395: Biotech investors' plea to Trump, and a busy M&A week

April 2, 2026 · 32 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the impact of FDA decisions on biotech investments and features a conversation with investor Rod Wong about regulatory flexibility.

How has the Food and Drug Administration's recent decisions on rare disease drugs affected investment trends? Why is Eli Lilly getting into sleep medicine? And where did Allison go on her vacation? We discuss all that and more on this week's episode of “The Readout LOUD,” STAT's weekly biotech podcast. Biotech investor Rod Wong joins us to talk about why an industry-patient coalition he's part of sent a letter to President Trump asking for more regulatory flexibility at the FDA. We also discuss the U.S. approval of Eli Lilly's obesity pill, recent deal-making by large pharma companies, a strange story about promotion of psychedelic drugs on YouTube, and more.

People in this episode

Guest: Rod Wong

Topics covered

biotech investment
FDA decisions
rare disease drugs
Eli Lilly
M&A activity
psychedelic drugs

Keywords

biotech
FDA
investment trends
Eli Lilly
M&A
rare diseases
psychedelic drugs

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Food and Drug Administration, Eli Lilly, STAT

Products: obesity pill, sleep medicine