Biosecure setback & Novartis’ $1B PTC Deal: a BioCentury podcast

Plus: KCC2 activation nears inflection point

A pair of lawmakers dealt the Biosecure Act a setback over the weekend that could derail the legislation, even as Congress continues its push to reduce reliance on China in the life sciences. On the latest BioCentury This Week podcast, Washington Editor Steve Usdin explains why Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) refused to sign off on inclusion of the anti-China biotech bill in the must-pass National Defense Authorization Act, what provisions the defense bill has that seek to enhance U.S. biotech supply chain resilience and whether Biosecure can be resurrected.

In the latest in neurology, Executive Editor Selina Koch discusses the $1 billion deal between Novartis AG (SIX:NVS; NYSE:NOVN) and PTC Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:PTCT) for the biotech’s Huntington disease therapy, and how Ovid Therapeutics Inc. (NASDAQ:OVID), Axonis Therapeutics Inc. and others are poised to take therapies against the long undruggable KCC2 to the clinic for neurological disorders.

BioCentury’s JPM Guide 2025 is out now.