Willem Broekaert

Silicon Valley investment gurus have long promoted the idea that startups should ‘fake it till you make it’ to become successful. The infamous fall of Theranos is a perfect showcase of how this attitude can turn into a disaster. We take a closer look at this philosophy of exaggeration and weigh up the merits of ‘fact vs. fiction’ when life sciences entrepreneurs are dealing with potential investors.
The newest generation of ground-breaking gene therapy drugs, Zolgensma and Zynteglo, come with eye-catching price tags of more than a million dollars per treatment. Is the pharma industry recklessly overstepping a line here, or do they fall within current standards of value-based drug pricing? With more of these drugs soon to be rolling out of pharma pipelines, the stakes are rising high for patients, industry, governments, health insurance companies, as well as investors. It all warrants a deeper dive into the case.