Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said that the main thing getting in the way of changing vaccine discussions in the U.S. is the Secretary of Health, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
In this episode of Denatured, BioSpace editorial team members, Senior Editor, Annalee Armstrong, and News Editor, Dan Samorodnitsky, discuss their post-JPM takeaways and 2026 forecasts after speaking to a range of pharma and biotech executives and investors last week.
Looking for a research and development job? Check out the BioSpace list of 12 companies hiring life sciences professionals like you.
Competition for biotech and pharma employment picked up year over year and remains strong, according to BioSpace data. A survey late last year showed that 64% of employed/contract and 96% of unemployed respondents will actively look for work in 2026.
Fueled by advances in biomarkers, brain mapping, and AI, investment in neuro and CNS innovation shows no signs of slowing, even amid costly setbacks. BioSpace spoke to investors at JPM26 to get their take on recent bets in new therapies and neurotech.
Reporting Q4 and full year earnings on Wednesday, J&J executives hailed growth across the healthcare giant’s portfolio while standing fast on its talc lawsuit and tariffs.
FEATURED STORIES
Attendance at the Biotech CEO Sisterhood’s annual photo of women leaders and allies in Union Square doubled this year. There’s still more work to do.
After J.P. Morgan, biotech’s bold promises meet real-world challenges. In 2026, success starts with a CDMO partner who accelerates timelines and anticipates every manufacturing hurdle. Learn how AGC Biologics offers tailored cell line solutions for complex molecules.
With inspections always on the table, LOTTE Biologics is pushing a proactive, quality first culture across its dual hubs in Syracuse and Songdo, backing its new single‑use ADC facility with rigorous training, self‑audits and real‑time regulatory surveillance.
After winning a surprise approval for its hereditary angioedema drug Ekterly, KalVista is confident the oral offering will capture the lion’s share of the market for on-demand use.
As drug candidates discovered via AI move into later-stage clinical trials, the technology seems to be doing as promised: speeding drug development.
Biohaven has suffered a few setbacks in recent months, including an FDA rejection and a missed $150 million benchmark payment, but CEO Vlad Coric looked for the brighter side at JPM, specifically emphasizing a serendipitous discovery that could get the company in the obesity game.
LATEST PODCASTS
In this episode of Denatured, BioSpace editorial team members, Senior Editor, Annalee Armstrong, and News Editor, Dan Samorodnitsky, discuss their post-JPM takeaways and 2026 forecasts after speaking to a range of pharma and biotech executives and investors last week.
The obesity market and Most Favored Nation drug pricing were among the topics de jour at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference last week, while smaller biotechs sought to assure investors that their regulatory ducks are in a row; Novo Nordisk’s oral obesity pill got off to a hot start while the FDA delayed a decision on Eli Lilly’s investigational offering; and SpyGlass Pharma and AgomAb Therapeutics join the 2026 IPO club.
In this bonus episode, BioSpace’s Vice President of Marketing Chantal Dresner and Careers Editor Angela Gabriel take a look at Q4 job market performance and what it signals for 2026.
Subscribe to GenePool
Subscribe to BioSpace’s flagship publication including top headlines, special editions and life sciences’ most important breaking news
SPECIAL EDITIONS
Recent breakthroughs and three decades of progress in treating Huntington’s disease
In this deep dive, BioSpace investigates China’s rise as a biotech powerhouse.
In this deep dive, BioSpace explores the next big thing in obesity.
DEALS
-
Novo Nordisk pulled back from cell therapies last October, scrapping development of a type 1 diabetes therapy and laying off most employees working on this modality. -
Ahead of GSK are Bristol Myers Squibb and Merck, which have already won FDA approvals for subcutaneous formulations of their respective PD-1 blockers Opdivo and Keytruda. -
In November, Pfizer was reportedly looking to divest its stake in BioNTech, though the German biotech at the time denied these rumors. -
The arrangement will boost AstraZeneca’s cell therapy portfolio as the pharma targets $80 billion in revenue by 2030. -
Henry Gosebruch, who has $3.5 billion in capital to deploy, is thinking broad as he steers the decades-old biotech out of years of turmoil.
WEIGHT LOSS
-
The obesity market and Most Favored Nation drug pricing were among the topics de jour at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference last week, while smaller biotechs sought to assure investors that their regulatory ducks are in a row; Novo Nordisk’s oral obesity pill got off to a hot start while the FDA delayed a decision on Eli Lilly’s investigational offering; and SpyGlass Pharma and AgomAb Therapeutics join the 2026 IPO club. -
Despite ushering in the current GLP-1 era, Novo Nordisk has fallen behind its chief rival Eli Lilly, which has exceeded the Danish pharma in terms of sales. -
Target action dates for drugs sponsored by Sanofi, Boehringer Ingelheim and Disc Medicine have also been pushed back despite assurances of swift reviews under the FDA’s new Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher program. -
Strive Compounding Pharmacy alleged in its lawsuit that Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk have worked to lock telehealth providers in exclusive partnerships, disallowing them from offering compounded versions of GLP-1 medicines. -
After a period of diversification, Novo Nordisk is returning to its roots by focusing on the 2 billion people with diabetes, obesity or overweight.
POLICY
-
A renewal of the FDA’s pediatric rare disease voucher program is couched within a massive $1.2 trillion spending bill the House is set to vote on later this week. -
Robert Kramer, former CEO of Emergent BioSolutions, allegedly earned more than $10.1 million by executing trades with information related to the company’s manufacturing operations that had yet to be made public. -
Incoming PhRMA Chair Paul Hudson, a day before the White House announcement, pledged to work with the administration as the president turns to insurers as a source of cost savings for prescription medicines. -
An inconsistent boom-and-bust cycle funding environment for early-stage biotech innovations and burdensome regulation threaten the U.S.’s half-century-long dominance in the biotech sector. -
Acadia Pharma’s Catherine Owen Adams is one of the founders of a group of small- to mid-cap biotechs advocating against a ‘peanut butter blanket’ approach to drug pricing for small companies.
Clarity on employment terms is essential to protect careers. In this column, Kaye/Bassman’s Michael Pietrack speaks to employment attorney Howard Matalon, JD, partner at OlenderFeldman, on how to evaluate the fine print of an employment agreement.
Looking for a new opportunity in New Jersey? These nine companies have open roles that could be a great fit for you.
The difference between a job and a career is what you walk away with when it ends. Here’s how to evaluate if your role and environment are enabling capability building–and if your title is holding you back.
Communication must be viewed as more than the last step of the research process. It is the structure that makes scientific work clear, trusted and remembered.
What should you do when belief in the mission remains, but the career path doesn’t?
Employees rarely leave companies for one reason alone. In this column, Kaye/Bassman’s Michael Pietrack shares a framework that helps leaders identify when their team members are thinking about heading for the exit—and how to address it.
HOTBEDS
REPORTS
In this Employment Outlook report, BioSpace explores current workforce sentiment, job activity trends and the prospective job and hiring outlook for 2025, particularly as it compares to the previous year.
BioSpace’s third report on diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging in life sciences examines dramatic shifts in attitude around diversity initiatives.
CANCER
-
The companies have an expansive clinical program for the mRNA neoantigen therapy intismeran autogene in combination with immuno-oncology heavyweight Keytruda. -
Following rusfertide’s triumphant Phase III trial last year, Protagonist must decide how involved to be in future development. Hundreds of millions of dollars are on the line. -
2026 is shaping up to be a pivotal year for rare disease drugmakers, with key approvals, filings and readouts lined up for this year. -
Primarily known as an immunology and neuroscience company, AbbVie wanted to put the biopharma world on notice during its J.P. Morgan presentation: its oncology portfolio is underappreciated. This week, the Illinois-based company dove into the sizzling PD-1/VEGF space with a licensing deal with China-based RemeGen. -
AstraZeneca is relying on several upcoming products to help hit its target of $80 billion in revenue by 2030, including drugs for hypertension, breast cancer and generalized myasthenia gravis, all of which are currently under FDA review.
NEUROSCIENCE
-
Following the hard-won success of early anti-amyloid drugs, a new generation of Alzheimer’s modalities—from tau-targeting gene silencers to blood-brain barrier delivery platforms—is entering the pipeline to anchor future combination therapies. -
After a cacophony of troubles hit the RNA editing biotech last fall, CEO Ram Aiyar is in San Francisco to develop partnerships, pitch the potential of its new AATD program and find more money to keep the dream alive. -
Three years after the accelerated approval of its anti-amyloid Alzheimer’s therapy, Biogen—neck and neck in the market with Eli Lilly and its Kisunla offering—is focused on a near-term FDA decision for a subcutaneous induction dose of Leqembi, a presymptomatic readout in 2028 and a clutch of next-generation candidates. -
The deal will see Novartis gain global rights over SciNeuro’s potentially disease-modifying anti-amyloid antibody, which leverages the latter’s proprietary shuttle platform to allow delivery into the brain. -
After years stuck in the “doldrums,” the biopharma sector is in a “very good place” heading into the new year, analysts told BioSpace, with both rare and chronic diseases headlining investor and R&D interest as JPM26 kicks off.
CELL AND GENE THERAPY
-
Jefferies analysts forecast a $1 billion market opportunity for each of Sarepta’s siRNA programs for facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy and myotonic dystrophy type 1. -
FDA Commissioner Marty Makary called these changes “common-sense reforms” that could expedite the development of cell and gene therapies. -
Aurora joins the clutch of companies linked to Nobel Prize winner and CRISPR trailblazer Jennifer Doudna. -
The prevalence of serious inflammatory safety issues such as cytokine release syndrome and immune effector cell–associated neurotoxicity syndrome limits the reach of these transformative cancer therapies. -
Rampart Bioscience was working on a platform to deliver gene therapies without the need for viral vectors.
