Episode 9: A Between the Biotech Waves Conversation with Yaron Werber, MD of Healthcare Biotechnology at Cowen.

Between the Biotech Waves

Today we are talking to Yaron Werber. Yaron is Managing Director of Healthcare Biotechnology at Cowen, he has over 20 years of experience as a research analyst and was a founding team member, chief business and financial officer of Ovid Therapeutics. Prior to Ovid Yaron was managing director and head of US healthcare and biotech equity research at Citi.

Please note - Between vacation, other work commitments and COVID this conversation was recorded over 2 weeks ago. During that time the tea leave reading of the biotech market has marched forward with people highlighting the double bottom and climb in the XBI. While some have hailed this as the end of the bears and seeing the dust of the raging bulls in the distance I am inclined to ask what hallucinogenic they took the night before. Down rounds and negotiated valuation resets in the private market are starting to become more of a central theme with continued uncertainty about timing to recovery, 2023 is now being discussed. The landslide of public SMID cap companies that need to finance has yet to be realized while the macro economic challenges remain in place with inflation out of control in a backdrop of global destabilization. On the micro side the Seagen life raft is starting to look like a potential mirage with M&A being limited and company consolidation a whisper.

In this episode Yaron and I discuss the current market metrics, what companies may want to consider and the challenges to the oft flagged oasis of consolidation, M&A and now the going private plan. We discuss his experience as an operating in a biotech company between his roles in equity research. This experience provides a unique insight into the vagaries of a biotech company and the market.