year-In-Review trends across China, Japan, and Korea. China: Led global licensing (~48% share) with larger average deal sizes than the U.S. Public markets outperformed and Q4 IPO activity rebounded. Venture financing held steady, with out-licensing cemented as the dominant business model alongside more creative deal structures and cross-border activity. Japan: The Nikkei hit record highs and bio...

During Episode 32 of Biotalk, Geoff Meyerson, CEO of Locust Walk, unpacks our 2025 Year-In-Review Report: Global Trends in Biopharma Transactions, covering capital markets, strategic deals, and regional trends. Market Overview: 2025 marked a clear recovery year for biopharma. Licensing reached record levels, global M&A nearly doubled in value, and capital markets strengthened in the second half as stabilizing rates lifted sentiment. Most notably, China surpassed the U.S. as the leading source o...

During Episode 31 of Biotalk, Geoff Meyerson, CEO of Locust Walk, explores Asia-Pacific biotech momentum across China, Japan, and Korea, as featured in our 2025 Q3 Report: Global Trends in Biopharma Transactions Report. China: Led globally in licensing ($34.2B, 48% share), with venture financing up nearly 4x. Investor confidence rose alongside strong public market gains and creative deal structures. Japan: Shifted toward early-stage, non-core areas like dermatology and metabolic disease. Licen...

During Episode 30 of Biotalk, Geoff Meyerson, CEO of Locust Walk, unpacks our 2025 Q3 Report: Global Trends in Biopharma Transactions Report, covering capital markets, strategic deals, and regional trends. Market Overview: Q3 signaled a cautious biotech recovery. Valuations rebounded, the XBI topped 100 for the first time since 2022, and the number of companies trading below cash hit multi-year lows. Investor sentiment shifted from survival to selective growth amid improving macro stability and...

During the Asia-focused Episode 29 of Biotalk, Geoff shares insights into key trends and developments shaping the biotech landscapes in Japan, China, Korea, Australia, and the broader Asia-Pacific region, as featured in our 2025 Q2 Report: Global Trends in Biopharma Transactions Report. Japan’s biotech stocks outperformed broader indices, boosted by regulatory reforms and Shionogi’s $1.1B acquisition of Japan Tobacco’s pharma units. Licensing slowed, while early-stage financings focused on prec...

During Episode 28 of Biotalk, Geoff Meyerson, CEO of Locust Walk, unpacks our 2025 Q2 Report: Global Trends in Biopharma Transactions Report, covering capital markets, strategic deals, and regional trends. Market Overview: Biotech remained under pressure in Q2, with valuations still below historical norms. Ongoing macro headwinds—tariffs, high rates, and FDA turnover—kept investor sentiment cautious and risk appetite low. M&A & Licensing: Licensing rose 20% in value, focused on late-stage immu...

During Episode 27 of Biotalk, Geoff Meyerson, CEO of Locust Walk, steps back to examine the macro forces shaping the biopharma landscape. After holding a bearish outlook since 2021, Geoff explains why he’s finally shifting his stance and what could signal a true turnaround for biotech. He unpacks the “big three” market headwinds—regulatory hurdles from the IRA, FTC deal scrutiny, and high interest rates—and outlines how recent shifts, including rate cuts, new FTC leadership, and potential IRA r...

During Episode 25 of Biotalk, Geoff Meyerson, CEO of Locust Walk, unpacks our 2025 Q1 Report: Global Trends in Biopharma Transactions Report, covering capital markets, strategic deals, and regional trends. Market Overview: The XBI fell 14% YoY, underperforming the NBI. Biotech weakness stemmed from tariff fears, FDA turnover, and HHS layoffs—pressuring small caps. Capital Markets: Capital raised dropped 33% from Q4. IPOs briefly reopened—large caps gained, small caps declined. Follow-ons fell ...

During this episode of Biotalk, Geoff Meyerson, CEO of Locust Walk, explores the evolving biotech landscapes in Japan and China, highlighting key trends and developments shaping the region as featured in our 2024 Year-In-Review Report: Global Trends in Biopharma Transactions Report. Geoff leverages extensive conversations with strategics and investors worldwide to provide insights into global biotech deal-making. Key topics include: Japan’s Recovery in 2024: A rebound in licensing activity reac...

On this episode of Biotalk, Geoff Meyerson, CEO and Co-founder of Locust Walk, speaks with Sudhir Agrawal, Founder and President of ARNAY Sciences and a pioneer in RNA therapeutics. Sudhir’s extensive career spans over three decades, during which he has made groundbreaking contributions to the field, including developing gapmer antisense technology, immune modulation approaches, and, in recent years, designing cyclic structures of DNA and RNA for therapeutic applications. In their conversation,...

On this episode of Biotalk, Geoff Meyerson, CEO of Locust Walk, sits down with David Harel, CEO and Co-founder of CytoReason. CytoReason uses AI-powered disease models to transform drug discovery and development, offering pharmaceutical companies insights that reduce both time and costs in bringing new therapies to market. David shares his journey from private equity to co-founding CytoReason—an idea sparked on a beach in Israel. They discuss why no one had applied molecular data this way befor...

On this episode of Biotalk, Locust Walk’s Andy Meyerson welcomes Dr. Lindsay Rosenwald, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Fortress Biotech, a company focused on licensing and developing high-potential marketed and development-stage drugs. Lindsay shares his journey from physician to biotech entrepreneur and outlines Fortress Biotech’s strategy of licensing high-potential marketed and development-stage drug candidates, avoiding early-stage technologies. They discuss how Fortress...

During this episode of Biotalk, Geoff Meyerson, CEO of Locust Walk, unpacks our 2024 Q1 Report: Global Trends in Biopharma Transactions Report. Each quarter, Locust Walk’s deal team compiles key statistics and trends showcasing the current state of global private and public capital markets, strategic partnerships, and M&A in the biopharma sector.  In this episode, Geoff provides valuable insights into our report, focusing on critical areas such as:  Biotech capital markets: Highlighting XBI’s ...

On this episode of Biotalk, Locust Walk’s Geoff Meyerson welcomes Kendalle Burlin O’Connell, Esq., CEO and President of MassBio, the nation’s pioneering biotechnology trade association, which plays a pivotal role in representing and supporting the vibrant Massachusetts life sciences industry. In this insightful conversation, Kendalle discusses her journey from law to leading MassBio in 2008, her evolving role within the organization, and her vision as CEO for MassBio’s future. Geoff and Kendal...

On this episode of Biotalk, Locust Walk‘s Geoff Meyerson welcomes Soufiane Aboulhouda, Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board of Nucleate, a global non-profit dedicated to empowering future biotech leaders through education and fostering innovation in life sciences companies. The discussion explores Soufiane’s journey into early-stage biotech and delves into the founding story of Nucleate, highlighting the organization’s mission and its pivotal role in shaping the biotech landscape. Soufiane, who...

This episode of Biotalk is focused on Locust Walk’s 2023 First Quarter Market Conditions Report, in which we apply the latest data to analyze current activities in the life sciences deal landscape. Each quarter, Locust Walk’s deal team compiles key statistics and trends showcasing what is happening in the global private and public capital markets and strategic partnering and M&A activity. To download this report, please go to locustwalk.com and go to our “Insights” page. As always Locust Walk i...

On this episode of Biotalk, Locust Walk welcomes Andrew Allen, M.D., Ph.D., Co-Founder, President, CEO, and board member of Gritstone Bio to the podcast. Prior to Gritstone, Dr. Allen co-founded Clovis Oncology and served as CMO. He was CMO at Pharmion Corporation and also served in clinical development leadership roles at Chiron Corporation and Abbott Laboratories and worked at McKinsey & Company. Dr. Allen discusses the founding of Gritstone bio, it’s evolution since 2015, and the two key aspe...

Our first Biotalk podcast is focused on Locust Walk’s 2022 year-in-review market conditions, which was released the first day of JPMorgan and rapidly accumulated over 500 downloads. Each quarter, Locust Walk’s deal team compiles key statistics and trends showcasing what is happening in the global private and public capital markets and strategic partnering and M&A. We wanted to share some insights into the report and discuss key trends, opportunities and predictions for the industry in 2023. To ...