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Nate Chang

Operating Partner, Playground Global · 1 appearance on the record.

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Nate Chang is an Operating Partner at Playground Global, where he advises early-stage engineered biology and life sciences companies on fundraising and M&A. He previously spent 14 years in healthcare investment banking before joining the corporate development team at Andreessen Horowitz.

11statements → 7claims → 6claims resolved → 67%fully supported → 3.45/5average certainty → 1.73/5average debate potential →

4 supported 1 partly supported 1 contradicted 1 not checkable as stated how the 7 claims stand · each chip opens the sources

1 prediction · 6 assertions · 1 opinion · 3 insights · every statement was checked. The prediction and assertions are the 7 claims: statements the public record can support or contradict. 6 are resolved, and 1 names no date, number or outcome precise enough to check. Everything else (opinions, insights, what ifs, disclosures) can never be settled by the record, so it carries no assessment.

The record, in short

What the tape says about how Nate argues and how the claims held up. Everything they said, and everything said about them, is in the tabs below.

Their most notable supported claim

Assertion Supported
Chang: Novartis acquired AAA and Endocyte to secure radioisotope supply chains
“He made two acquisitions in the radio label target oncology space. So with AAA and Endocyte being the most recent acquisition they were able to secure that supply chain for that specific radio isotope.”
Nate Chang Feb 28, 2019 ▶ 8:49 What’s with All the Bio M&A in 2019?: A Quick Take

Their most notable contradicted claim

Assertion Contradicted
Nate Chang: Biotech M&A deals totaled $123 billion in 2018
“So in 2018, the industry announced one hundred twenty three billion of MNA transactions.”
Nate Chang Feb 28, 2019 ▶ 9:23 What’s with All the Bio M&A in 2019?: A Quick Take

Expressed certainty vs assessment result

none yet certainty 1
none yet certainty 2
83% certainty 3
67% certainty 4
none yet certainty 5

weighted support: a fully supported claim counts one, a partly supported claim counts half. Each filled bar is clickable and opens exactly those claims; "none yet" means nothing said at that certainty level has resolved yet

Everything Nate Chang said on the a16z Podcast that made the record, most notable first. Filter by type, assessment or year in the ledger →

Assertion Partly supported
Chang: Pharma Acquirers Strengthened Position During Q4 2018 Market Downturn
“I think the buyer psyche changed too, specifically in the fourth quarter where across all sectors of the market saw a downturn in, in trading, but I think the buyer universe actually strengthened across pharma.”
Nate Chang Feb 28, 2019 ▶ 2:39 What’s with All the Bio M&A in 2019?: A Quick Take
Insight
Chang: Pharma Buyers Acquire Biotech Startups to Control Drug Launch Messaging
“So I think part of it also is buyers want to control the launch and control the commercial message.”
Nate Chang Feb 28, 2019 ▶ 3:37 What’s with All the Bio M&A in 2019?: A Quick Take
Insight
Chang: Gene therapy modalities create moats providing sustained cash flows
“If you actually think about gene therapy and new technologies, they are creating the moat. Meaning, for example, Avexis and SMA, they are the, probably the leading gene therapy program out there, and they want to continue building that franchise and have not o…”
Nate Chang Feb 28, 2019 ▶ 4:17 What’s with All the Bio M&A in 2019?: A Quick Take
Opinion
Chang: Spark Therapeutics' Philadelphia manufacturing plant was a key acquisition asset
“If you actually look at Spark, it's, it definitely has its anchor in gene therapy, but I think the thing that gets underappreciated in biopharma is downstream capabilities, and so they have a manufacturing facility on Market Street in Philadelphia, and I think…”
Nate Chang Feb 28, 2019 ▶ 7:41 What’s with All the Bio M&A in 2019?: A Quick Take
Insight
Chang: Bio platforms require end-to-end operational solutions, not just discovery
“The platform is not just an enabling technology to source and discover new drugs, but it's also the breadth of end to end solutions for modality.”
Nate Chang Feb 28, 2019 ▶ 8:10 What’s with All the Bio M&A in 2019?: A Quick Take
Assertion Supported
Chang: Novartis acquired AAA and Endocyte to secure radioisotope supply chains
“He made two acquisitions in the radio label target oncology space. So with AAA and Endocyte being the most recent acquisition they were able to secure that supply chain for that specific radio isotope.”
Nate Chang Feb 28, 2019 ▶ 8:49 What’s with All the Bio M&A in 2019?: A Quick Take
Assertion Supported
Nate Chang: Biotech M&A reached $94 billion by early 2019
“This year we're at ninety four billion.”
Nate Chang Feb 28, 2019 ▶ 9:30 What’s with All the Bio M&A in 2019?: A Quick Take
Prediction Held up
Nate Chang: Biotech IPO exits will slow down in 2019
“I think we're gonna continue to see slightly slower pace in terms of IPO exits”
Nate Chang Feb 28, 2019 ▶ 9:44 What’s with All the Bio M&A in 2019?: A Quick Take
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Nate Chang: Celgene set the standard for early-stage biotech licensing deals
“Celgene had a great playbook. They were very active in looking at earlier stage companies in terms of licensing, licensing with equity or also licensing with the option of buy. They had all those structures laid out for a lot of their early stage investments.”
Nate Chang Feb 28, 2019 ▶ 10:32 What’s with All the Bio M&A in 2019?: A Quick Take
Assertion Supported
Nate Chang: Most biotech acquisitions target late-stage or commercial companies
“I think most acquisitions that you see in, in biotech are late stage to marketed stage companies, so they are, I think pharma companies are still very conservative in terms of making big bets on early stage platforms for acquisition.”
Nate Chang Feb 28, 2019 ▶ 11:20 What’s with All the Bio M&A in 2019?: A Quick Take
Assertion Contradicted
Nate Chang: Biotech M&A deals totaled $123 billion in 2018
“So in 2018, the industry announced one hundred twenty three billion of MNA transactions.”
Nate Chang Feb 28, 2019 ▶ 9:23 What’s with All the Bio M&A in 2019?: A Quick Take

Appearances (1)

EpisodeDateSpeaking time
What’s with All the Bio M&A in 2019?: A Quick Take Feb 28, 2019 5m
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