# 398: A CAR-T biotech's dramatic turnaround, and drugmakers' tactics to drive more scripts Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-readout-loud-1134305/398-a-car-t-biotech-s-dramatic-turnaround-and-drugmakers-tactics-to-drive-more-scripts Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-readout-loud-1134305/398-a-car-t-biotech-s-dramatic-turnaround-and-drugmakers-tactics-to-drive-more-scripts.md Podcast: [The Readout Loud](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-readout-loud-1134305) Published: 2026-04-23T20:54:00+00:00 Episode link: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/TTSAA6592352327.mp3?updated=1777409428 Audio file: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/TTSAA6592352327.mp3?updated=1777409428 Processing state: not_requested JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-readout-loud-1134305/episodes/398-a-car-t-biotech-s-dramatic-turnaround-and-drugmakers-tactics-to-drive-more-scripts Duration seconds: 2270 ## Resource How did a biotech company that almost ran out of money three times get acquired for over $3 billion? Will the M&A streak continue? And why are drugmakers working with a telehealth company called Prescribery? We discuss all that and more on this week's episode of "The Readout LOUD," STAT's weekly biotech podcast. Venture capitalist Bryan Roberts joins us to discuss his firm’s investment in Kelonia Therapeutics, the CAR-T biotech that Eli Lilly just said it would buy for $3.25 billion. We also bring on our colleague Katie Palmer to talk through her story about pharma companies using bargain-basement telehealth providers to drive drug prescriptions and sales. ## Actions - request_transcript: `POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-readout-loud-1134305/episodes/398-a-car-t-biotech-s-dramatic-turnaround-and-drugmakers-tactics-to-drive-more-scripts/transcription-requests` — Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode. - read_markdown: `GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-readout-loud-1134305/398-a-car-t-biotech-s-dramatic-turnaround-and-drugmakers-tactics-to-drive-more-scripts.md` — Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource. A page view does not enqueue transcription. Agents should invoke `request_transcript` explicitly when they need this episode processed. ## Transcript Full transcripts are not published on public pages unless there is a clear rights basis.