🧬 The Bulletin #54: Utah the Startup State, The Looming Patent Cliff, and AI Body Cloning in Hollywood
How Utah is positioning itself to be the startup capital of the world, how looming patent cliff will affect Big Pharma, and how Hollywood is cloning its top stars.
⛪ Utah, the Startup Capital of the World
Silicon Valley, New York, London, Los Angeles, and … Utah? 🌾 The Beehive State has recently launched the Startup State Initiative, marketing Utah as the startup capital of the world and encouraging entrepreneurs to start their businesses there. 💼 With low corporate tax, a low cost of living, a government that emphasizes supporting small businesses, and the nation’s best economy, according to the U.S. World and News Report, they make a strong case.📈 The state is home to 324,821 small businesses that employ 45.5% of the population and is increasingly seen as a hot spot for tech innovation. This initiative does boast significant success stories, with Qualtrics (market cap $10.9B) and Pluralsight (market cap $3.33 billion) being founded and developed in the Utah startup scene.
This initiative also focuses on expanding the local talent pool through partnerships with local universities and training programs focused on increasing labor supply to meet the booming demand.🎓 State-sponsored business incubators, VC firms that strictly invest in startups affiliated with the state and a growing amount of angel investors are helping support the boom. With the state’s strategic investments and Gov. Cox’s commitment to this initiative, Utah is not just pitching itself as an alternative to traditional tech hubs but is striving to redefine what a startup ecosystem can look like.
📝 The Looming Patent Cliff
The 20-year safeguards for many pharmaceutical patents are set to expire soon, and the industry will shift dramatically as big pharma companies try to cushion the impact this patent cliff will have on their profits.💰 These pending patent expirations put $356 billion at risk from 2023 to 2028, as generic alternatives will legally be allowed to be produced and will inevitably flood the market.
The last time this happened - in the 2010s- mainly chemical drugs were replaced by generic drugs, whereas this cliff has more biologics involved, meaning it may take more time for ‘bio-similars’ to get produced. William Blair & Co. analyst Matt Phipps told CNBC that historically, biosimilars have “had trouble gaining market share” from their branded counterparts. He also noted that “[biosimilars] cost much more to research and develop, and are more complex to manufacture, than generics, making biosimilar makers less willing to sell them at significant discounts to branded counterparts.”💊 Unlike chemical drugs, where a generic version is identical to the branded one, biosimilars differ slightly. This means that pharmacists won’t be able to substitute a biosimilar for their customers when filing prescriptions as not all patients will do the same way they would to a branded biologic. 💉
Major players in the industry are innovating rapidly to maintain competitiveness and manage potential financial impacts- it will be interesting to see how these developments will unfold and reshape the landscape of the healthcare space.
🧑🔬️ AI Body Cloning in Hollywood
Imagine getting a day’s work in without lifting a finger—impossible, right? Creative Artists Agency (CAA) is turning this dystopian concept into a reality with its new facility, The Vault, where celebrities can create lifelike digital replicas of themselves. 👥Advanced body scans and voice captures allow accurate digital duplicates to be created in a single visit. These AI replicas can be used to put the actor’s face on a stunt double’s body, dub lines into any language, or even be used after the subject passes away to create new music, act in film, or perform in concert.🧑🎤️ Long gone are the days of mediocre Micheal Jackson impersonators; you’ll soon be able to see MJ himself on stage.🎙 CAA clients hold ownership rights to these digital doubles, giving them control to authorize or prevent their use, a move that aims to prevent the use of this technology negatively.
Soul Machines, an AI startup founded to create AI-powered digital people, uses similar technology, and brands are capitalizing on this tech. Jack Nicklaus, widely considered one the greatest golfers of all time, partnered with a startup and a Japanese golf brand to create a ‘Digital Jack,’ an AI-powered version of 38-year-old Niklaus during his prime. Customers are able to speak to Niklaus in Japanese about anything regarding golf, his career, or the brand. Rather than using ChatGPT, the company created its large-language model to ensure that Digital Jack doesn’t say anything offensive.
These advancements highlight a shift in how celebrity endorsements, content creation, and creative industries will change in the coming years. As this technology progresses, it raises pivotal ethical and regulatory questions, especially concerning identity use and the potential for misinformation.
Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser
That’s it for this week! Feel free to email me at lara_gamaleldin@brown.edu with any inquiries!
✨ Follow us:
Instagram: @vanwickleventures
Twitter: @VanWickleV