Biotech’s hubris is backfiring

Welcome to Monday. As the week begins, let us take a moment to remember the dumpster fire that was last week — at least in biotech.

The FDA chastised Novartis for withholding information that its employees had manipulated its some data on Zolgensma. Nektar Therapeutics shares cratered after it disclosed manufacturing problems for an experimental clinical trial cancer drug; Amarin said that the FDA would hold an advisory committee meeting on Vascepa, after all, causing its shares to crash, too.

What's going on? There’s a crisis in biotech credibility these days, writes STAT’s Matthew Herper, fueled by boom-era hubris. Rather than underpromising, the industry is overpromising starry-eyed investors and now paying the price.

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