Despite exceptional regional hubs and research strength, investors say Europe still needs more integrated incubators, smarter regulation and broader pools of patient capital to keep breakthrough companies growing at home.
Commitments in obesity- and diabetes-focused deals reached $22 billion in the first quarter of 2026—already eclipsing last year’s total of $20.3 billion, according to a new J.P. Morgan report.
After Revolution Medicines’ drug candidate doubled survival in a Phase 3 pancreatic cancer study, the biotech is hoping to attract more investor money, with new plans for a $2 billion stock and debt offering.
In recent months, Anthropic has been building more and more ties with the biopharma industry, including partnerships with Big Pharma companies such as Sanofi, Novo Nordisk and AbbVie.
The trend of fewer companies letting employees go, which began in the fourth quarter of last year, has continued. However, more employees were on the chopping block in Q1 2026 than in Q1 2025, due mainly to one company’s cuts.
Follow along as BioSpace tracks job cuts and restructuring initiatives.
FEATURED STORIES
Clinical trial concerns and a negative advisory committee vote ultimately sunk the treatment.
This week, Q2 earnings from Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly revealed that the competition between the pharma giants’ weight-loss drugs Wegovy and Zepbound is getting closer.
After Merck noted the issue in its Q2 earnings call without providing specifics, analysts are left in the dark about the HPV vaccine’s future in China.
Experts say the time is now to develop and provide widespread access to genetic medicines for the rarest diseases. What’s more, they say it is a moral imperative.
Longeveron and Lexeo Therapeutics are working on CGT therapies to treat Alzheimer’s disease, but it’s not clear whether they have a better chance of success than traditional approaches.
Ultracompact CRISPR systems, which are in some cases one-third the size of Cas9, are being designed to be more specific and enable in vivo gene editing in difficult to reach tissues.
FROM BIOSPACE INSIGHTS
In this whitepaper, BioSpace reviews the major trends impacting the CDMO sector and the evolving relationship between sponsors and providers. We examine the key qualities pharma and biotech should consider in CDMO selection, and how the macroeconomic and macrodevelopment factors affecting the space play a role in this selection.
LATEST PODCASTS
Johnson and Johnson kicked off first-quarter earnings season with a “modest” beat and an ambitious goal; Replimune failed again to gain approval for its advanced melanoma therapy, as analysts tout increased accountability brought by the FDA’s new policy of publicizing complete response letters; and Revolution Medicines’ pancreatic cancer candidate doubled survival in one of cancer’s most intractable foes.
In this bonus episode, BioSpace’s Vice President of Marketing Chantal Dresner and Careers Editor Angela Gabriel take a look at Q1 job market performance and what it signals for the coming months.
In this episode of Denatured, you’ll hear from Jason Jones, head of global business development at Cellular Origins and Alexander Seyf, founder & CEO of Autolomous. They discuss how the push to scale cell and gene therapy manufacturing is accelerating interest in automation, digitization, robotics and deeper collaboration across the ecosystem.
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SPECIAL EDITIONS
BioSpace looks back at 2025 and where the FDA is going in 2026.
The BioSpace team hit the ground running at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference earlier this month to bring you the news from the streets of San Francisco.
BioSpace data show job postings live increased quarter over quarter, while layoffs fell year over year.
DEALS
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Johnson and Johnson kicked off first-quarter earnings season with a “modest” beat and an ambitious goal; Replimune failed again to gain approval for its advanced melanoma therapy, as analysts tout increased accountability brought by the FDA’s new policy of publicizing complete response letters; and Revolution Medicines’ pancreatic cancer candidate doubled survival in one of cancer’s most intractable foes. -
Gilead, AstraZeneca and Vertex have acquired more than just a therapeutic asset in recent deals. BioSpace takes a look at five recent transactions where the staff was the real centerpiece. -
Eli Lilly is putting its obesity windfall to work again, striking a new deal to acquire CrossBridge Bio, a small Texas biotech known for its cancer tech. -
The licensing deal marks AbbVie’s first foray into new pain medicines, a space where Vertex currently enjoys a lead thanks to the NaV1.8 inhibitor Journavx. -
Telix is Regeneron’s entry ticket into the radiopharma game, helping to better round out the company’s cancer portfolio, according to Truist Securities.
WEIGHT LOSS
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The FDA is asking Eli Lilly to submit cardiovascular and liver safety data from an ongoing Phase 3 trial of Foundayo by July. -
With many overseas patients preferring orals to injectables, Eli Lilly has filed for approval of orforglipron in more than 40 countries and is building manufacturing capacity to support the obesity drug. -
Kailera Therapeutics is advancing a pipeline of obesity drugs, led by the GLP-1/GIP dual agonist ribupatide, which the biotech is developing both as an injectable and as a pill. -
Novo Nordisk’s oral Wegovy has a few months’ head start on Eli Lilly’s newly approved pill. While the Indianapolis pharma has come from behind the Danish rival in the weight loss space before, last time it clearly had the better drug. -
The approval of Eli Lilly’s oral obesity drug officially ignites an intense competition with Novo Nordisk’s oral Wegovy; Gilead Sciences and Neurocrine Biosciences keep the M&A train chugging; Trump hits pharma with his long promised tariffs, and the FDA proposes many changes with 2027 budget.
POLICY
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Industry leader Steve Ubl has served as PhRMA’s CEO for more than a decade, the longest tenure of any head of the trade group. -
Humira will be available on TrumpRx at an 86% discount, according to media reports, as part of AbbVie’s deal with the White House to avoid tariffs. The news comes less than a week after the president announced up to 100% levies on pharma products. -
Former ACIP vice chair Robert Malone claimed that Andrew Nixon, spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, “trashed” him with the media, adding that he resigned because “I do not like drama.”
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A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services refuted the claim, made Thursday on social media by ACIP Vice Chair Robert Malone, calling it “baseless speculation.” -
A year of significant policy change at the FDA brought momentum and scrutiny into the new year. As 2026 gets underway, biopharma companies are responding to sweeping vaccine changes while concerns surface about the politicization of the agency.
Recruiters can play a significant role in biopharma professionals getting hired, especially in an employer-driven job market. However, when working with them, candidates need to avoid making six key mistakes, from waiting too long to ask for help to prematurely contacting hiring companies.
While you should never rely solely on AI tools when applying for jobs, they can greatly benefit the application process. Recruiting expert Bryan Blair discusses how using large language models can set you apart from the competition and includes a prompt framework to get you started.
In a competitive job market, how applicants present themselves in interviews is critical. Asking about promotions and expressing dislike for the work they’d be doing are just a few reasons hiring managers don’t extend job offers.
With leaner teams and tighter budgets, senior leaders can face tremendous strain as they juggle increased workloads and leadership responsibilities. In this column, Kaye/Bassman’s Michael Pietrack discusses how pressure builds and what can ease it.
Biopharma professionals need to understand today’s job market and how they can stand out to position themselves for success. Three talent acquisition and recruiting experts discussed these topics in a BioSpace webinar, from the importance of contract work to the value of an advocate.
This webinar provides a clear-eyed assessment of current hiring conditions across biopharma, exploring which roles and skills are in demand, where opportunities are emerging, and how hiring practices are evolving.
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
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Trastuzumab pamirtecan, being developed under a 2023 partnership between BioNTech and DualityBio, elicited a 44.1% overall response rate in a Phase 2 trial. -
Darovasertib, in combination with crizotinib, more than doubled progression-free survival in a registrational trial, leading Truist analysts to declare a “best-in-class efficacy profile” for the PKC inhibitor. -
Replimune’s CEO Sushil Patel has already warned that the biotech will need to cut staff and substantially scale back its U.S. manufacturing operations. -
Roche is jumping into degrader-antibody conjugates, a modality that in recent years has attracted investments from Merck KGaA and Bristol Myers Squibb. -
Another bidder, which remains unidentified, dropped out of the bidding process. Analysts at William Blair now think it unlikely that another suitor could offer a counter-proposal to Merck’s outstanding $6.7 billion acquisition offer.
NEUROSCIENCE
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GSK discontinued Wellcovorin in 1999, but the FDA in September last year asked the pharma to refile an application, pointing to its potential to treat cerebral folate deficiency with “autistic features.” -
Takeda and Denali Therapeutics first partnered in early 2018 to advance drugs for neurodegenerative diseases. One asset, for Alzheimer’s disease, was previously discontinued after an FDA hold and disappointing early data. -
In the buyout, Eli Lilly picks up Centessa Pharmaceuticals’ lead asset cleminorexton, which could go toe-to-toe with Takeda’s oveporexton, currently under FDA review with a decision expected in the third quarter. -
The FDA has some big verdicts lined up in the second quarter, including one for a closely watched obesity drug that many anticipate will further intensify competition in weight loss. -
At the AD/PD annual meeting, Eisai presented real-world data suggesting Leqembi’s long-term safety and efficacy in people homozygous for APOE4, who were identified in trials as being at higher risk of brain bleeds while on the treatment. Alzheon, meanwhile, added further detail to trial results of its candidate in patients with the same genetic profile.
CELL AND GENE THERAPY
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The draft guidance supports the agency’s new pathway designed to speed up the development of custom gene therapies. -
In this episode of Denatured, you’ll hear from Jason Jones, head of global business development at Cellular Origins and Alexander Seyf, founder & CEO of Autolomous. They discuss how the push to scale cell and gene therapy manufacturing is accelerating interest in automation, digitization, robotics and deeper collaboration across the ecosystem. -
Gilead Sciences has inked three deals this year so far totaling $14.77 billion, a marked escalation of the company’s usual M&A pace. Executives detailed the rationale for buying Arcellx, Ouro Medicine and Tubulis GmbH and whether they are interested in further deals. -
As cell and gene therapy developers face rising pressure to produce therapies faster and at lower cost, the industry is leaning on robotics, digital systems and partnerships to bridge the gap between innovation and delivery. -
While the accelerated approval unlocks only a small market opportunity for Rocket Pharmaceuticals, it will give the biotech a chance to prepare for future product launches, according to Jefferies.
