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Science

Approved

by Alex Kesin and Matthew Pech

Today: #125 in Science on our combined chart.

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#125 New on this chart
#104 Pulse 5

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DateApple Podcasts
Oct 3#104

About the show

Life sciences, under the hood. Deep dives into the patent filings, regulatory gauntlets, and capital-risks that shape the business of biology.

Latest episodes

  • Allergan: Botox, Rogue Scientists, and the Ultimate Beauty Franchise

    September 18, 2026 · 3 hr 37 min

    The wild story of how a Cold War bioweapon became Botox — and how Allergan turned a sleepy ophthalmology drug into an enduring aesthetic franchise. Every part of this story looks nothing like your normal blockbuster drug. Botox started its…

  • What is Approved?

    September 14, 2026 · 3 min

    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…

  • Blueprint Medicines: Chasing Gleevec to a $9B Allergy Drug

    August 4, 2026 · 2 hr 30 min

    Blueprint Medicines was built to find the next Gleevec-style cancer drug. It ended up pivoting to allergic disease instead, and selling to Sanofi for $9B. This is the platform, the pivot, and who got paid. Blueprint Medicines set out to be…

  • Keytruda: How Merck's Pembrolizumab Became the Best-Selling Cancer Drug of All Time

    May 14, 2026 · 2 hr 8 min

    Keytruda is Merck's $31 billion a year PD-1 inhibitor and the best-selling cancer drug of all time. In Episode 3 of Approved, Alex Kesin and Matthew Pech trace the development of pembrolizumab , featuring interviews the scientists who…

  • Episode #2: Geron

    March 13, 2026 · 2 hr 22 min

    Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on YouTube TABLE OF CONTENTS (00:00:00) - Introduction  (00:01:19) - Hayflick Limit  (00:08:30) - Michael West & Founding of Geron  (00:15:16) - Early Science & IP Strategy  (00:27:25)…

  • Episode #1: Amylin Pharmaceuticals

    January 30, 2026 · 1 hr 46 min

    Listen on Spotify Listen on Apple Podcasts Listen on YouTube TABLE OF CONTENTS (00:00:00) - Introduction (00:04:40) - $50 of Dried Lizard Venom (00:29:17) - Fax of Death (00:43:04) - Sleeping Beauty Awakens (00:52:07) - Carl Icahn Sends a…