🌉 Our team was busy shuffling to presentations at the Westin St. Francis and catching up with a range of industry figures on the sidelines of JPM. Here’s what they learned: 

• Bristol Myers Squibb CEO Chris Boerner discussed M&A capacity, working with the Trump administration, and brain health as the “next frontier” in a wide-ranging interview with Endpoints’ Andrew Dunn
  
• Novo Nordisk CEO Mike Doustdar said the company and its peers have lessons to learn from the success of telehealth companies selling compounded versions of their blockbuster drugs
  
• Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla and other prominent industry figures urged US reforms to keep up with China
  
• Manufacturers said onshoring to the US is shaping up to bring benefits in the year ahead
  
• Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel said the company’s deals teams are “looking at quite a number of opportunities”
• Sandoz CEO Richard Saynor fielded many questions about preparations to launch what could be the world’s first generic version of Ozempic
• As far as deals go, this year’s JPM conference was relatively quiet. But cash is floating around and executives at many companies said they’re scouting for assets — including Bristol Myers’ CEO, who said dealmaking is a “top priority”
• For a more detailed breakdown, check out our live blogs from Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3 of the conference.

💰 Mirador Therapeutics, a 2024 Endpoints 11 winner, secured $250 million in a Series B round and is considering an IPO later this year. Mirador has kept a relatively low profile, but in an exclusive interview with Endpoints’ Ryan Cross, CEO Mark McKenna said at least three programs began clinical studies last year. 

The company is focused on precision medicines for immune diseases. It’s hoping to increase its odds of clinical success by first testing its drugs in living human tissues obtained from the organs of recently deceased donors. Mirador is working on treatments for Crohn’s disease, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, rheumatoid arthritis and ulcerative colitis, and McKenna expects to have at least 10 data readouts by the end of 2027.

📋 Genentech is at least the second large pharma to sign onto Rightway, a pharmacy benefit startup founded in 2017. Genentech’s shift from one of the largest drug benefit plans to a privately-held entity is expected to save it tens of millions of dollars, Endpoints’ Max Bayer reported. Genentech CEO Ashley Magargee declined to specify which PBM Genentech left, saying only that it was one of the three largest. In an emailed statement, CVS said that it was not the pharma company’s previous benefit manager.

Sonoma Biotherapeutics is reducing its workforce across its Seattle and South San Francisco offices, as well as remote roles, Kyle LaHucik reported. A Sonoma spokesperson declined to comment on the number of employees impacted, but said “all levels and functions” were affected. 

🤝 As part of the partnership, Lilly and Nvidia committed to spend as much as $1 billion on an “AI co-innovation lab” in the Bay Area. The new site, expected to open at the end of March, will bring scientists from both companies together to work on AI-based approaches to endeavors like early drug discovery, manufacturing and commercial operations, Andrew Dunn wrote.