While it’s been easy to grow a bit desensitized to the seemingly unstoppable sales growth of Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly’s GLP-1s quarter after quarter, this most recent earnings season delivered a few surprises. It’s a good moment to jump back in and assess where the two rivals stand in the market and where their pipelines are headed in the near term. In this week’s episode of "The Top Line," we break down the recent commercial performances of Novo’s and Lilly’s drugs for diabetes and obesity, p...
Aug 15, 2025•26 min
Following a barrage of letters from President Donald Trump urging 17 large pharmaceutical companies to implement Most Favored Nation drug pricing reforms in the U.S., analysts and industry watchers are questioning how far the president’s authority extends, while several drugmakers have signaled a willingness to negotiate. In this week’s episode of "The Top Line," we break down the latest Most Favored Nation pricing pressures in the U.S., how companies are responding and which facets of the propo...
Aug 08, 2025•17 min
In the latest episode of Health Matters , vaccine expert Dr. Paul Offit joins host Wendy Lund to discuss the growing crisis of vaccine hesitancy and what can be done to rebuild trust. Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, points to the COVID-19 pandemic as a turning point, citing perceived government overreach and widespread misinformation as key drivers of public distrust. He emphasizes that vaccine hesitancy is often rooted in reasonable concer...
Aug 04, 2025•40 min
Over a whirlwind three weeks, Sarepta Therapeutics has faced tough safety questions around its commercial gene therapy Elevidys and growing scrutiny over the company’s transparency following multiple patient deaths. In this week’s episode of "The Top Line," we explore Sarepta’s brief standoff with the FDA over Elevidys, a short-lived marketing pause, and the regulator’s surprise reversal on the treatment. Fierce Pharma’s Fraiser Kansteiner and Angus Liu sit down with Fierce Biotech’s Gabrielle M...
Aug 01, 2025•27 min
With an uptick in licensing deals and promising data emerging from China-based biopharmas, especially in oncology, it’s clear the country is poised to play a major role in life sciences for the foreseeable future. In this week’s episode of "The Top Line," we trace China’s ascent in R&D and drug discovery and examine how U.S. and European drugmakers are capitalizing on the momentum through a surge in licensing activity. Fierce Pharma’s Fraiser Kansteiner sits down with Mark Lansdell, director...
Jul 25, 2025•36 min
In this episode of "The Top Line," Ayla Ellison, Editor-in-Chief of Fierce Life Sciences and Healthcare, sits down with two longtime industry leaders to talk about what it takes to stand out and grow in today’s pharma marketing landscape. Zoe Dunn, president and CEO of Hale Advisors, and Paul Murasko, head of digital innovation and marketing operations at Azurity Pharmaceuticals, reflect on how the industry has evolved—from print to digital to AI—and what early-career professionals need to know ...
Jul 18, 2025•13 min
Layoffs in biopharma show no signs of slowing, with workforce reductions holding steady across the first two quarters of 2025. In this week’s episode of "The Top Line," Fierce Deputy Editor Andrea Park and Fierce Biotech Senior Editor Gabrielle Masson break down the latest layoff trends and how they compare to last year. Tune in for a look at the numbers so far, the pace of biotech closures and how federal policy shifts are affecting the industry. To learn more about the topics in this episode: ...
Jul 11, 2025•10 min
In the latest episode of the Health Matters podcast, Wendy Lund sits down with Peter Pitts, former FDA associate commissioner and current president of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest, to discuss the state of regulatory science and communication in health care. Pitts shares a cautiously optimistic outlook for the FDA under Commissioner Makary, noting the agency's renewed focus on innovation, patient engagement and modernization. He also stresses the importance of alignment among ma...
Jul 08, 2025•24 min
Two and a half years into his tenure as Teva’s CEO, Richard Francis is breaking down the strategy that’s powered the company through nine consecutive quarters of growth. On this week’s episode of "The Top Line," Fierce Pharma’s Fraiser Kansteiner sits down with Francis to talk about the progress made so far on Teva’s “Pivot to Growth” strategy and what comes next. They dig into the strategies behind the company’s chief commercial medicines, its pipeline darlings and the way Teva’s generic and bi...
Jun 27, 2025•25 min
Antibody drug conjugates, or ADCs, are still holding on to their spot as one of the hottest areas in cancer care—and AbbVie, like many of its peers, has embraced the trend head-on. In this week’s episode of "The Top Line," Fierce Pharma’s Zoey Becker speaks with Daejin Abidoye, M.D., AbbVie’s vice president and therapeutic area head for solid tumor oncology. They discuss the company’s evolution, trends from this year’s American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting and what’s ahead for ADCs in on...
Jun 20, 2025•18 min
Every year, the Fierce Medtech team highlights 15 standout companies that are pushing the boundaries of innovation in medical technology. From reinventing diagnostics and surgical tools to advancing AI and biological research, this year’s Fierce 15 is full of startups rethinking what care should look like—and improving on what came before. In this episode of "The Top Line," Fierce Medtech Senior Editor Conor Hale breaks down the themes and standout trends from this year’s list, offering a closer...
Jun 13, 2025•17 min
Each year, the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting brings together the biggest names and brightest minds in cancer research, and this year was no exception. In this episode of "The Top Line," Fierce reporters take you inside the action at ASCO 2025. Zoey Becker shares the story behind Johnson & Johnson’s dramatic “Breathtaking” campaign, staged on the 99th floor of Chicago’s Willis Tower. Angus Liu breaks down phase 3 data on Enhertu from AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo, whil...
Jun 06, 2025•12 min
In this episode of The Top Line , Fierce Biotech’s Chris Hayden sat down with Dr. Juergen Eckhardt of Bayer and Dr. Seth Ettenberg of BlueRock Therapeutics to discuss an innovative partnership that’s reshaping how big pharma teams up with biotech startups. BlueRock, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bayer, operates with the independence of a small biotech while benefiting from Bayer’s global reach and infrastructure. The “arm’s-length” model gives BlueRock the agility to innovate while leveraging Bay...
Jun 02, 2025•35 min
In the latest episode of The Top Line podcast, host Heath Clendenning interviews Cheryl Lubbert, CEO of Reverba Global, to discuss how science-led storytelling is reshaping communications in the pharmaceutical industry. Lubbert, a veteran executive with experience at Amgen, Abbott and Bristol Myers Squibb, says authenticity, empathy and transparency are now critical to rebuilding public trust. She argues that scientific data, when paired with real patient and caregiver stories, becomes more impa...
Jun 02, 2025•18 min
Despite the long holiday weekend, news in biopharma never slows down. In this week’s episode of "The Top Line," the Fierce team breaks down some of the biggest stories from the past week. On the pharma side, Eric Sagonowsky and Kevin Dunleavy examine Big Pharma’s first-quarter 2025 performance. While most of the top 25 companies are still delivering strong sales growth despite emerging uncertainties in Washington, D.C., a few major players are starting to see a slowdown. Each company tells a dif...
May 30, 2025•21 min
President Donald Trump put the pharmaceutical industry on notice early Monday with the signing of his "most favored nation" (MFN) executive order on drug prices. The order seeks to tie U.S. prices to significantly lower costs overseas. Many questions remain about how the measure will be implemented, and legal challenges are almost certain. To assess the seriousness of the threat, Fierce Pharma assembled a team of reporters and editors to break down the executive order and the industry’s response...
May 16, 2025•15 min
Angela Hwang spent nearly three decades at Pfizer before joining Flagship Pioneering in 2025 as a CEO-partner and the CEO of Metaphore Biotechnologies. In this week’s episode of "The Top Line," the former Pfizer chief commercial officer speaks with Fierce Pharma Deputy Editor Angus Liu about her transition from marketing drugs at a Big Pharma company to advancing novel technology at a young biotech startup. Hwang discusses how her upbringing in apartheid-era South Africa—and two key lessons from...
May 09, 2025•30 min
Although East Asians make up a significant share of entry-level roles in U.S. biopharma, few have risen to senior leadership positions. That disparity is what inspired the launch of ElevAAte—a new nonprofit founded this year to support and grow East Asian American leadership in the industry. In this week’s episode of "The Top Line," Fierce Pharma Deputy Editor Angus Liu speaks with two of ElevAAte’s co-founders: Architect Therapeutics CEO Angie You and Candid Therapeutics CEO Ken Song. The veter...
May 02, 2025•36 min
We’ve known for a while that there are two Anguses—both journalists covering oncology at health- and biopharma-focused news outlets. Now, for the first time, we’re bringing them together for a “Variety Studio: Actors on Actors”-style conversation. In this week’s episode of "The Top Line," Fierce Pharma Deputy Editor Angus Liu and STAT Cancer Reporter Angus Chen share insights into their work covering cancer and their thoughts on racial identity during a tumultuous time. They discuss what excites...
Apr 25, 2025•37 min
After a batch of much-anticipated reciprocal tariffs spared pharmaceuticals in early April, drugmakers, medtech companies, manufacturers and other outfits across the life sciences spectrum are still scrambling to respond to mounting trade pressures. While many unknowns remain, biopharma companies should waste no time in starting to evaluate their options. In this week’s episode of “The Top Line,” we dig into the latest round of tariffs unveiled by the Trump administration and how they could impa...
Apr 18, 2025•25 min
In this week’s episode of "The Top Line," Fierce Deputy Editor Andrea Park and Fierce Biotech Senior Editor Gabrielle Masson discuss how workforce reductions impacted the biopharma industry in the first quarter. The pair examine industry trends, company closures, developments in the cell and gene space—and the reductions in force happening at federal health agencies alongside them. To learn more about the topics in this episode: Biopharmas laid off staffers at least 63 times in Q1: Fierce Biotec...
Apr 11, 2025•11 min
In this week’s episode of "The Top Line," Fierce Biotech’s Gabrielle Masson and Darren Incorvaia sit down to discuss a recent special report from Fierce Biotech, ranking the top 10 R&D budgets from 2024. Did Merck hold on to its 2023 crown? And did any new faces crack this year’s list? Listen to find out! To learn more about the topics in this episode: The top 10 pharma R&D budgets for 2024 This week's episode is brought to you by Cencora . See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informa...
Apr 04, 2025•11 min
Since the first days of the new Trump administration, the White House has handed down orders to ban work focused on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) across the federal government. Some in the private sector—both inside and outside of healthcare—have followed the same path, eliminating DEI officer positions and ending initiatives that in some cases have been tied to millions of dollars in research funding. What does the field—and, ultimately, the patient—stand to lose from this effort? In th...
Mar 28, 2025•18 min
In this episode of The Top Line , sponsored by PatientPoint, Andrew Schultz, President of PatientPoint Precision, discusses how hypertargeting and contextual relevance are redefining patient marketing. Traditional direct-to-consumer (DTC) campaigns often rely on educated guesses, but PatientPoint Precision blends EHR data and patient context to deliver hyper-personalized, high-impact messages. By engaging patients at critical touchpoints—like logging into a portal or checking in for an appointme...
Mar 24, 2025•16 min
Johnson & Johnson’s Stelara, Regeneron’s Eylea and Amgen’s Prolia are just some of the drugs facing off against new biosimilars or generics in 2025, as featured in the latest edition of Fierce Pharma’s annual special report documenting the 10 biggest losses of U.S. exclusivity expected throughout the year. In this week’s episode of The Top Line, we dig into the report, which details the stories behind 10 key medicines that are set to face off against new generic or biosimilar competitors thi...
Mar 21, 2025•14 min
Agenus Chief Medical Officer Dr. Steven O'Day joined Fierce's Chris Hayden on a recent sponsored episode of The Top Line podcast to discuss the evolving landscape of cancer immunotherapy. O'Day, a medical oncologist with 30 years of experience, explained the fundamental differences between immunotherapy and traditional cancer treatments like chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation. He emphasized immunotherapy's potential for durable responses and even cures by activating the body's own T-cells to f...
Mar 17, 2025•8 min
Despite a rocky start for many drugmakers at the start of last year, 2024’s fourth quarter saw just two of the top 25 global pharma companies record sales declines. But that growth may be short-lived, as many of those same companies forecast more muted revenue increases in 2025. In this week’s episode of The Top Line, we dissect the unprecedented revenue growth enjoyed by many of the world’s top pharma companies by sales in the fourth quarter of last year. Fierce Pharma’s Kevin Dunleavy and Frai...
Mar 14, 2025•19 min
In the latest episode of The Top Line , Chris Hayden of Fierce Pharma sits down with Mary Lou Glotzbach, senior manager of drug delivery partnerships at Grand River Aseptic Manufacturing (GRAM). They explore the evolving landscape of biologics, the increasing importance of cold chain management, and how contract development and manufacturing organizations (CDMOs) are adapting to industry shifts. Glotzbach highlights a growing trend in biotech: transitioning patient treatments from infusion cente...
Mar 10, 2025•22 min
The latest episode of The Top Line, sponsored by ViiV Healthcare, features Dr. Luis Buzón, an infectious disease specialist, discussing the critical role of real-world evidence in HIV treatment and prevention. While clinical trials establish the safety and efficacy of new therapies, real-world data help bridge the gap between these highly controlled environments and patient care in the real world. Buzón explains that collecting long-term data is essential, especially for lifelong conditions like...
Mar 10, 2025•16 min
For the biotech industry, 2024 meant the return of the venture capital megaround. And one startup, Xaira Therapeutics, took it a step further, expanding the industry’s definition of a megaround by reeling in a rarely seen $1 billion financing early in the year. In this week’s episode of The Top Line, we dive into a recently published report from Fierce Biotech highlighting the industry’s top 10 money raisers in 2024, led by none other than Xaira. Fierce’s Gabrielle Masson and Andrea Park talk ab...
Mar 07, 2025•10 min
