Regeneron CEO says the next big thing for biotech isn't AI, it's gene therapy
- Regeneron CEO Leonard Schleifer elaborated on the biotech company's newest ventures with CNBC's Jim Cramer and pointed to gene therapy as especially innovative.
- Schleifer suggested that "associating genes with disease" is going to drive the entire pharmaceutical industry.
Regeneron CEO Leonard Schleifer elaborated on the biotech company's latest ventures with CNBC's Jim Cramer on Tuesday and emphasized the importance of genetic research across the industry.
"The big thing for everybody these days is AI, that's the next big thing. But I don't believe that," Schleifer said. "It's a good tool. But for our business, the really, most important tool, I think, is genetics, it's genes."
Schleifer suggested that "associating genes with disease" is going to drive the pharmaceutical industry, explaining that innovative treatments can essentially repair certain genes and silence others.
In October of 2023, Regeneron shared preliminary results that gene therapy improved hearing in a child with a rare condition causing "profound genetic hearing loss." This specific gene therapy was developed in a collaboration between with Decibel Therapeutics, a company Regeneron recently acquired.
Schleifer said Regeneron is working to develop new cancer treatments, as well as drugs that can combat muscle-loss caused by GLP-1 drugs — diabetes and weight loss medications like Ozempic or Mounjaro. According to Schleifer, this new treatment could help GLP-1 patients avoid lean body mass loss.
"We're excited for the possibility to get better quality weight loss when combined with the standard GLP-1 drugs," he said. "So, we're going to start testing that later this year."
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