March 31, 2025 • 34 mins
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After nearly five years as host of the Business of Biotech podcast, Matt Pillar is handing the mic over to the voice of the Business of Biotech 2.0, veteran life sciences journalist Ben Comer. On this epsiode, Ben shares his nearly 20-year journey covering the pharmaceutical space, from Haymarket Media to PwC to Pharmaceutical Executive and InVivo magazines, before joining Life Science Connect as Chief Editor at Life Science Leader. He shares stories of the wild ride he's enjoyed along the way, how the stories he's covered have shaped his editorial perspective, and his plans for the next chapter of the Business of Biotech podcast.
Catch Ben's first episode as host next Monday, and every Monday after that. Subscribe to the podcast on your preferred platform and watch the videocast at lifescienceleader.com.
Access this and hundreds of episodes of the Business of Biotech videocast under the Business of Biotech tab at lifescienceleader.com.
Subscribe to our monthly Business of Biotech newsletter.
Get in touch with guest and topic suggestions: ben.comer@lifescienceleader.com
Find Ben Comer on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bencomer/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Matt Pillar (00:03):
My friend and colleague, ben Comer, has been
as astute an observer of pharmaand life sciences industry
happenings as anyone has for atleast the past 17 years.
He spent his early days as amedical reporter for Haymarket
Media, before a tenure as senioreditor at Pharmaceutical
Executive Magazine.
(00:24):
Then he left the media spacefor a bit for a stint as senior
manager at PwC's Health ResearchInstitute.
He came back to Life SciencesMedia in 2020 as executive
editor at InVivo, before joiningus here at Life Science Connect
in 2022 as chief editor at LifeScience Leader Science Connect
(00:47):
in 2022 as chief editor at LifeScience Leader.
I'm Matt Pillar.
This is the Business of Biotech, and what the depth of Ben's
still young LinkedIn profiledoesn't effectively communicate
is just how astute he is.
I've been fortunate to spend alot of time with Ben over the
past couple of years and I'vebeen blown away by his ability
to talk shop, recallingapprovals, deals, clinical
(01:07):
successes, clinical failures,personnel moves, launches,
closures and other miscellaneousindustry scuttlebutt with ease.
He's been a student of thespace for a long time and it
shows and he's a genuinelyinteresting and interested guy,
and that's why, on this 247thepisode of the Business of
(01:29):
Biotech, I'm over the moonexcited to hand the microphone
over to him and introduce him toyou as your new and vastly
improved host of the Business ofBiotech.
Before we get to know Ben a bitbetter, I want to take a minute
to thank our listeners forembracing this podcast the way
you have.
Who knew there would be suchpatience for a guy who dropped
(01:52):
out of AP Bio and had nobroadcast media experience
interviewing the brightestpeople on the planet?
And I want to thank thosepeople the hundreds of amazing
guests that we've hostedselfless, tireless, brilliant
people who've shared so much sotransparently with our listeners
.
I also want to thank my teamJanelle Skemp, bill Pompili,
(02:13):
miles Skoda and Annie Murphy inparticular, folks who rarely get
the limelight.
They've been keeping this thingon the rails and never missing
an episode since we launchednearly five years ago and never
missing an episode since welaunched nearly five years ago.
I also want to thank some alliesthe Kristen Polites and Kathy
Vincents and Neil Hunters andIgnacio Guerrero-Rosses and
Andrew Mielox and Kelly Beals ofthe world who've introduced us
(02:35):
to so many great guests.
Not many play the game as wellas you all do.
It's been an absolute highlightof my career to bumble my way
through these episodes with you,but the Business of Biotech 2.0
is coming and it's bringing abig upgrade.
You've heard him here before,but now it's time to formally
meet your new host, ben Comer.
(02:56):
Ben, welcome to the show.
I feel funny welcoming you tothe show because you've been on
the show.
But welcome to your new role ashost of the Business of Biotech
podcast.
Ben Comer (03:05):
Thanks so much, Matt.
I'm really looking forward toit.
Matt Pillar (03:08):
I'm looking forward to it too.
I'm not going to hand over thereins just yet, because I'm
going to put you in the hot seatas my final guest today.
Fair enough, yeah.
So here we go.
I want to.
Like I said, you've been on thepodcast a number of times
already.
We did a number of episodesthat just wrapped up out at JPM,
so we've had the fun ofco-hosting several episodes, but
(03:31):
we've never taken a minute tokind of get to know you and
where you came from and whatbrought you to this station in
life.
So I want to do as I often dowith guests rewind the clock a
little bit and talk about youracademic upbringing and early
years of your career.
And I know you earned yourdegree in media studies,
composition and literature, like20 years ago.
(03:53):
That's an interesting degreecombination and I'm curious at
that time what you intended todo with it.
Ben Comer (04:00):
Yeah, I was always interested in books and writing
writing probably because it wasthe only thing that I really
excelled at in school.
I wasn't so good at a lot ofother subjects.
(04:21):
But I was a smart advisor atthe College of Charleston who
early on suggested to me that Ishould pursue a journalism
degree instead of an Englishdegree because, as he called it,
it was a trade that I couldpractice.
It's a little more dynamic thanan English degree and while
there wasn't a strictlyjournalism degree at the College
(04:44):
of Charleston, media studiesand communication was kind of
the closest they came and I hada chance to write on the George
Street Observer, which was theCollege of Charleston newspaper.
Really enjoyed doing that.
(05:06):
At the time.
Governor Mark Sanford, agovernor of South Carolina, who
you know a couple of years laterwent temporarily MIA in Buenos
Aires with his mistress, so Icouldn't ask him hard questions
about that at the time, but Ienjoyed interviewing powerful
people.
I kind of got a taste for it atthe George Street Observer.
And you know, I got my degreeat the College of Charleston and
(05:26):
, with no real prospectswhatsoever, moved to New York
City to be a writer, whichsounds naive.
Matt Pillar (05:36):
It sounds romantic Ben.
Ben Comer (05:38):
Yeah Well, yeah, there's a lot of like sleeping
on couches and pounding thepavement, of like sleeping on
couches and pounding thepavement trying to find a job,
and what I noticed was that whatseemed to stick out to
potential employers was a littlenote at the bottom of my resume
which said I was a certifiedpharmaceutical technician, which
was something that I did.
(05:59):
I worked at a pharmacy a kindof mom and pop compounding
pharmacy in my hometown of NorthAugusta, South Carolina,
growing up, and when I went tocollege in Charleston, south
Carolina, I worked at anothersimilar kind of pharmacy and
realized at some point that Icould kick my hourly wage up by
a few dollars if I took the testand got certified as a
(06:21):
pharmaceutical technician.
So I did that, Never reallythought too much about it,
didn't have a kind of drivinginterest in the drug industry at
that point.
But I worked in pharmacy for anumber of years, got my degree
moved up to New York, startedpassing out resumes and you know
I'd get a lot of questionsabout that.
You were a certifiedpharmaceutical technician and
(06:43):
ultimately I think that's whatlanded me some early writing
jobs, including the job atHaymarket Media with medical
marketing and media initially,and I was still.
You know, I still just wantedto be a writer, I wanted to
write fiction.
But I, you know, followingalong the advice of my advisor,
I thought, well, you know thisis a trade, you know it's a
(07:05):
business trade, you know I canget paid enough to at least pay
rent in New York city.
And you know, practice my, myother writing on my off time.
So, anyway, that's, that's kindof how I got started.
Matt Pillar (07:16):
Yeah, it's interesting, you know, when I
look at people who have similarbackgrounds, they come out of
college with an English degreeor a media degree, no-transcript
(07:53):
have embraced it like you'veembraced it, uh, to, to, to an
incredible degree, like you're.
You're uh your knowledge of thespace, your recall your history
with the space?
Like it's very clear to me thatyou're a student of it.
When did that begin to stickand why, like, why did it stick
that?
You were like you know what I'mgoing to?
I'm going to plant my flag herein the life sciences.
Ben Comer (08:15):
I think honestly, matt, a lot of it had to do with
some really important mentorsthat I had along the way, the
first being at medical marketingand Media, which was a
publication that was focusedreally exclusively on the
commercial function of biopharma.
So when I started there, youknow I was covering campaigns, I
was covering different kinds ofsales practices, but I
(08:37):
immediately got interested inthe policy environment, and a
lot of that was because ofMatthew Arnold, who was a senior
reporter on medical marketingand media at the time.
I admired him in a lot of ways.
He had kind of ice water in hisveins, never got upset about
anything, could ask hardquestions to anyone and really
(08:59):
just kind of improved my writingearly on.
He would edit my stuff beforeit was published, but he sort of
helped turn me on to the policyenvironment.
At that time in 2008, when Istarted at Medical Marketing and
Media, tom Abrams was kind oflike the Pope of DDMAC, which
(09:20):
was the Division of DrugMarketing, advertising and
Communication.
The office has been beenupgraded to OPDP and Tom is no
longer around.
But the issue then was how canpharma companies advertise on
social media with a limited, youknow, character, having to
include various side effects.
So I thought that that kind ofintersection of regulatory and
(09:46):
commercial was reallyfascinating and I got to cover a
number of things while at MMM.
You know, aside from just sortof campaigns, I mean the ACA,
you know, known not soaffectionately at the time as
Obamacare passed in 2010.
Passed in 2010.
(10:10):
Part of that was the PhysicianPayment Sunshine Act, which had
a big impact on the way thatpharma promotes things.
We got into a lot ofphilosophical conversations
about what's the fair marketvalue of a cup of coffee, is
candy, a snack or a meal?
You know, as people tried towork through these new
regulations, as they came out, Ithought that was really
fascinating.
(10:30):
I mean, another issue that wassurfacing around that time was
driven really by this husbandand wife team at Dartmouth who
were pushing for drug fact boxesin labels, which was this idea
of modernizing drug labels tomake them more understandable to
patients by presenting clinicalresults in very quick, easy to
(10:52):
understand boxes.
I followed that for years andan FDA advisory committee
recommended using, you know,adopting, those drug facts boxes
and then, I think in 2015,backed off from that said, there
wasn't enough evidence, so itnever went forward, but it was
really interesting.
And then, you know, just beforeI left MMM in 2011, there was
(11:19):
this case about a sales rep whohad promoted a drug off-label to
a government informant, kind ofin disguise, and it was a guy
at Orphan Medical, alfredCoronia.
This is a subsidiary of JazzPharmaceuticals, but he had
(11:39):
promoted a bunch of differentuses for this medicine off-label
and when they got tapped for it, they came back and said, well,
this kind of speech isprotected by the First Amendment
, and it ended up winding aroundto an appeals court, second
Circuit in New York City, wherethe government lost the case and
(12:03):
Coronia won, basically makingthe case.
As long as it's truthful andnot misleading.
You know, we should be allowedto talk about this, since
everyone else is, you know,aside from drug manufacturers,
and that was really interestingto me.
I continued to cover that topica little bit, moving over to
PharmExec, pharmaceuticalExecutive Magazine in 2011.
(12:27):
And there I had another reallyimportant mentor in Bill Looney,
who was the editor-in-chief atthe time.
He was a former Pfizer employee, had worked at Pfizer for a
number of years, was incrediblyconnected across the industry
and he really one of the thingsthat I think he really talked to
(12:50):
me about or pushed me to reallythink about more was the global
implications of pharma or theglobal operations, and to think
about the biopharmaceuticalindustry in a global context.
He also really encouraged me toget out of the office and
attend meetings and, you know,interview people in person as
(13:10):
much as possible, and so youknow, I think Bill, too, was a
really important mentor for me,just in helping me, you know,
understand what it was that Iliked, what I was interested in
and how I should think about theindustry.
And the nice thing aboutPharmaceutical Executive
Magazine was it had a muchbroader editorial purview.
(13:32):
It was not just focused oncommercial issues.
It was focused on really thewhole gamut from early stage
discovery to R&D up throughcommercialization, also
including regulatory policy anda number of other things.
But I did some things at FarmExec that I was proud of.
(13:53):
I went up to Tarrytown, new York, just as one example, and
interviewed Lynn Schleifer andGeorge Jacopoulos at Regeneron
for a kind of early profile ofthat company in the spring of
2013.
Another thing that I liked atPharmExec was every December we
(14:14):
published a pipeline report, soI'd interview a bunch of people
and we try to figure out whichdrugs were going to have the
biggest impact and also thebiggest sales the following year
.
And so that was helpful in acouple of ways, because it
helped me kind of understandwhat the cutting edge of the
industry was, what the big drugapprovals might be for the
coming year.
And I also at that time wasliving in an apartment in
(14:38):
Brooklyn with a guy named TiltonWidrow who was a conceptual
artist who had graduated fromthe Pratt Institute, and I'm
proud to say that I was able toget Tilton to design a cover for
one of those pipeline issues,and so it was really fun to get
him involved and to see hiscover design come to fruition.
Matt Pillar (15:03):
Well, that's pretty cool.
You should have brought a prop.
I'd like to see that.
Ben Comer (15:06):
I know I should I probably still have like the
actual board that he madesomewhere around.
Matt Pillar (15:12):
Yeah, yeah, I mean those years at Haymarket and
Farm Exec.
I mean, obviously, as I said,you really dug in.
But then, in 2014-ish I think,you took a step away, as I
mentioned, and went to work forPWC.
So what was the draw there?
Ben Comer (15:30):
Yeah, you know, matt, a big part of that was having
kids.
You know, I was having my firstchild around that time.
I was watching as magazines notjust Farm Exec but magazines
across the board getting kind ofthinner, magazines across the
board getting kind of thinnerAdvertisers were understandably
looking for, you know, a better,more clear ROI with these, you
(15:51):
know emerging digital channelsand weren't as interested
anymore in doing a kind ofblanket advertising buy in a
magazine.
And so I had done some webcastswith PwC, where you know they
hadC, where they hadparticipated in a kind of paid
webinar program withpharmaceutical executive, and so
I had moderated a couple ofthose and one of the gentlemen
(16:14):
who was on one of those podcastsrecommended me for a job at PwC
when an opening happened at theHealth Research Institute,
which, just quickly, the HealthResearch Institute was a really
interesting group because itcombined a payer, provider and
pharma in a single researchgroup.
So we conducted executivesurveys across providers, across
(16:39):
insurance executives, acrossbiopharmaceutical executives.
We would conduct interviews andthen we would produce these
reports on our findings and then, after the report was published
, we would go around the countryand present the results to
PwC's various pharmaceuticalclients, and so I really enjoyed
(17:02):
that.
A lot of times it was myself andAlec Gaffney who kind of led
the pharma part of the team.
Alec Gaffney has studiedpharmaceutical regulatory issues
for than he does.
He's now leads Agency IQ, whichis a regulatory information
(17:28):
service under the auspices ofPolitico.
But anyway, alec and I wentaround and presented findings
from our reports all over theplace and it was, I think, a
good experience for me.
But and I stayed there for fiveand a half years but ultimately
found that I really missed thekind of editorial bullpen and
(17:53):
wasn't so crazy by the end of itof the kind of writing by
committee.
You know where you have a wholelot of fingers in the final pie
, which is your report thatyou're producing and putting
your name on.
In the final pie, which is yourreport that you're producing
and putting your name on.
And so, um, uh, when anopportunity opened at uh in vivo
(18:14):
magazine, which uh was apublication I'd admired for a
long time, um, I jumped on it.
Matt Pillar (18:17):
Yeah, so you went to work there in 2020, what kind
of work were you doing there?
Ben Comer (18:22):
Yeah, I, um, I was writing features primarily.
Uh, you know, I I I covered someof the kind of pet topics that
I've mentioned previously.
One of the things I guess areasthat I feel like I improved on
through my work at InVivo wasprofiles produced every year
called Rising Leaders, where wewould identify usually young
(18:45):
people who were doing somethingnew and interesting in the
biopharmaceutical industry andwe'd conduct long interviews
with them and write longprofiles about those individuals
and through that experience Ithink I really started to like
the profile as a format andstarted to try to to like the
(19:08):
profile as a format and startedto try to, you know, improve,
you know my profiles and how Ilike a profile with ideas.
You know a profile with issues.
So if you can present you knowa person and get to who they are
, but also present you know anysort of unique ideas or issues
that are kind of radiating outfrom that person for whatever
reason, I found that I reallyenjoyed that.
(19:28):
I also, while I was at InVivo,had an opportunity to write an
article or two for some of thesister publications that were at
the time under the Informaumbrella publications like Pink
Sheet and Script, which again, Ihad admired and kept up with
for really my whole career.
(19:49):
So I was really pleased to kindof check that off, a list of
places where I'd been published.
Matt Pillar (19:55):
Yeah, those profiles that you said you got
good at and enjoyed at InVivosounds kind of like the business
of biotech just on paper,doesn't it?
Ben Comer (20:03):
Yeah, it does, and I've definitely carried that
over to Life Science Leader andthe kind of written profiles
that I work on.
But absolutely with thebusiness of biotech as well, I
think you know those skills willbe useful to me.
You know, going forward.
Matt Pillar (20:21):
For sure, yeah.
What brought you to us at LifeScience Connect and Life Science
Leader?
Ben Comer (20:27):
Well, I was familiar with Life Science Leader and
actually had given apresentation alongside Rob
Wright, who was the previouseditor of Life Science Leader,
at an event held by Bio Utah.
I was at PwC at the time, so Iwas there presenting the
findings on one of the reportsthat we produced.
(20:48):
I'll just give a shout outreally quick to two reports that
I was proud of at PwC.
One of them was on value-basedcontracts, which at the time was
a sort of new idea, and weproduced a report about how
those contracts work whencompanies might consider those.
That I thought was prettyinteresting and got some
(21:11):
interesting response.
And then another report that Iworked or led at the Health
Research Institute was on whatwe called third-party value
assessors.
So these are groups like ICER,the Institute for Clinical and
Economic Review, who were, youknow, using various
methodologies to try to come upwith what a fair price is for a
(21:32):
drug as an independent orquasi-independent group, and so
I enjoyed working on.
There was a number of projectsthat I really enjoyed working on
at PwC, also within theregulatory center, but anyway, I
was presenting on one of thosereports at BioUtah with Rob
Wright.
I had a chance to meet him andtalk to him, get to know Life
(21:54):
Science Leader a little bitbetter.
And then, when Rob retired, arecruiter reached out to me from
Life Science Connect and it wasvery appealing to be a chief
editor for the first time.
I'd been a senior editor, I'dbeen an executive editor, I had
been just a normal old reporterbut I'd never been a chief
(22:16):
editor.
And the idea of having a finalsay on what a publication
publishes ultimately and thekind of angle and lens, that
stamp, if you will, that we'reputting on the stories that we
produce, I like that idea a lotand it seemed like, you know, a
(22:37):
smart next step for me in mycareer.
Matt Pillar (22:40):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, you've demonstrated time and
time again your proficiencyaround.
You know the business issuesrelated to pharma and biotech
and regulatory, but you're alsoa pretty good student of the
scientific game.
Where does that come from, likeyour interest in the science
behind some of these therapiesthat you write about?
Ben Comer (23:00):
I try to, matt, but I don't have a science background
.
I do find it very interestingand I'm always kind of amazed by
people who do have deepscientific background.
You know, I really struggled,just even in high school,
chemistry, and you know,struggled in college level
biology, and it wasn't, you know, it was sort of like.
(23:22):
You know, the deeper I got intoit, into the minutia, the more
it seemed to kind of run from mymind.
I just didn't.
You know, like I said before,you know I always loved writing,
love the arts, loved English,but the kind of really hard
organic chemistry, science stuff, man it was.
It was tough for me but I feel,like you know, when I'm
(23:44):
learning about a drug mechanismor I'm learning about, you know,
the various ways a drugfunctions in the body, I, you
know, I'm by no means any sortof expert, but it's interesting
to me in that context, perhapsmore interesting than you know,
(24:05):
the way that my organicchemistry class was set up to
see, you know, this agent comeinto a body, to see it have this
effect, this side effect.
It was compelling and I thinkthat fact is what makes my brain
willing to kind of receive thatinformation and, to the extent
that I can.
Again like I'm certainly not ascientist, don't have a science
(24:27):
background, but I try to learnas much about a drug as I can if
I'm writing about it.
Matt Pillar (24:34):
Yeah, and you see, I mean it's a valuable skill for
you to have and I've seen it inaction where you know you and I
have sat in plenty of meetingswith you know young biotech
founders, biotech execs, who aretalking about a drug and a
mechanism of action, and I seeyour wheels start turning and
you're drawing connections tothings that you've seen in the
past in that space and thatindication you know.
(24:55):
So it is a valuable interestarea.
Ben Comer (24:59):
Yeah, I mean, part of it is.
I'll also recall things It'llbring to mind.
You know, because I, you know,I used to think that I was the
only reporter that immediatelyforgot stories, you know, after
I wrote them.
But I asked around, you know,and it's not an uncommon
phenomenon, but I do find thatwhen I'm talking to people or
people are telling me about youknow what they're working on, it
(25:22):
will jog my memory.
It will make me remember thingsthat I've covered in the past,
like just, for example, with theexplosion and excitement around
GLP-1, obesity candidates anddiabetes candidates.
I remember covering the launchof Victoza, which was the kind
of precursor to Ozempic.
(25:44):
It was not indicated for weightloss, it was a GLP-1 inhibitor.
And Novo Nordisk, it was adiabetes treatment.
But it was very clear almostimmediately that there was this
weight loss side effect.
And so, you know, I think Ilike being able to tie those
(26:05):
strings together.
You know, when I, for example,I'm covering, you know, the ups
and downs of the current GLPmarket, it brings back to mind
some of the things that happenedwith Victoza, all the way back
to medical marketing and media.
Matt Pillar (26:20):
Yeah, yeah, I like the anecdotes.
What are some other sort ofmemorable or noteworthy events
that you've covered, wow?
Ben Comer (26:31):
or the events that you've covered.
Wow, you know, while I was atInVivo, I started to cover the
newly burgeoning psychedelicdevelopment space.
Matt Pillar (26:42):
I've seen you revisit that in recent months
and years.
Yeah with us.
Ben Comer (26:46):
Yeah, I've carried that over to Life Science Leader
.
That was just a reallyfascinating area.
I remember when J&J Spravatowas approved, which is an
inhaled ketamine and you know,for patients that use that drug
they have to sit, you know, in apsychiatrist's office for a
couple of hours, you know,during the course of therapy.
(27:08):
And so when we started talkingabout some of the classic
psychedelics going into real,you know, drug development
programs, I immediately thoughtabout Spravato as a kind of
guide.
And I remember, at In Vivo,starting off speaking with, you
know, product marketers atSpravato with psychiatrists that
(27:28):
had used Spvado to try tounderstand, you know what, what
the kind of possibilities werefor some of these new
psychedelic candidates that werethat were coming into into
development.
And now you know we may beapproaching, you know, before
too long, an approval of one ofthose.
Matt Pillar (27:47):
Yeah, yeah, it's pretty wild.
Ben Comer (27:53):
Yeah, yeah, it's pretty wild.
So how do you feel aboutpodcast, ben Matt I?
You know I I, over the years,have participated in a lot of
different kinds of video,whether it's video interviews,
whether it's, you know,moderating panels.
I've been a participant onpanels.
I've never done the pot, I'venever actually hosted a podcast,
and I think it's a bit of adifferent format.
(28:15):
It's more conversational and Ithink there's going to be a
learning curve with it.
I think I'm excited a lot bythe format because it scratches
various itches that I have inlearning about people through
profiles and exploring, you know, all sorts of different issues,
(28:36):
whether they're regulatory orpolicy related or commercial
related.
I like the format.
I think I'm going to have toget good at it, though I don't
think I'm there yet.
Matt Pillar (28:49):
So you're too humble.
I've said it a number of timesin the, in the, in the
opportunities we've had to worktogether on these things.
I am, I couldn't be morethrilled about you taking this
over because, uh, you're good atit, whether you, whether you
recognize it yet or not, I mean,and I think you're going to do
fan fantastic.
Ben Comer (29:25):
I'm curious about, uh , you know what, what your
thoughts are for the future ofthe business of biotech, what
business of biotech 2.0 mightlook like.
I know you and I have had acouple of kind of conversations,
as we used to call them back inthe day people that I really
want to have on that.
I kind of am keeping to theside and working on.
I'll also continue, of course,to welcome pitches from our PR
(29:45):
and communication departmentcolleagues.
I'd say, broadly, though, I'mlooking for interesting stories.
I'm looking for organizationalpivots, challenges that
executives or companies havebeen able to overcome, how they
recovered from a failure, anexplanation of novel business
(30:06):
model strategies.
I'm looking for conversations,at the end of the day, that
offer insights into thebiopharmaceutical business to
help company builders, which isour primary audience for the
business of biotech.
I also remain interested inpolicy and regulatory issues, as
(30:27):
well as funding and financetopics, so I'll have experts on
that aren't necessarily drugdevelopers to help explain those
issues as they pop up.
The podcast will be open too.
This is something of a change,I think, matt, from when you
(30:47):
hosted was.
The podcast will be open todrug developers of all stripes,
regardless of drug mechanism.
Matt Pillar (30:56):
That's got to be music to some listeners ears,
because I've delivered so manyno's over the years.
We're strictly talkingbiologics here and that was sort
of rooted in our history, but Ithink it's high time we open
that up.
Ben Comer (31:15):
Yeah, I mean there's all kinds of interesting
activity happening on the smallmolecule side, obviously, and
then emerging advancedtherapeutics realm.
There's a lot of different drugmechanisms and new ones coming
up all of the time that I'm veryinterested to talk about.
I'm also, you know, I'm lookingfor executives at small, medium
(31:39):
and large biopharma too.
I want to make that clear.
I think each has an interestingperspective on the industry,
and you know small companies are, you know, often aspire to
become big companies, and so Ithink there's real value in
talking to folks that work atthe larger organizations.
I also want to talk tocommercial folks.
(32:00):
You know that's an area that Ikind of started out with, and I
think it's a really interestingspace.
You know we'll covergeopolitical issues as they
relate to biopharma.
I don't want to make thebusiness of biotech a political
show, but we also won't shy awayfrom those issues when they're
(32:25):
relevant.
I think that's an importantpiece.
And just on the point aboutcommercial, no matter how good a
drug is, it doesn't work ifpeople don't take it.
You've probably heard thatrefrain talking to executives
before, matt.
I think it's true.
So the commercial function isone that I want to keep having
(32:50):
guests on as well.
Can you give?
Matt Pillar (32:53):
us any hints as to who might be coming up in the
near term?
Ben Comer (33:00):
Yeah, well, just on that point.
On commercial, we have AlNilem's chief commercial officer
, who will be appearing in thenot-too-distant future.
Yeah, nice, you're going tokeep up with our old buddy Alan
Shaw officer who will be uh, whowill be appearing um in the not
too distant future.
Matt Pillar (33:12):
Yeah, nice, you're going to keep.
Uh, you're going to keep.
Keep up with our old buddy AlanShaw.
I know he's got expectations.
Ben Comer (33:18):
Alan Shaw will, uh, 100% remain, uh, uh, a guest of
the business of biotech.
I will, uh, I'll talk with Alananytime he wants to talk to me.
So, uh, I'm I'm happy to saythat, that Alan will not be
going away.
Matt Pillar (33:37):
I'm happy to hear that he's.
He's been good for ratings.
He loves us and our audienceloves him.
Well, ben, uh, I think this isthis has been a fantastic,
fantastic interview, great wayfor our audience to get to know
you a little bit more.
As I said, they've alreadyheard your, heard your voice,
but, um, I'm I couldn't be morethrilled about this.
Like I'm so excited forbusiness, biotech 2.0, I'm so
glad you're the perfect guy forit.
(33:57):
I think you're gonna dofantastic and uh, and I and I
wish you luck, man thanks a lot,matt.
Ben Comer (34:03):
Uh, it means a lot, your endorsement.
I really appreciate it awesome.
Matt Pillar (34:08):
So that's ben comer , host of the Business of
Biotech 2.0, and I'm Matt Pillarsigning off.
From now on, listen andsubscribe to the podcast
wherever you like, but make sureyou watch the videocast under
the Business of Biotech tab atlifescienceleadercom.
Ben will be back with you nextMonday and every Monday after
that, so stay tuned.
(34:29):
Thanks for listening.
My friend and colleague, ben Comer, has been
as astute an observer of pharmaand life sciences industry
happenings as anyone has for atleast the past 17 years.
He spent his early days as amedical reporter for Haymarket
Media, before a tenure as senioreditor at Pharmaceutical
Executive Magazine.
(00:24):
Then he left the media spacefor a bit for a stint as senior
manager at PwC's Health ResearchInstitute.
He came back to Life SciencesMedia in 2020 as executive
editor at InVivo, before joiningus here at Life Science Connect
in 2022 as chief editor at LifeScience Leader Science Connect
(00:47):
in 2022 as chief editor at LifeScience Leader.
I'm Matt Pillar.
This is the Business of Biotech, and what the depth of Ben's
still young LinkedIn profiledoesn't effectively communicate
is just how astute he is.
I've been fortunate to spend alot of time with Ben over the
past couple of years and I'vebeen blown away by his ability
to talk shop, recallingapprovals, deals, clinical
(01:07):
successes, clinical failures,personnel moves, launches,
closures and other miscellaneousindustry scuttlebutt with ease.
He's been a student of thespace for a long time and it
shows and he's a genuinelyinteresting and interested guy,
and that's why, on this 247thepisode of the Business of
(01:29):
Biotech, I'm over the moonexcited to hand the microphone
over to him and introduce him toyou as your new and vastly
improved host of the Business ofBiotech.
Before we get to know Ben a bitbetter, I want to take a minute
to thank our listeners forembracing this podcast the way
you have.
Who knew there would be suchpatience for a guy who dropped
(01:52):
out of AP Bio and had nobroadcast media experience
interviewing the brightestpeople on the planet?
And I want to thank thosepeople the hundreds of amazing
guests that we've hostedselfless, tireless, brilliant
people who've shared so much sotransparently with our listeners
.
I also want to thank my teamJanelle Skemp, bill Pompili,
(02:13):
miles Skoda and Annie Murphy inparticular, folks who rarely get
the limelight.
They've been keeping this thingon the rails and never missing
an episode since we launchednearly five years ago and never
missing an episode since welaunched nearly five years ago.
I also want to thank some alliesthe Kristen Polites and Kathy
Vincents and Neil Hunters andIgnacio Guerrero-Rosses and
Andrew Mielox and Kelly Beals ofthe world who've introduced us
(02:35):
to so many great guests.
Not many play the game as wellas you all do.
It's been an absolute highlightof my career to bumble my way
through these episodes with you,but the Business of Biotech 2.0
is coming and it's bringing abig upgrade.
You've heard him here before,but now it's time to formally
meet your new host, ben Comer.
(02:56):
Ben, welcome to the show.
I feel funny welcoming you tothe show because you've been on
the show.
But welcome to your new role ashost of the Business of Biotech
podcast.
Ben Comer (03:05):
Thanks so much, Matt.
I'm really looking forward toit.
Matt Pillar (03:08):
I'm looking forward to it too.
I'm not going to hand over thereins just yet, because I'm
going to put you in the hot seatas my final guest today.
Fair enough, yeah.
So here we go.
I want to.
Like I said, you've been on thepodcast a number of times
already.
We did a number of episodesthat just wrapped up out at JPM,
so we've had the fun ofco-hosting several episodes, but
(03:31):
we've never taken a minute tokind of get to know you and
where you came from and whatbrought you to this station in
life.
So I want to do as I often dowith guests rewind the clock a
little bit and talk about youracademic upbringing and early
years of your career.
And I know you earned yourdegree in media studies,
composition and literature, like20 years ago.
(03:53):
That's an interesting degreecombination and I'm curious at
that time what you intended todo with it.
Ben Comer (04:00):
Yeah, I was always interested in books and writing
writing probably because it wasthe only thing that I really
excelled at in school.
I wasn't so good at a lot ofother subjects.
(04:21):
But I was a smart advisor atthe College of Charleston who
early on suggested to me that Ishould pursue a journalism
degree instead of an Englishdegree because, as he called it,
it was a trade that I couldpractice.
It's a little more dynamic thanan English degree and while
there wasn't a strictlyjournalism degree at the College
(04:44):
of Charleston, media studiesand communication was kind of
the closest they came and I hada chance to write on the George
Street Observer, which was theCollege of Charleston newspaper.
Really enjoyed doing that.
(05:06):
At the time.
Governor Mark Sanford, agovernor of South Carolina, who
you know a couple of years laterwent temporarily MIA in Buenos
Aires with his mistress, so Icouldn't ask him hard questions
about that at the time, but Ienjoyed interviewing powerful
people.
I kind of got a taste for it atthe George Street Observer.
And you know, I got my degreeat the College of Charleston and
(05:26):
, with no real prospectswhatsoever, moved to New York
City to be a writer, whichsounds naive.
Matt Pillar (05:36):
It sounds romantic Ben.
Ben Comer (05:38):
Yeah Well, yeah, there's a lot of like sleeping
on couches and pounding thepavement, of like sleeping on
couches and pounding thepavement trying to find a job,
and what I noticed was that whatseemed to stick out to
potential employers was a littlenote at the bottom of my resume
which said I was a certifiedpharmaceutical technician, which
was something that I did.
(05:59):
I worked at a pharmacy a kindof mom and pop compounding
pharmacy in my hometown of NorthAugusta, South Carolina,
growing up, and when I went tocollege in Charleston, south
Carolina, I worked at anothersimilar kind of pharmacy and
realized at some point that Icould kick my hourly wage up by
a few dollars if I took the testand got certified as a
(06:21):
pharmaceutical technician.
So I did that, Never reallythought too much about it,
didn't have a kind of drivinginterest in the drug industry at
that point.
But I worked in pharmacy for anumber of years, got my degree
moved up to New York, startedpassing out resumes and you know
I'd get a lot of questionsabout that.
You were a certifiedpharmaceutical technician and
(06:43):
ultimately I think that's whatlanded me some early writing
jobs, including the job atHaymarket Media with medical
marketing and media initially,and I was still.
You know, I still just wantedto be a writer, I wanted to
write fiction.
But I, you know, followingalong the advice of my advisor,
I thought, well, you know thisis a trade, you know it's a
(07:05):
business trade, you know I canget paid enough to at least pay
rent in New York city.
And you know, practice my, myother writing on my off time.
So, anyway, that's, that's kindof how I got started.
Matt Pillar (07:16):
Yeah, it's interesting, you know, when I
look at people who have similarbackgrounds, they come out of
college with an English degreeor a media degree, no-transcript
(07:53):
have embraced it like you'veembraced it, uh, to, to, to an
incredible degree, like you're.
You're uh your knowledge of thespace, your recall your history
with the space?
Like it's very clear to me thatyou're a student of it.
When did that begin to stickand why, like, why did it stick
that?
You were like you know what I'mgoing to?
I'm going to plant my flag herein the life sciences.
Ben Comer (08:15):
I think honestly, matt, a lot of it had to do with
some really important mentorsthat I had along the way, the
first being at medical marketingand Media, which was a
publication that was focusedreally exclusively on the
commercial function of biopharma.
So when I started there, youknow I was covering campaigns, I
was covering different kinds ofsales practices, but I
(08:37):
immediately got interested inthe policy environment, and a
lot of that was because ofMatthew Arnold, who was a senior
reporter on medical marketingand media at the time.
I admired him in a lot of ways.
He had kind of ice water in hisveins, never got upset about
anything, could ask hardquestions to anyone and really
(08:59):
just kind of improved my writingearly on.
He would edit my stuff beforeit was published, but he sort of
helped turn me on to the policyenvironment.
At that time in 2008, when Istarted at Medical Marketing and
Media, tom Abrams was kind oflike the Pope of DDMAC, which
(09:20):
was the Division of DrugMarketing, advertising and
Communication.
The office has been beenupgraded to OPDP and Tom is no
longer around.
But the issue then was how canpharma companies advertise on
social media with a limited, youknow, character, having to
include various side effects.
So I thought that that kind ofintersection of regulatory and
(09:46):
commercial was reallyfascinating and I got to cover a
number of things while at MMM.
You know, aside from just sortof campaigns, I mean the ACA,
you know, known not soaffectionately at the time as
Obamacare passed in 2010.
Passed in 2010.
(10:10):
Part of that was the PhysicianPayment Sunshine Act, which had
a big impact on the way thatpharma promotes things.
We got into a lot ofphilosophical conversations
about what's the fair marketvalue of a cup of coffee, is
candy, a snack or a meal?
You know, as people tried towork through these new
regulations, as they came out, Ithought that was really
fascinating.
(10:30):
I mean, another issue that wassurfacing around that time was
driven really by this husbandand wife team at Dartmouth who
were pushing for drug fact boxesin labels, which was this idea
of modernizing drug labels tomake them more understandable to
patients by presenting clinicalresults in very quick, easy to
(10:52):
understand boxes.
I followed that for years andan FDA advisory committee
recommended using, you know,adopting, those drug facts boxes
and then, I think in 2015,backed off from that said, there
wasn't enough evidence, so itnever went forward, but it was
really interesting.
And then, you know, just beforeI left MMM in 2011, there was
(11:19):
this case about a sales rep whohad promoted a drug off-label to
a government informant, kind ofin disguise, and it was a guy
at Orphan Medical, alfredCoronia.
This is a subsidiary of JazzPharmaceuticals, but he had
(11:39):
promoted a bunch of differentuses for this medicine off-label
and when they got tapped for it, they came back and said, well,
this kind of speech isprotected by the First Amendment
, and it ended up winding aroundto an appeals court, second
Circuit in New York City, wherethe government lost the case and
(12:03):
Coronia won, basically makingthe case.
As long as it's truthful andnot misleading.
You know, we should be allowedto talk about this, since
everyone else is, you know,aside from drug manufacturers,
and that was really interestingto me.
I continued to cover that topica little bit, moving over to
PharmExec, pharmaceuticalExecutive Magazine in 2011.
(12:27):
And there I had another reallyimportant mentor in Bill Looney,
who was the editor-in-chief atthe time.
He was a former Pfizer employee, had worked at Pfizer for a
number of years, was incrediblyconnected across the industry
and he really one of the thingsthat I think he really talked to
(12:50):
me about or pushed me to reallythink about more was the global
implications of pharma or theglobal operations, and to think
about the biopharmaceuticalindustry in a global context.
He also really encouraged me toget out of the office and
attend meetings and, you know,interview people in person as
(13:10):
much as possible, and so youknow, I think Bill, too, was a
really important mentor for me,just in helping me, you know,
understand what it was that Iliked, what I was interested in
and how I should think about theindustry.
And the nice thing aboutPharmaceutical Executive
Magazine was it had a muchbroader editorial purview.
(13:32):
It was not just focused oncommercial issues.
It was focused on really thewhole gamut from early stage
discovery to R&D up throughcommercialization, also
including regulatory policy anda number of other things.
But I did some things at FarmExec that I was proud of.
(13:53):
I went up to Tarrytown, new York, just as one example, and
interviewed Lynn Schleifer andGeorge Jacopoulos at Regeneron
for a kind of early profile ofthat company in the spring of
2013.
Another thing that I liked atPharmExec was every December we
(14:14):
published a pipeline report, soI'd interview a bunch of people
and we try to figure out whichdrugs were going to have the
biggest impact and also thebiggest sales the following year
.
And so that was helpful in acouple of ways, because it
helped me kind of understandwhat the cutting edge of the
industry was, what the big drugapprovals might be for the
coming year.
And I also at that time wasliving in an apartment in
(14:38):
Brooklyn with a guy named TiltonWidrow who was a conceptual
artist who had graduated fromthe Pratt Institute, and I'm
proud to say that I was able toget Tilton to design a cover for
one of those pipeline issues,and so it was really fun to get
him involved and to see hiscover design come to fruition.
Matt Pillar (15:03):
Well, that's pretty cool.
You should have brought a prop.
I'd like to see that.
Ben Comer (15:06):
I know I should I probably still have like the
actual board that he madesomewhere around.
Matt Pillar (15:12):
Yeah, yeah, I mean those years at Haymarket and
Farm Exec.
I mean, obviously, as I said,you really dug in.
But then, in 2014-ish I think,you took a step away, as I
mentioned, and went to work forPWC.
So what was the draw there?
Ben Comer (15:30):
Yeah, you know, matt, a big part of that was having
kids.
You know, I was having my firstchild around that time.
I was watching as magazines notjust Farm Exec but magazines
across the board getting kind ofthinner, magazines across the
board getting kind of thinnerAdvertisers were understandably
looking for, you know, a better,more clear ROI with these, you
(15:51):
know emerging digital channelsand weren't as interested
anymore in doing a kind ofblanket advertising buy in a
magazine.
And so I had done some webcastswith PwC, where you know they
hadC, where they hadparticipated in a kind of paid
webinar program withpharmaceutical executive, and so
I had moderated a couple ofthose and one of the gentlemen
(16:14):
who was on one of those podcastsrecommended me for a job at PwC
when an opening happened at theHealth Research Institute,
which, just quickly, the HealthResearch Institute was a really
interesting group because itcombined a payer, provider and
pharma in a single researchgroup.
So we conducted executivesurveys across providers, across
(16:39):
insurance executives, acrossbiopharmaceutical executives.
We would conduct interviews andthen we would produce these
reports on our findings and then, after the report was published
, we would go around the countryand present the results to
PwC's various pharmaceuticalclients, and so I really enjoyed
(17:02):
that.
A lot of times it was myself andAlec Gaffney who kind of led
the pharma part of the team.
Alec Gaffney has studiedpharmaceutical regulatory issues
for than he does.
He's now leads Agency IQ, whichis a regulatory information
(17:28):
service under the auspices ofPolitico.
But anyway, alec and I wentaround and presented findings
from our reports all over theplace and it was, I think, a
good experience for me.
But and I stayed there for fiveand a half years but ultimately
found that I really missed thekind of editorial bullpen and
(17:53):
wasn't so crazy by the end of itof the kind of writing by
committee.
You know where you have a wholelot of fingers in the final pie
, which is your report thatyou're producing and putting
your name on.
In the final pie, which is yourreport that you're producing
and putting your name on.
And so, um, uh, when anopportunity opened at uh in vivo
(18:14):
magazine, which uh was apublication I'd admired for a
long time, um, I jumped on it.
Matt Pillar (18:17):
Yeah, so you went to work there in 2020, what kind
of work were you doing there?
Ben Comer (18:22):
Yeah, I, um, I was writing features primarily.
Uh, you know, I I I covered someof the kind of pet topics that
I've mentioned previously.
One of the things I guess areasthat I feel like I improved on
through my work at InVivo wasprofiles produced every year
called Rising Leaders, where wewould identify usually young
(18:45):
people who were doing somethingnew and interesting in the
biopharmaceutical industry andwe'd conduct long interviews
with them and write longprofiles about those individuals
and through that experience Ithink I really started to like
the profile as a format andstarted to try to to like the
(19:08):
profile as a format and startedto try to, you know, improve,
you know my profiles and how Ilike a profile with ideas.
You know a profile with issues.
So if you can present you knowa person and get to who they are
, but also present you know anysort of unique ideas or issues
that are kind of radiating outfrom that person for whatever
reason, I found that I reallyenjoyed that.
(19:28):
I also, while I was at InVivo,had an opportunity to write an
article or two for some of thesister publications that were at
the time under the Informaumbrella publications like Pink
Sheet and Script, which again, Ihad admired and kept up with
for really my whole career.
(19:49):
So I was really pleased to kindof check that off, a list of
places where I'd been published.
Matt Pillar (19:55):
Yeah, those profiles that you said you got
good at and enjoyed at InVivosounds kind of like the business
of biotech just on paper,doesn't it?
Ben Comer (20:03):
Yeah, it does, and I've definitely carried that
over to Life Science Leader andthe kind of written profiles
that I work on.
But absolutely with thebusiness of biotech as well, I
think you know those skills willbe useful to me.
You know, going forward.
Matt Pillar (20:21):
For sure, yeah.
What brought you to us at LifeScience Connect and Life Science
Leader?
Ben Comer (20:27):
Well, I was familiar with Life Science Leader and
actually had given apresentation alongside Rob
Wright, who was the previouseditor of Life Science Leader,
at an event held by Bio Utah.
I was at PwC at the time, so Iwas there presenting the
findings on one of the reportsthat we produced.
(20:48):
I'll just give a shout outreally quick to two reports that
I was proud of at PwC.
One of them was on value-basedcontracts, which at the time was
a sort of new idea, and weproduced a report about how
those contracts work whencompanies might consider those.
That I thought was prettyinteresting and got some
(21:11):
interesting response.
And then another report that Iworked or led at the Health
Research Institute was on whatwe called third-party value
assessors.
So these are groups like ICER,the Institute for Clinical and
Economic Review, who were, youknow, using various
methodologies to try to come upwith what a fair price is for a
(21:32):
drug as an independent orquasi-independent group, and so
I enjoyed working on.
There was a number of projectsthat I really enjoyed working on
at PwC, also within theregulatory center, but anyway, I
was presenting on one of thosereports at BioUtah with Rob
Wright.
I had a chance to meet him andtalk to him, get to know Life
(21:54):
Science Leader a little bitbetter.
And then, when Rob retired, arecruiter reached out to me from
Life Science Connect and it wasvery appealing to be a chief
editor for the first time.
I'd been a senior editor, I'dbeen an executive editor, I had
been just a normal old reporterbut I'd never been a chief
(22:16):
editor.
And the idea of having a finalsay on what a publication
publishes ultimately and thekind of angle and lens, that
stamp, if you will, that we'reputting on the stories that we
produce, I like that idea a lotand it seemed like, you know, a
(22:37):
smart next step for me in mycareer.
Matt Pillar (22:40):
Yeah, yeah, I mean, you've demonstrated time and
time again your proficiencyaround.
You know the business issuesrelated to pharma and biotech
and regulatory, but you're alsoa pretty good student of the
scientific game.
Where does that come from, likeyour interest in the science
behind some of these therapiesthat you write about?
Ben Comer (23:00):
I try to, matt, but I don't have a science background
.
I do find it very interestingand I'm always kind of amazed by
people who do have deepscientific background.
You know, I really struggled,just even in high school,
chemistry, and you know,struggled in college level
biology, and it wasn't, you know, it was sort of like.
(23:22):
You know, the deeper I got intoit, into the minutia, the more
it seemed to kind of run from mymind.
I just didn't.
You know, like I said before,you know I always loved writing,
love the arts, loved English,but the kind of really hard
organic chemistry, science stuff, man it was.
It was tough for me but I feel,like you know, when I'm
(23:44):
learning about a drug mechanismor I'm learning about, you know,
the various ways a drugfunctions in the body, I, you
know, I'm by no means any sortof expert, but it's interesting
to me in that context, perhapsmore interesting than you know,
(24:05):
the way that my organicchemistry class was set up to
see, you know, this agent comeinto a body, to see it have this
effect, this side effect.
It was compelling and I thinkthat fact is what makes my brain
willing to kind of receive thatinformation and, to the extent
that I can.
Again like I'm certainly not ascientist, don't have a science
(24:27):
background, but I try to learnas much about a drug as I can if
I'm writing about it.
Matt Pillar (24:34):
Yeah, and you see, I mean it's a valuable skill for
you to have and I've seen it inaction where you know you and I
have sat in plenty of meetingswith you know young biotech
founders, biotech execs, who aretalking about a drug and a
mechanism of action, and I seeyour wheels start turning and
you're drawing connections tothings that you've seen in the
past in that space and thatindication you know.
(24:55):
So it is a valuable interestarea.
Ben Comer (24:59):
Yeah, I mean, part of it is.
I'll also recall things It'llbring to mind.
You know, because I, you know,I used to think that I was the
only reporter that immediatelyforgot stories, you know, after
I wrote them.
But I asked around, you know,and it's not an uncommon
phenomenon, but I do find thatwhen I'm talking to people or
people are telling me about youknow what they're working on, it
(25:22):
will jog my memory.
It will make me remember thingsthat I've covered in the past,
like just, for example, with theexplosion and excitement around
GLP-1, obesity candidates anddiabetes candidates.
I remember covering the launchof Victoza, which was the kind
of precursor to Ozempic.
(25:44):
It was not indicated for weightloss, it was a GLP-1 inhibitor.
And Novo Nordisk, it was adiabetes treatment.
But it was very clear almostimmediately that there was this
weight loss side effect.
And so, you know, I think Ilike being able to tie those
(26:05):
strings together.
You know, when I, for example,I'm covering, you know, the ups
and downs of the current GLPmarket, it brings back to mind
some of the things that happenedwith Victoza, all the way back
to medical marketing and media.
Matt Pillar (26:20):
Yeah, yeah, I like the anecdotes.
What are some other sort ofmemorable or noteworthy events
that you've covered, wow?
Ben Comer (26:31):
or the events that you've covered.
Wow, you know, while I was atInVivo, I started to cover the
newly burgeoning psychedelicdevelopment space.
Matt Pillar (26:42):
I've seen you revisit that in recent months
and years.
Yeah with us.
Ben Comer (26:46):
Yeah, I've carried that over to Life Science Leader
.
That was just a reallyfascinating area.
I remember when J&J Spravatowas approved, which is an
inhaled ketamine and you know,for patients that use that drug
they have to sit, you know, in apsychiatrist's office for a
couple of hours, you know,during the course of therapy.
(27:08):
And so when we started talkingabout some of the classic
psychedelics going into real,you know, drug development
programs, I immediately thoughtabout Spravato as a kind of
guide.
And I remember, at In Vivo,starting off speaking with, you
know, product marketers atSpravato with psychiatrists that
(27:28):
had used Spvado to try tounderstand, you know what, what
the kind of possibilities werefor some of these new
psychedelic candidates that werethat were coming into into
development.
And now you know we may beapproaching, you know, before
too long, an approval of one ofthose.
Matt Pillar (27:47):
Yeah, yeah, it's pretty wild.
Ben Comer (27:53):
Yeah, yeah, it's pretty wild.
So how do you feel aboutpodcast, ben Matt I?
You know I I, over the years,have participated in a lot of
different kinds of video,whether it's video interviews,
whether it's, you know,moderating panels.
I've been a participant onpanels.
I've never done the pot, I'venever actually hosted a podcast,
and I think it's a bit of adifferent format.
(28:15):
It's more conversational and Ithink there's going to be a
learning curve with it.
I think I'm excited a lot bythe format because it scratches
various itches that I have inlearning about people through
profiles and exploring, you know, all sorts of different issues,
(28:36):
whether they're regulatory orpolicy related or commercial
related.
I like the format.
I think I'm going to have toget good at it, though I don't
think I'm there yet.
Matt Pillar (28:49):
So you're too humble.
I've said it a number of timesin the, in the, in the
opportunities we've had to worktogether on these things.
I am, I couldn't be morethrilled about you taking this
over because, uh, you're good atit, whether you, whether you
recognize it yet or not, I mean,and I think you're going to do
fan fantastic.
Ben Comer (29:25):
I'm curious about, uh , you know what, what your
thoughts are for the future ofthe business of biotech, what
business of biotech 2.0 mightlook like.
I know you and I have had acouple of kind of conversations,
as we used to call them back inthe day people that I really
want to have on that.
I kind of am keeping to theside and working on.
I'll also continue, of course,to welcome pitches from our PR
(29:45):
and communication departmentcolleagues.
I'd say, broadly, though, I'mlooking for interesting stories.
I'm looking for organizationalpivots, challenges that
executives or companies havebeen able to overcome, how they
recovered from a failure, anexplanation of novel business
(30:06):
model strategies.
I'm looking for conversations,at the end of the day, that
offer insights into thebiopharmaceutical business to
help company builders, which isour primary audience for the
business of biotech.
I also remain interested inpolicy and regulatory issues, as
(30:27):
well as funding and financetopics, so I'll have experts on
that aren't necessarily drugdevelopers to help explain those
issues as they pop up.
The podcast will be open too.
This is something of a change,I think, matt, from when you
(30:47):
hosted was.
The podcast will be open todrug developers of all stripes,
regardless of drug mechanism.
Matt Pillar (30:56):
That's got to be music to some listeners ears,
because I've delivered so manyno's over the years.
We're strictly talkingbiologics here and that was sort
of rooted in our history, but Ithink it's high time we open
that up.
Ben Comer (31:15):
Yeah, I mean there's all kinds of interesting
activity happening on the smallmolecule side, obviously, and
then emerging advancedtherapeutics realm.
There's a lot of different drugmechanisms and new ones coming
up all of the time that I'm veryinterested to talk about.
I'm also, you know, I'm lookingfor executives at small, medium
(31:39):
and large biopharma too.
I want to make that clear.
I think each has an interestingperspective on the industry,
and you know small companies are, you know, often aspire to
become big companies, and so Ithink there's real value in
talking to folks that work atthe larger organizations.
I also want to talk tocommercial folks.
(32:00):
You know that's an area that Ikind of started out with, and I
think it's a really interestingspace.
You know we'll covergeopolitical issues as they
relate to biopharma.
I don't want to make thebusiness of biotech a political
show, but we also won't shy awayfrom those issues when they're
(32:25):
relevant.
I think that's an importantpiece.
And just on the point aboutcommercial, no matter how good a
drug is, it doesn't work ifpeople don't take it.
You've probably heard thatrefrain talking to executives
before, matt.
I think it's true.
So the commercial function isone that I want to keep having
(32:50):
guests on as well.
Can you give?
Matt Pillar (32:53):
us any hints as to who might be coming up in the
near term?
Ben Comer (33:00):
Yeah, well, just on that point.
On commercial, we have AlNilem's chief commercial officer
, who will be appearing in thenot-too-distant future.
Yeah, nice, you're going tokeep up with our old buddy Alan
Shaw officer who will be uh, whowill be appearing um in the not
too distant future.
Matt Pillar (33:12):
Yeah, nice, you're going to keep.
Uh, you're going to keep.
Keep up with our old buddy AlanShaw.
I know he's got expectations.
Ben Comer (33:18):
Alan Shaw will, uh, 100% remain, uh, uh, a guest of
the business of biotech.
I will, uh, I'll talk with Alananytime he wants to talk to me.
So, uh, I'm I'm happy to saythat, that Alan will not be
going away.
Matt Pillar (33:37):
I'm happy to hear that he's.
He's been good for ratings.
He loves us and our audienceloves him.
Well, ben, uh, I think this isthis has been a fantastic,
fantastic interview, great wayfor our audience to get to know
you a little bit more.
As I said, they've alreadyheard your, heard your voice,
but, um, I'm I couldn't be morethrilled about this.
Like I'm so excited forbusiness, biotech 2.0, I'm so
glad you're the perfect guy forit.
(33:57):
I think you're gonna dofantastic and uh, and I and I
wish you luck, man thanks a lot,matt.
Ben Comer (34:03):
Uh, it means a lot, your endorsement.
I really appreciate it awesome.
Matt Pillar (34:08):
So that's ben comer , host of the Business of
Biotech 2.0, and I'm Matt Pillarsigning off.
From now on, listen andsubscribe to the podcast
wherever you like, but make sureyou watch the videocast under
the Business of Biotech tab atlifescienceleadercom.
Ben will be back with you nextMonday and every Monday after
that, so stay tuned.
(34:29):
Thanks for listening.
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