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Human genetic material is stored at a laboratory in Munich.
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Gene therapy, a decades-old technology that targets disease at its genetic root, is coming of age. New startups are pouring into the space and it's become a hot area for M&A.
But as Emma Court reports, manufacturing these new products has presented a challenge for biopharmaceutical companies.
As she reports: "Companies have to make enough of their gene therapies to test them out and get enough evidence that they are safe and work. But they also have to be able to manufacture on a large-enough scale to treat all the patients with the disease who want their treatment."
Emma talked to Brian Kaspar, chief scientific officer at AveXis, which sold to Novartis for nearly $9 billion last year, about the ways in which this manufacturing challenge could influence the future of the emerging industry.
Gene therapy is just one area where big pharma is looking to make big bets. With that in mind, here's some interesting healthcare reporting from the past week:
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-Matt
Quote of the week
"If you pick a favorite and you're wrong, you're fired." -Anthony Skipper, the founder and chief technology officer of Galactic Fog, on banks debating how to work with AWS, Microsoft, and Google as they shift to the cloud.
In conversation
- Marley Jay talked to Jeff Erdmann of Merrill Lynch, ranked as the nation's best wealth manager for three years in a row, about the three mistakes every millennial investor should avoid.
- Marley also talked to Darrell Cronk, the chief investment officer of Wells Fargo's $1.9 trillion wealth and investment management unit, about the bold strategy he's recommending to clients.
- Dan DeFrancesco talked to Ben Cukier, a partner at the venture-capital firm Centana Growth Partners, about why fintechs should cater their products to older generations like baby boomers.
- Richard Feloni talked to Oracle co-CEO Mark Hurd about how he turned around the company, even while employees and shareholders doubted him.
- Rosalie Chan talked to Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar, co-founders and co-CEOs of Atlassian, talk about how they're trying to reinvent teamwork for the modern era.
- Troy Wolverton talked to Accenture Interactive CEO Brian Whipple about the company's deal to acquire creative agency Droga5, and to David Droga about why he's giving up his cherished independence and selling.
- Tanya Dua talked to Emily Fink, chief marketing officer at Liberty Mutual, about the company's decision to slash its ad-agency costs 30% by bringing 80% of its creative work in-house.
- Abby Jackson talked to FuboTV CEO David Gandle about its decision to raise prices after "severely" underpricing its service - and its plan to dominate the digital TV industry.
- Shana Lebowitz talked to Harvard Business School dean Nitin Nohria about the personality types he looks for in MBA candidates.
Finance and investing
Inside the Chicago hedge-fund turf war between billionaire Ken Griffin and Dmitry Balyasny
The headquarters of Ken Griffin's Citadel and Dmitry Balyasny's eponymous hedge fund are separated by one mile, the Chicago River, and plenty of bad blood.
A 'hidden asset' at Citigroup has given the bank a dominant position in the fastest-growing business on Wall Street - but challengers are knocking on the door
One morning this January, Jim Cramer, the brash and voluble financial-television personality, hemmed and hawed on CNBC's "Squawk Box" before the markets opened about Citigroup's fourth-quarter earnings, which had been announced shortly before.
This stock picker is crushing 95% of his peers investing mostly in companies you haven't heard of. Here are his secrets for uncovering those hidden gems.
It's not lost on Gerry Frigon that there are roughly half as many public companies now compared with 15 years ago.
Tech, media, telecoms
Healthcare, retail, transportation