Vanguards of Health Care by Bloomberg Intelligence

“I wake up every day wanting to make health care better,” says Halle Tecco, founder of Rock Health and author of Massively Better Healthcare. Tecco joins Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Jonathan Palmer on this episode of the Vanguards of Health Care podcast to reflect on digital health’s evolution — from her early days at Apple’s App Store to building one of the sector’s first venture funds. She explains why Covid reset adoption curves, how hospitals became leading tech buyers and why aligning “margin and mission” now shapes her investment lens. Tecco also shares lessons from backing a laundry list of well-known startups, teaching at Columbia and Harvard, and why she wrote a book to empower the next wave of innovators.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“Being privately held and being a pure play spine company has given us the focus, the resourcing and the investment we need to, to really take this thing and make it hum,” Highridge’s CEO Rebecca Whitney says about the 7th largest spine company. In this Vanguards of Health Care episode, Whitney sits down with BI analyst Matt Henriksson for an in-depth interview about the path to a private company from a subsidiary under a major, publicly traded ortho company. As an independent company, she explains how it can be nimble in M&A, including the acquisition of key expandable spinal implants from Accelus and the recent PathKeeper agreement, both of which augment Highridge’s portfolio that houses its Mobi-C cervical disc replacement system and Tether motion preservation system. She also explains the importance of saying yes to new roles to build your career trajectory.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“We’re going to continue to drive innovation across the entire product portfolio, which also includes how we manufacture sensors,” Dexcom CEO Jake Leach tells Bloomberg Intelligence, outlining the company’s strategy to expand the use of continuous glucose monitors to more diabetic patients and beyond. In this Vanguards of Health Care podcast episode, Leach joins BI analyst Matt Henriksson for an in-depth discussion on Dexcom’s transition to the G7 15 Day sensor, aimed to reduce the frequency of changing sensors, as well as clinical data efforts to expand reimbursement to diabetic patients not on insulin and updates on the next-generation G8. He also reflects on his 22-year journey at Dexcom, rising from an engineer on a 30-person team to CEO of an 11,000-employee company.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“We’re empowering health-care providers with unprecedented clinical depth in a compact portable form factor,” AliveCor CEO Priya Abani says about the development of its AI-enabled electrocardiogram (ECG) sensors, which provide medical-grade heart data anytime and anywhere. In this Vanguards of Health Care episode, Abani sits down with BI analyst Matt Henriksson for an in-depth discussion about the expansion of AliveCor’s Kardia 12L device, which gives physicians a smaller, more portable ECG option. The company has widened the device’s indications to 39 cardiac conditions, established a new Category III reimbursement code and continues to train its algorithm using 1 million ECGs. Abani also talks about how her time at Amazon.com influenced her perspective on the interaction of technology and the human experience.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“I suspect that RNAi-based medicines will approach, rival, maybe even exceed what we’ve seen with monoclonal antibodies historically,” says John Maraganore, the CEO of JMM Innovations and founding CEO of Alnylam. He joins Bloomberg Intelligence’s senior pharmaceutical analyst Sam Fazeli to reflect on RNAi’s journey from scientific curiosity to durable drug platform. Maraganore explains Alnylam’s reliance on big pharma partnerships for relatively non-dilutive capital, why rare diseases were the right entry point for commercialization and how mission-first culture sustained the company. He also discusses biotech’s “Sputnik moment,” FDA efficiency and where AI is already delivering real impact in drug discovery.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“One of our busy surgeons said, when they do an aprevo procedure, it’s a boring day in the OR and that’s actually a good thing,” Carlsmed’s CEO Mike Cordonnier tells Bloomberg Intelligence, as he explains how the use of AI technology is the future for spine procedures. In this Vanguards of Health Care episode, Cordonnier sits down with BI analyst Matt Henriksson for an in-depth interview about the design of the aprevo system, with its customized implants. He dives further into how aprevo reduces planning time, provides better alignment and lowers revision rates, creating favorable economics for hospitals. Other highlights from the episode include how he combined his experience across medtech and software to build this novel AI approach.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“Now we’re seeing how there are new medicines that act directly on the heart itself and less on downstream consequences of heart disease,” says Robert Blum, president and CEO of Cytokinetics. On this episode of Vanguards of Health Care, Blum speaks with Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Andrew Galler about Cytokinetics’ transition to a commercial-stage company following the approval of Myqorzo, its competitive positioning in the obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy market, and its potential to differentiate from competitors with upcoming ACACIA-HCM data. They also discuss Cytokinetics’ pipeline, which includes multiple assets targeting heart failure.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“Health care creates friction everywhere — copays, approvals, pre-authorizations — and none of that matters when someone you love needs help right now,” says Glen Tullman, CEO of Transcarent, in his return to the Vanguards of Health Care podcast to explain why speed, access and simplicity are existential issues in US health care. In a wide-ranging conversation with Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Jonathan Palmer, Tullman outlines Transcarent’s vision for delivering 24/7 care through an AI-first, mobile-native platform. He discusses why legacy navigation models fail consumers, how the Accolade acquisition accelerates Transcarent’s strategy and why WayFinding reframes benefits, clinical guidance and care delivery into a single real-time experience designed around human urgency — not the administrative process.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Despite all the noise -- tariffs, regulation, geopolitics -- the fundamentals are amazing, because our companies save people’s lives and the demand for innovation is absolutely real.” says Antoine Papiernik, Sofinnova Partners Chairman and Managing Partner. Speaking with Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Sam Fazeli, Papiernik explains why biotech remains a defensive, long-duration industry. He details how Sofinnova leverages AI to connect decades of proprietary data, uncovering emerging science across Europe to identify the next generation of biotech leaders. The discussion also covers the rise of AI-native drug discovery, the impending pharma patent cliff, and why capital is flowing toward platforms that deliver real clinical impact.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“Revenue cycle is really about solving two problems: generating an accurate receipt and then jumping through the fifty hoops to get paid.” says Dr. Michael Gao, CEO of Smarter Technologies. In this episode of Vanguards of Health Care, Gao joins Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Jonathan Palmer to explain how AI is transforming hospital revenue cycle management (RCM). He walks through Smarter’s approach to clinical intelligence and automation, why AI works best as a first pass with human supervision, and how smarter workflows can lift margins for hospitals operating on razor-thin economics. The conversation also explores Smarter’s formation with New Mountain Capital and Gao’s mission to reduce the trillion-dollar burden of health care administration.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“Our mission is to create both strategic and financial returns by backing scalable technologies that can transform how biopharma operates.” Bill Taranto, president and general partner of the Merck Global Health Innovation Fund, joins Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Jonathan Palmer to break down how Merck’s $600 million evergreen venture arm invests at the intersection of biotech and health tech. Taranto explains why GHI focuses on pharma services across drug development, supply chain, patient access and real-world evidence, how ecosystem investing and private equity drive scale, and why AI and data are reshaping the future of pharma operations.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“We were a very valuable deep-science company that had the wrong business strategy,” Zymeworks CEO Ken Galbraith tells Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Sam Fazeli on this episode of the Vanguards of Health Care podcast. In discussing the company’s strategic reset, Galbraith explains how Zymeworks shifted from a platform-heavy biotech to a partnership-driven model that balances innovation with capital discipline. The conversation covers zanidatamab’s path to market, lessons from partnering with Jazz and BeOne, the value of asymmetric antibody design and why retaining upside through milestones and royalties could reshape long-term value creation.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Vanguards of Health Care: Penumbra Expands CAVT Awareness “With pulmonary embolism, just like with stroke and some other things, where there’s an acute moment usually happening — the patient’s not doing well, decompressing on the table — time matters a lot. And because of the STORM-PE trial, we have the data on what that device time is in a pretty rigorous randomized study. And it just doesn’t compare to anything else out there. It’s dramatically less”, Penumbra CEO Adam Elsesser explains to Bloomberg Intelligence. In this Vanguards of Health Care episode, Elsesser sits down with BI medical technology analyst Matt Henriksson for an in-depth interview on Penumbra and how computer-assisted vacuum thrombectomy (CAVT) technology continues to improve, cutting the time to remove the clot while limiting blood loss. He also dives deep into the clinical results of the STORM-PE randomized clinical study, highlighting how CAVT demonstrated superiority over the standard of care to treat pulmonary-embolism patients, and its partnership with the PERT Consortium to drive public awareness of the need to treat this devastating disease.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“Drug development has become slower and more expensive despite all the new technology,” says Eric Hughes, executive vice president of Global R&D and chief medical officer of Teva Pharmaceutical. “That’s caused by increased regulatory scrutiny, more needs for quality, more needs for real treatment effects. But we’re in a unique position where we can stay really hyper-focused on what we’re doing. I’m on calls every week driving teams on enrollment studies, looking at data as quickly as possible, being able to pivot on things that I see that they’re bringing to me and being able to make decisions very rapidly and drive programs forward. I think that that ability to be like a biotech in a very large company is part of the secret sauce of what Teva’s doing right.” In this episode of the Vanguards of Health Care podcast, Hughes sits down with Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Ann-Hunter van Kirk for an in-depth interview about how the legacy generic manufacturer has built an R&D engine by replacing silos with a matrix structure, building partnerships and capitalizing on speed with AI.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“AI agents are at the knee of the curve in terms of where things are headed,” says John Beadle, Aegis Ventures co-founder and managing partner. In this episode of the Vanguards of Health Care podcast, Beadle joins Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Jonathan Palmer to unpack Aegis’s thesis-driven approach to founding AI-native health-care companies. He details how its 14-system consortium sources problems directly from operators, why automation is the biggest near-term value driver and how ventures like Ascertain have emerged from that model. Beadle also discusses the evolving venture market, the rise of agentic AI and why his personal experiences, shaped by his mother’s medical journey, fuel his mission to make the system more accessible and equitable.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“In the case of iLet, we're going to say, this is how much insulin they're getting for what they consider to be a usual meal. And we learn that and we can set it that way. So we just take the responsibility of learning carb counting, which is really tough, off the user's plate. That's an extra level of automation that traditional pumps don't provide,” Beta Bionics CEO Sean Saint explains to Bloomberg Intelligence. In this episode of Vanguards of Health Care, Saint sits down with BI analyst Matt Henriksson for an in-depth interview about Beta’s iLet pump, designed to eliminate the human stress of making insulin dosing decisions. The conversation also touches on the company’s pay as you go strategy through the pharmacy channel and future product development, including the Mint patch pump.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“If you’re not going overseas, you’re going out,” says Dr. Xingli Wang, Co-President of Fosun Pharma. He tells Bloomberg Intelligence’s Sam Fazeli how Fosun is transitioning from generics to novel medicines and positioning itself as a global innovator. With 90% of R&D now focused on oncology, autoimmune and neurodegenerative diseases, Wang details Fosun’s ambition to move from a China-based manufacturer to a multinational developer with true blockbuster potential. He also reflects on how disciplined capital investment, scientific partnerships and cultural persistence could make Fosun the “Takeda of China.”Listen to this episode of Vanguards of Health Care on Apple Podcasts and SpotifySee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“What you have to do in a market like that, where it’s highly genericized, is first you have to have a clinical differentiation,” says Richard Lowenthal, CEO of ARS Pharmaceuticals. “You have to have a benefit to the community, benefit to the patient population. Neffy achieves that very effectively by providing an option that’s very simple — it’s easy to carry, it’s very easy to use.” In this episode of Vanguards of Health Care, Richard sits down with Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Ann-Hunter van Kirk for an in-depth interview about how the company has navigated the commercial launch of its needle-free epinephrine nasal spray, neffy, in a highly competitive genericized market.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“In a world where we have so many wearables — smart rings, watches, glucose sensors — it’s challenging to integrate all of this information,” say Biolinq founder Jared Tangney and CEO Rich Yang. “So we decided to make it available to everybody in one device.” In this Vanguards of Health Care episode, the pair speak with Bloomberg Intelligence’s analyst Matt Henriksson about Biolinq’s microsensor-based patch that uses silicon semiconductor technology to track glucose and potentially other biomarkers. They also discuss the company’s commercial strategy for type 2 diabetes patients following its FDA de Novo approval, a US regulatory designation granted to first-of-its-kind medical devices that have been shown to be safe and effective.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“We were able to show multiple datasets that actually deliver against this vision that antibody drug conjugates can improve on and therefore displace chemotherapy” says Dr. Susan Galbraith, AstraZeneca’s EVP of oncology R&D. Galbraith joins Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Sam Fazeli to break down key findings from ESMO — from early-line HER2 breast cancer data to progress in bladder and lung cancer. She details the promise of Enhertu and Datopotamab, AstraZeneca’s antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), and how their work may transform cancer treatment in curative settings.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“The same was in neuro intervention for aneurysms, it was open clipping or it was endovascular. And I think that’s what’s happening in BCI. So there’s a bunch of craniotomy-based, open BCI companies, and then there’s an interventional approach”, Synchron’s founder and CEO Tom Oxley explains to Bloomberg Intelligence. In this Vanguards of Health Care podcast episode, Tom sits down with BI analyst Matt Henriksson for an in-depth interview about the company and how he utilized his experience with minimally invasive endovascular procedures to create its Stentrode as novel way to utilize brain-computer interfaces (BCI) without open brain surgery.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“It’s hard to overemphasize how broken we are in how we care for older adults.” says Seth Sternberg, CEO of Honor. Sternberg joins Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Jonathan Palmer to unpack how Honor’s AI-driven logistics and the Home Instead network tackle the hardest problem in home care: scaling quality. In this episode of the Vanguards of Health Care podcast they dive into matching the right caregiver to the right client, why stability is the No. 1 caregiver need, franchise advantages, and making private‑pay care more affordable for the middle class plus how quality metrics and “defect rates” power growth.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“When we talk about spine, having 7D, which is a highly differentiable product for deformities, I think it’s giving us the basis to become a real player and help to solve the most complex issues into spine,” Orthofix’s CEO Massimo Calafiore says as he explains the future of spine navigation. In this Vanguards of Health Care episode, Calafiore sits down with Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Matt Henriksson for an in-depth interview about the benefits of its 7D navigation in spine procedures that utilizes camera-based technology combined with machine-vision algorithms, the growth opportunities in specialized orthopedics, including limb preservation and extremity deformity correction, and how he built a new management team from the ground up to tackle these opportunities. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“We thought that the folks would only turn on stimulation when they felt faint or lightheaded, but in fact, they’re using the stimulation the entire waking day because the stimulation is stabilizing their blood pressure, more oxygenation is reaching their brain,” Onward Medical CEO Dave Marver explains in this Vanguards of Health Care podcast episode. Marver sits down with Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Matt Henriksson for an in-depth interview about Onward and how its developments differ from other companies that utilize brain-computer interfaces (BCI) by connecting BCI technology to its ARC platform to stabilize blood pressure and restore movement of the human body, instead of simply using the patient’s thoughts to control computer functions. Marver also discusses the initiation of its Empower BP Pivotal study to assess the use of its ARC-IM system to address blood-pressure instability after spinal cord injuries (SCI).See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“Doctors don’t want pharma reps to buy them dinner, right? They don’t. They want help in the five minutes that really matter,” Viz.ai’s CEO Chris Mansi and Salesforce’s Frank Defesche explain in this Vanguards of Health Care podcast episode. Mansi and Defesche sit down with Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Matt Henriksson to talk about Viz.ai and its agentic AI platform that connects medical scans and images to the right diagnosis and treatment guidelines. Also tune in to learn how the Viz.ai platform aims to partner with Salesforce’s life-science division to improve pharmaceutical point-of-care workflow while providing more personalized care.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“Our vision as a company is to help eradicate cancer with tests that prevent it, detect it earlier and guide treatment,” says Kevin Conroy, CEO of Exact Sciences. He joins Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Jonathan Palmer on the Vanguards of Health Care podcast to trace Exact’s journey into a cancer-diagnostics leader. From Cologuard’s initial rise to its recently launched Cologuard Plus test, the debut of Cancerguard and expansion into minimal-residual disease (MRD) testing, Conroy shares how science, technology and culture underpin the company’s next decade.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“We've been working with NVIDIA for a number of years now and we integrated a medical grade, GPU in our commercial product”, CEO Anne Osdoit explains to Bloomberg Intelligence in her description about how AI is being incorporated into Moon Surgical’s surgical robot. In this Vanguards of Health Care podcast episode, Osdoit sits down with BI analyst Matt Henriksson for an in-depth interview on Moon Surgical, the benefits of its Maestro AI-powered surgical platform, and how Maestro can address the current barriers that have kept penetration rates of robotic surgery low.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“Once a scientist, forever a scientist,” says Legend Biotech CEO Ying Huang as he joins Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Sam Fazeli to share his unconventional journey from the lab bench to Wall Street and back to biotech leadership. Dr. Huang explains how a dream led him from equity research to developing one of the most important CAR-T therapies for multiple myeloma. They explore the science behind BCMA targeting, lessons from the pivotal Johnson & Johnson partnership as well as the company’s ambitions in allogeneic and in-vivo therapies.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“American medicine is the best in the world, but the American health-care system is not,” Akasa CEO Malinka Walaliyadde says. In this Vanguards of Health Care episode, Walaliyadde joins Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Jonathan Palmer to explore how Akasa is tackling the chaos of revenue-cycle management with AI. He explains why America’s overlapping payment models create inefficiency, how large-language models read massive patient records in minutes and why custom models built for each health system outperform off-the-shelf AI. They also discuss Akasa’s performance-based business model and the path toward real-time payer-provider communication, as well as the role that grit and conviction play in building a transformative company.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The worst thing that can happen in health-care and biomedical research is politics getting involved in choosing what research needs to be done for what disease, Dr. Elias Zerhouni tells Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Sam Fazeli, explaining how mixing science and politics weakens innovation and public trust. On this episode of the Vanguards of Health Care podcast, Zerhouni, a former NIH director and vice chairman of OPKO Health, unpacks his new book Disease Knows No Politics, warns against cutting US research funding and explains why immigration is vital for scientific leadership. He also dives into OPKO and ModeX’s cutting-edge work on multivalent vaccines and multi-specific antibodies that could change the treatment landscape. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“We are reinventing ourselves. We don’t want to be just a legacy orthopedic company and I think we’re driving with the same enthusiasm as Arnold Schwarzenegger,” Zimmer Biomet Chairman, President and CEO Ivan Tornos tells Bloomberg Intelligence. In this Vanguards of Health Care episode, Tornos sits down with BI analyst Matt Henriksson for an in-depth interview about Zimmer Biomet and the strategic initiatives made through internal developments and key acquisitions, including Paragon 28 and Monogram, to accelerate its weighted average market growth rate (WAMGR). He also discusses the current orthopedic landscape and the opportunities arising from the shift to the ambulatory surgical center (ASC) setting, as well as his relationship with Arnold Schwarzenegger as Chief Movement Officer.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“If you can drive the brain’s naturally occurring activity, what you can get is the biologic expression that is important for brains to maintain and protect themselves,” Cognito Therapeutics’ CEO Christian Howell tells Bloomberg Intelligence in this episode of the Vanguards of Health Care podcast. Howell sits down with BI analyst Matt Henriksson to discuss the company and its Spectris device — a non-invasive therapeutic intervention designed to use gamma waves to preserve brain structure and function, starting with Alzheimer’s patients. He also highlights the promise of Cognito’s Hope study and reflects on how his time in the Navy and at Medtronic under former CEO Omar Ishrak shaped his “fidelity to the mission” leadership mantra.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“Unlike radiation therapy that's got toxicity to it as it enters the body and exits the body and leaves large areas of necrotic tissue, histotripsy is very different in that there's generally no damage going in or going out.” HistoSonics’ CEO Mike Blue explains about the Edison system. He then in depth with BI analyst Matt Henriksson on how the Edison histotripsy technology destroys targeted cancer cells, how it differentiates from other cancer treatment options, and how the company plans to expand the use of Edison from lung cancer to kidney, pancreas and prostate indications. Also tune in to learn how the recent acquisition announcement can accelerate its momentum to build out the clinical data and commercialization of Edison.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“We don’t just invest — we bring knowledge, network and opportunity,” says Edward De Nor, partner at GHO Capital, as he joins Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Jonathan Palmer to discuss how the firm identifies and scales mid-market health-care companies that enable better, faster, more accessible care. He explains GHO’s investment thesis, its “picks and shovels” strategy and how innovation, not disruption, fuels compounding growth. The two explore case studies like BioAgilytix, the role of AI as an enabler and why boardrooms should obsess over the customer, not just the P&L.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“When a patient comes in for a routine outpatient echo, we’ll be able to help with diagnosis and reduce the misdiagnosis at that point, number one,” Ultromics’ Founder and CEO Ross Upton explains to Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Matt Henriksson about the initial benefits of EchoGo for heart failure and cardiac amyloidosis. In this episode of the Vanguards of Health Care podcast, Upton also delves into the future of diagnosing and treating heart failure with artificial intelligence, saying it can additionally “really accurately phenotype them, and so the clinician would understand after the echo is done what treatments or what next diagnostic tests the patient needs, and they would understand it there and then without having to go through and try and figure out the pieces of the puzzle.” Also tune in to learn how Ultromics plans to use to recently announced Series C financing as it commercializes EchoGo for heart failure and cardiac amyloidosis.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“I like the label ‘new operating system.’ I think that does capture well what we're trying to do here,” says Dr. Ryan Schoenfeld, CEO of the Mark Foundation. In this episode of Vanguards of Health Care, Schoenfeld joins Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Sam Fazeli to explore how the foundation is redesigning cancer research through global collaboration, platform thinking and a bold portfolio approach. They discuss the Foundation’s growing international footprint, why basic research is increasingly under threat in the US, and where new breakthroughs — including solid tumor CAR-T and glioblastoma — may emerge in the next five years.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“We don’t have to do every great deal, but every deal we do has to be great,” says Payal Agrawal Divakaran, partner at .406 Ventures. In this Vanguards of Health Care episode, she joins Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Jonathan Palmer to unpack how .406 backs early-stage startups at the intersection of health care, tech and AI. They dive into the firm’s thesis-driven investing, why care delivery must be reimagined for complex populations and what Epic’s priorities mean for hospital-facing AI startups. Plus, the origins of the firm’s baseball-inspired name and why being mission-driven is non-negotiable for its founders.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“We truly see ourselves as an operating system for payers,” says David Pierre, CEO of Machinify. Pierre joins Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Jonathan Palmer to unpack how Machinify is using AI to reimagine payment integrity, turning a manual process into a proactive, tech-enabled platform. They discuss Machinify’s formation from four legacy and technology companies, its AI-first claims strategy and how the team is driving real-time adjudication and measurable cost savings. Pierre also shares what he’s learned from Cerner and Signify, and where Machinify is heading next.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"If a company isn't IPO-ready, it better be M&A-ready," says Nanna Lüneborg of Forbion. She and co-founder Sander Slootweg sit down with Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Sam Fazeli to explain Forbion’s blueprint for success in Europe’s maturing biotech ecosystem. From incubating CNS-focused gene therapy startups to executing €100M+ financing rounds, Forbion’s thesis is rooted in scientific rigor and commercially sound exits. They also share how Europe’s capital scarcity offers hidden advantages—and why late-stage buyers still pay up for must-have innovation.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“The PBM space has been worse than some criminal enterprises — they are stealing money from employers and employees,” says Jordan Feldman, CEO and co-founder of Rightway Healthcare. Feldman joins Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Jonathan Palmer on this episode of the Vanguards of Health Care podcast to unpack how Rightway is building a member-first pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) — one without rebates, gimmicks or hidden margins. They dive into Rightway’s origin story, how its care-navigation platform grew to 3.5 million members, and why a transparent, clinically-grounded PBM is the antidote for industry dysfunction. Feldman also shares thoughts on GLP-1 drugs, AI and what it means to be the so-called N-of-one alternative to the Big 3 PBM’s monopoly.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“We started Cleerly with the intent to make a comprehensive care pathway for evaluation, education, treatment and tracking for heart disease,” said Dr. Jim Min, the company’s founder and CEO. In this Vanguards of Health Care episode, Min sits down with BI analyst Matt Henriksson to discuss Cleerly and its comprehensive management platform that uses AI algorithms to boost the accuracy of interpreting CT scans, avoid false positives and make the diagnosis stage of treating the disease more efficient for doctors and hospitals. They also cover the need to drive the iterative process of clinical studies, including the TRANSFORM randomized trial for screening asymptomatic individuals with the aim of preventing sudden cardiac death.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“The thing that I worry about more than loss of exclusivity is this term that I introduced at the AACR meeting -- loss of relevancy" says Susan Galbraith, EVP of Oncology R&D at AstraZeneca. In this episode, Galbraith and David Fredrickson, EVP of Oncology Business Unit, join Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Sam Fazeli fresh from ASCO to discuss how AstraZeneca is navigating an increasingly complex oncology landscape. From a legacy in small molecules to a bold push into areas ranging from cell therapy to antibody-drug conjugates, they explain how the company aims to sustain growth and relevance. The discussion also covers new trial designs, biomarker-driven strategies, and why innovation, not exclusivity, is the true metric of success.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.