The Next Biotech Breakthrough

Summary

Podcast Summary: Bloomberg Businessweek – "The Next Biotech Breakthrough"

Date: February 5, 2026
Hosts: Carol Massar & Tim Stenovec
Guest: Jenny Rook, Founder and Managing Director, Genoa Ventures

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Episode Overview

In this episode, hosts Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec discuss the rapidly evolving intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and biotechnology, especially as it relates to research, investment, and drug development. The show features a segment with Jenny Rook, a leading biotech investor, offering insights from the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference and her perspective on biotech trends, funding, and the impact of AI on the field.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. OpenAI’s Introduction of Prism for Scientific Research

• [00:14] Tim Stenovec breaks the news of OpenAI’s new tool, Prism, aimed at supporting scientists in academic writing, collaboration, and research paper drafting using the GPT-5.2 model.

  • “OpenAI is releasing a free tool. It’s aimed at making it easier for scientists to use ChatGPT to draft research papers and collaborate with colleagues as part of a larger effort to position its chatbot as an aid for scientific work and discoveries.” (Tim Stenovec, 00:14)

• Features of Prism:

  • Cites papers (with caveats about generating non-existent citations)
  • Can turn handwritten diagrams into computer images

• [00:51] Carol Massar and Jenny Rook quickly warn about issues of plagiarism and false citations.

  • “Just be careful not to copy somebody else’s work!” (Carol Massar, 00:51)

2. The JP Morgan Healthcare Conference: Industry Pulse

• [02:10] Jenny Rook shares her takeaways from the 2026 JP Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco.
  • The mood was “cautiously optimistic,” a sentiment echoed from the previous year, but with more energy and participation this time.
    • “The headline that I kept hearing...was cautiously optimistic. Which, you know, I’ll take it after the last couple of years...there was a palpably different feel. There were more people actually this year than last year.” (Jenny Rook, 02:10)
  • High attendance and engagement, signaling “a lot of energy around the very real impacts...of AI on health and science and also some of the shifts in the availability of funding.”

3. Opportunities & Funding in Early-Stage Biotech

• [03:22-04:04] Hosts inquire about the state of early-stage innovation and funding, referencing the traditional reliance on university/federal funding and new challenges ahead.

  • Tim asks, “Are you also seeing like the early stage stuff? ... Are the opportunities still there?...Are you having a hard time picking and choosing which investments to make?” (Tim Stenovec, 03:22)

• Jenny Rook’s Response:

  • Opportunities persist due to the ongoing need to uncover new science.
  • AI is speeding the pace at which data is turned into actionable research and business plans — creating a "flywheel" effect.
    • “That flywheel is spinning faster with the assistance of AI and other kinds of connectivity and collaboration.” (Jenny Rook, 04:04)
  • Funding shortfalls from traditional sources are driving researchers to consider commercial paths, often resulting in new opportunities for early-stage investors.
    • “We're seeing...perhaps counterintuitively, this is creating a new category or more opportunities for the early stage investor where perhaps a researcher who hadn't been thinking of commercializing their research is starting to think, ‘Well, is there an opportunity to bring this out in a way where I can access both commercial dollars and...funding for advancing science?’” (Jenny Rook, 04:04)

4. The Realistic Timelines of AI in Biotech

• [05:45] Carol asks whether AI has dramatically reduced the time frames for biotech discovery and product development.

  • “Does the time frame for figuring out developments in this area— is it sped up because of AI or is it still going to take a while?” (Carol Massar, 05:45)

• Jenny Rook’s Insights:

  • AI’s accelerative impact is largely at the beginning of the process — such as discovering and designing new drugs or diagnostics.
  • The downstream development, regulatory, and commercialization processes remain lengthy and expensive.
    • “Perhaps it [AI] can help us come up with novel medicines or novel targets... But we’re still looking at...the multi-year, many hundreds of millions of dollars journey to bring a drug properly through clinical development.” (Jenny Rook, 06:14)
  • Urges listeners to “temper our excitement” with the realities of those timelines.

5. Overall Sentiment and Memorable Quotes

• Cautiously optimistic outlook for biotech and healthcare investment in 2026.
• AI perceived as a rising tide, speeding early research and presenting new models for innovation and investment.
• The sector is adapting to changes in traditional funding, creating new opportunities for entrepreneurs and early-stage investors.
• “We have to keep in mind that many of the accelerations that we're talking about that AI can bring...is still happening at the beginning of a journey.” (Jenny Rook, 06:14)

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Notable Quotes by Timestamp

• [00:14] Tim Stenovec:
  “OpenAI is releasing a free tool. It’s aimed at making it easier for scientists to use ChatGPT to draft research papers and collaborate with colleagues as part of a larger effort to position its chatbot as an aid for scientific work and discoveries.”

• [00:51] Carol Massar:
  “Just be careful not to copy somebody else’s work!”

• [02:10] Jenny Rook:
  “The headline that I kept hearing...was cautiously optimistic. Which, you know, I’ll take it after the last couple of years...there was a palpably different feel.”

• [04:04] Jenny Rook:
  “That flywheel is spinning faster with the assistance of AI and other kinds of connectivity and collaboration.”

• [06:14] Jenny Rook:
  “...perhaps it can help us come up with novel medicines or novel targets for medicines. But we’re still looking at the beginning of the multi-year, many hundreds of millions of dollars journey to bring a drug properly through clinical development.”

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:14 | OpenAI’s Prism for scientists
• 02:10 | Biotech industry mood from JP Morgan Healthcare Conference
• 04:04 | Changing funding landscape and opportunities for early-stage investors
• 05:45 | Impact of AI on development timelines in biotech

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Tone and Conclusion

The discussion is optimistic yet balanced, highlighting both the transformative promise of AI in biotech and the persistent realities of industry timelines and funding challenges. Jenny Rook’s perspective roots the conversation in the driven, adaptable nature of scientific entrepreneurs, and the evolving dynamic of funding in a post-pandemic landscape.

Final Thought:
The next biotech breakthrough will ride the ongoing convergence of technology and biology, with AI accelerating early discovery but not sidestepping the necessity of patience and rigor in translating research to real-world medicines.

Transcript

[Carol Massar]

Bloomberg Audio Studios Podcasts Radio news this is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Massar and Tim Stenbec on Bloomberg Radio.

[Tim Stenbec]

Carol this story crossing by Rachel Metz just about 1pm this afternoon. This is pretty cool. OpenAI is releasing a free tool. It's aimed at making it easier for Scientists to use ChatGPT to draft research papers and collaborate with colleagues as part of a larger effort to position its chat bot as an aid for scientific work and discoveries. Okay. It's called Prism. OpenAI is rolling it out today. Uses the company's GPT 5.2 AI model to carry out tasks related to writing and revising academic work. A scientist, for example, might ask it to help improve the way a paper is written and find related papers to cite in their work or generate a computerized version of a handwritten diagram.

[Carol Massar]

Just be careful not to copy somebody.

[Jenny Rook]

Else'S work or just going to say.

[Carol Massar]

Well, you will be not good. Citations are important.

[Tim Stenbec]

I think the administration ran into some issues with using AI to come out with some guidelines in recent months and it was found that it cited papers that don't actually exist.

[Carol Massar]

Yeah, it's super interesting. I think we're finding our way. But I do agree and I think there's momentum of AI in general. What it couldn't do maybe for the healthcare space, for the science space. We have a great voice on this. We love touching base with her. Jenny Rook, founder and managing director of Genoa Ventures. It's a VC firm it invests in. I'm having a tough time on this Tuesday. I blame the snow and maybe being a little off. She says the quote next generation of companies at the convergence of technology and biology. This is what she invests in. Jenny, good to have you back with us. So talk to us about new year, maybe some new ideas, maybe some new momentum. The JP Morgan Healthcare conference wrapped up earlier this month. You were there. Tell us what we need to know, especially for those who are listening and watching in terms of the investing landscape, trends, narratives in this space.

[Jenny Rook]

Sure. Happy to Good to be back with you Carol and Tim. Yeah, it was a dynamic year for the JPMorgan Biotech Conference that happens every year here in San Francisco. It is always good sort of bellwether for how people are feeling going into the new year. I would say the headline that I kept hearing in conversations around here was cautiously optimistic. Which know I'll take it after the last couple of years. Although I must admit that was a phrase that we said last year as well. And then 2025 happened with all its uncertainties but there was a different, palpably different feel. There were more people here actually this year than last year. Generally speaking, events were quite well attended. And I think there was a lot of energy around the very real impacts, as you were just talking about of AI on health and science and also some of the shifts in the availability of funding, both public and private, for advancing health care and science, actually along the lines of your previous guest. So I would say in general, lots to be excited about. Again, perhaps cautiously.

[Tim Stenbec]

Yeah, we spoke to just a couple weeks ago from the JPM conference. We heard from some of the heads or chairs of the biggest pharmaceutical companies out there. Are you also seeing like the early stage stuff? Are you seeing a lot of opportunities there still? Because as we've spoken to you a lot about, you know, over the last year, a lot of that stems from academic research. There are questions about funding. We just spoke about it with Janet Lauren at, you know, in these universities, and that funding drying up from the federal government. Is that excitement still there? Are the opportunities still there? Are you having a hard time picking and choosing which investments to make? Because there are a plethora of investments to make.

[Jenny Rook]

I think there are always going to be opportunities because there's so much we're still learning about basic science and how to use it. And as we've been talking about the acceleration of the ability to get some data as a scientist, as a researcher, as a technology developer, as an entrepreneur, get that data reincorporated in one's thinking with the tools of AI and come up with new ways to pursue either the business plan or the scientific research, that flywheel is spinning faster with the assistance of AI and other kinds of connectivity and collaboration. So that's definitely happening. I think one of the things we've talked about in our conversations in the past is while it was very much disruptive to people's expectations about where federal dollars we're going to be coming from for advancing science. We've seen a couple of things. One, the resilience of those driven, passionate researchers who are looking to get their work done one day, one way or another, and figuring out ways to get that funding done as well. As entrepreneurs, they tend to be the grittiest and the most driven. So we're seeing in some cases this actually, perhaps counterintuitively, is creating a new category or more opportunities for the early stage investor where perhaps a researcher who hadn't been thinking of commercializing their research is starting to think, well, is there an opportunity to bring this out in a way where I can access both commercial dollars and the funding that is available for advancing science.

[Carol Massar]

Yeah. I also think about how patient investors have to be for really seeing the AI pay off when it comes to either biotech developments. We know some of this stuff takes time in a normal world and we know AI can certainly speed up things. But I'm just curious, does the time frame for figuring out developments in this area, is it sped up because of AI or is it still going to take a while?

[Jenny Rook]

This is such an important point, Carol. We have to keep in mind that many of the accelerations that we're talking about that AI can bring to the practice of science is still happening at the beginning of a journey to, for example, bring a new intervention or diagnostic product to market. And so perhaps it can help us come up with novel medicines or novel targets for medicines. But we're still looking at the beginning of the multi year, many hundreds of millions of dollars journey to bring a drug properly through clinical development. So I think it is important to your point to temper our excitement about that potential impact with the overlay of the timelines that it takes to actually properly investigate and develop and launch medicines.

[Carol Massar]

Very cool stuff I was thinking about too. We had a conversation with Cathie Wood and talking about AI, certainly in health care and drug development.

[Tim Stenbec]

She's bullish.

[Carol Massar]

Yeah, definitely bullish. So we highly recommend folks check out that conversation. But Jenny always loved touching base with you. Certainly an important area to have on our radar. And that of course was Jenny Rook, founder and managing director of Genoa Ventures. Good to check in with her. Joining us from the West Coast, San Francisco.