What is Approved?

Approved tells the definitive stories behind the world's most interesting biotech ventures.

Most people learn about the industry in a fragmented, ad hoc way-- an industry article here, a clinical trial readout there, some science twitter. In contrast, The Approved podcast tells comprehensive, definitive stories of how drugs are discovered, developed and sold. Whether we're tracking a single blockbuster drug's remarkable rise, or following a single startup’s decade-long path to approval, every episode we put out is an unvarnished look at how the biotech industry works. We break down what worked, what failed, and distill insights that you can apply to your own life science business. Every episode is accessible and entertaining, but ultimately designed for the life science professional.

Hosted by Matthew Pech, PhD (cancer biologist and drug hunter) and Alex Kesin (biotech writer), every episode draws on hundreds of hours of research -- including Nature papers, corporate decks, SEC filings, and legal records. All that is supplemented with original interviews with the actual scientists, operators, and clinicians who brought the drugs to life.

Season 1 Highlights

• Keytruda: Featuring conversations with Roy Baynes and Greg Carven.
• Blueprint Medicines: Featuring Christoph Lengauer and Alexis Borisy.
• Botox: Featuring Gavin Herbert Jr. and Brent Saunders.

Season 1 is wrapping up soon, with our upcoming episode on a drug worth 285 million times its weight in gold (guesses are welcome). Research for Season 2 is already underway...

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or visit approved.fm.