Though the placebo effect is a well documented phenomenon, the neurological mechanisms that underlie the process are still not fully understood. Now scientists from multiple institutions led by a team at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) have pinpointed the brain circuitry in mice that they believe is responsible for placebo pain relief. Details of their findings are published in a new paper in the journal Neuron. In it, they describe brain regions that support placebo effects and highlight sites where endogenous opioid neuropeptides send signals that are important for placebo pain relief.

The paper is titled “Top-down control of the descending pain modulatory system drives multimodal placebo analgesia.” According to the team, theirs is the first study to establish placebo mechanisms by adapting a protocol used for humans to work in mice. Working alongside labs at the University of Pennsylvania, University of California Irvine, and elsewhere, the UCSD team detected activity in parts of the mouse brain that correspond to those previously implicated in human studies. Furthermore, by precisely mapping neural pathways and brain activity in the mice, the team identified essential roles for neural circuits that link the cortex to the brainstem and spinal cord during placebo pain relief.

They also found that training mice to exhibit a placebo effect with one type of pain results in relief from several different types of pain including pain from injuries. That is particularly notable because it has “direct implications for how placebo training in humans might be used to produce resilience to future pain that results from injury,” explained Matthew Banghart, PhD, an associate professor in UCSD’s neurobiology department and lead author on the study. The findings also open a door to “expectancy-driven” placebo effects as a substitute for addictive painkillers, he noted, meaning that it might be possible to use placebo conditioning to train patients to build preemptive resilience to pain.

Full details of the findings and methods used are provided in the paper. In it, the teams explain that they used sensor technology and a light-activated drug developed in the Banghart lab to study the role of naturally-occurring opioid peptides in the brain. Specifically, they used the sensors to detect opioid peptide signaling in the ventrolateral periaqueductal gray (vlPAG) region, a known hub for pain signaling, during placebo trials. They then used the light-activated drug called photoactivatable naloxone, or PhNX, to establish that these opioid peptides actually drive pain relief in a manner similar to drugs like morphine. The light allowed the scientists control and timing of the opioid signaling interference. Using PhNX, they confirmed that both morphine-induced pain relief and placebo pain relief use the same opioid signaling pathway in the vlPAG region of the brain.

Essentially, “we trained a mouse brain to create its own broad-spectrum painkillers on demand, precisely where they are needed to treat pain, without the off-target effects of opioid-based painkillers,” said Janie Chang-Weinberg, a PhD student in the biological sciences graduate program at UCSD and one of the first authors on the study.

Future studies planned by the team will dig more deeply into how placebo learning unfolds in the brain and evaluate different placebo training strategies in mice with an eye towards developing protocols that readily translate to produce placebo pain resilience in people living with chronic pain.

Researchers at Karolinska Institutet and KTH Royal Institute of Technology have developed an improved method for creating insulin-producing cells from human stem cells. In a newly published study, the team demonstrated that these cells effectively regulate blood sugar levels in laboratory tests and can reverse diabetes in mice.

“We have developed a method that reliably produces high-quality insulin-producing cells from multiple human stem cell lines,” said Per-Olof Berggren, PhD, professor at the Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery, Karolinska Institutet. “This opens up opportunities for future patient-specific cell therapies, which could reduce immune rejection.” Berggren and Siqin Wu, PhD, researcher at Spiber Technologies AB (formerly at Karolinska Institutet), are co-corresponding authors of the researchers’ published paper in Stem Cell Reports, titled “An optimized protocol for efficient derivation of pancreatic islets from multiple human pluripotent stem cell lines.”

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) occurs when the immune system destroys insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, meaning the body can no longer absorb glucose from the blood and regulate blood sugar levels. “In type 1 diabetes (T1D), autoimmune destruction of β cells results in loss of glycemic control,” the authors wrote.

One possible treatment strategy is to replace these cells with new ones. However, previous methods of producing such cells from stem cells have often yielded mixed results. Stem cell therapy for type 1 diabetes is already being tested in several clinical trials. However, a challenge with previous methods is that the stem cells often develop into a combination of the desired and undesired cell types, increasing the risk of complications. Another challenge is that the insulin-producing cells created are often not mature enough to respond well to glucose.

“The success of cell therapy for type 1 diabetes (T1D) depends on reliable differentiation of stem cells into functional pancreatic islets,” the authors noted. They pointed out that previous protocols have exhibited variable efficiency across different human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC) lines. “Differentiation beyond the stage (S) 4 pancreatic progenitor (PP) stage frequently yields heterogeneous cultures containing proliferative non-endocrine cells and immature endocrine cells … increasing the risk of cyst or tumor formation,” the team further commented.

The newly optimized production process reported by Berggren and colleagues yields more mature and purer insulin-producing cells than previous methods. In a laboratory setting, the cells were able to secrete insulin and responded strongly to glucose. When the researchers transplanted these cells into streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic mice, the animals gradually regained the ability to regulate their blood sugar. “By adjusting the culture steps and allowing the cells to form three-dimensional clusters themselves, many unwanted cell types are eliminated and the cells gain a better ability to respond to glucose, according to the researchers. “Single-cell analyses show that the SC-islets are free of non-endocrine cell populations before and after transplantation,” the team stated.

The transplantation was performed in the anterior chamber of the eye (ACE) which provides a transparent and accessible site for noninvasive monitoring of engrafted SC-islets through the cornea, the team pointed out. Transplantation into this compartment is also straightforward and minimally invasive. In their paper, the team noted, “Intraperitoneal glucose tolerance tests (IPGTT) at three, four, and six months post-transplantation showed improved glucose handling over time … SC-islet transplantation reversed hyperglycemia by three months, and by five–six months blood glucose levels fell slightly below pre-STZ baselines.”

Berggren commented, “This is a technique we use to monitor the development and function of the cells over time in a minimally invasive way. We observed that the cells gradually matured after transplantation, retaining their ability to regulate blood sugar for several months, which demonstrates their potential for future treatments.”

Fredrik Lanner, PhD, professor at the Department of Clinical Science, Intervention and Technology, Karolinska Institutet, and last author of the paper, added, “This could solve several of the problems that have previously hindered the development of stem cell-based treatments for type 1 diabetes. Building on this, we will work towards clinical translation aiming at treating type 1 diabetes.” In their report the authors concluded, “Our protocol generated glucose-responsive SC-islets from all eight hPSC lines tested … demonstrating potential for autologous applications … Our efficient differentiation protocol represents a key step toward autologous cell therapy, though further work is required to realize this goal.”

While Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy pill reached more than 3,000 patients in its first week on the market, analysts at RBC Capital Markets said a direct comparison of the two figures could be misleading given the shorter data collection time for Foundayo.

Eli Lilly’s oral obesity drug Foundayo is off to what appears to be a lukewarm launch, hitting 1,390 scripts in its first week on the market. However, analysts at RBC Capital Markets provided further context for that number.

“We believe the 1,390 TRx is based on 2 days of TRx capture, assuming Foundayo shipped on [Thursday] April 9,” said RBC, which disclosed the prescription data in a note to investors on Friday morning, citing data from IQVIA. Novo Nordisk’s oral Wegovy reached more than 3,000 patients in the first week of its launch. However, the Wegovy pill launched on Jan 5, which was a Monday, giving it 5 days of market capture before script data were collected, the analysts said.

“This implies a more robust launch for Foundayo, with TRx likely building momentum across the subsequent 3 days of its first week,” RBC continued. Still, the firm said, “This comparison so early into the launch should be considered immaterial.”

The FDA signed off on Foundayo on April 1, reigniting the rivalry between Novo and Lilly—this time in the oral obesity arena. A lot is riding on Foundayo’s launch, which has high expectations set by Lilly’s tirzepatide franchise (branded as Mounjaro for type 2 diabetes and Zepbound for chronic weight management).

Even before hitting the market, however, Foundayo has already run into some issues. In its approval letter, the FDA flagged “unexpected” and “serious” safety risks affecting the heart and liver, and requested further post-marketing assessments. A Phase 3 diabetes readout on Thursday may have partly answered these concerns, demonstrating significant reductions in major adverse cardiovascular events without triggering drug-induced liver injury.

“If a benchmark is required for weeks 1-4, our discussions with investors suggest that hitting 50% of oral Wegovy’s comparable trajectory would be viewed favorably,” RBC wrote on Friday, though the analysts noted that weeks 8-12 “represent the earliest window to assess Foundayo’s true commercial momentum.”

Looking beyond script data, RBC also pointed to positive early social media buzz around Foundayo, which, according to the firm, “suggests optimism in the T2D and obesity community.”

Lilly is scheduled to report its first-quarter 2026 earnings on April 30, at which time RBC expects executives to provide more in-depth insights on Foundayo’s launch and uptake.

The Merck update, which will shed light on a $588 million bet to succeed Keytruda, is part of a roster of presentations that could shape the future of ADCs, protein degraders and KRAS-targeted therapies.

The collective attention of the oncology R&D community is turning toward San Diego. Beginning Friday, the city will host an American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting featuring updates from Merck, Amgen, Revolution Medicines and more with the potential to reshape cancer care and the priorities of R&D teams.

As was the case last year, one of AACR 2026’s most closely watched clinical data drops belongs to Merck. The drugmaker and its collaborators will share preliminary results from the first-in-human study of MK-2010, the PD-1/VEGF bispecific antibody that Merck licensed from Shanghai-based LaNova Medicines for $588 million upfront in 2024.

Merck struck the deal after another PD-1/VEGF bispecific, Akeso and Summit Therapeutics’ ivonescimab, beat its blockbuster checkpoint inhibitor Keytruda in a head-to-head clinical trial. The MK-2010 readout will provide an early look at Merck’s chances of competing with ivonescimab, as well as Pfizer and partners BioNTech and Bristol Myers Squibb, in the race to deliver the next backbone oncology treatment.

Jia Luo, a medical oncologist at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, is closely watching the RAS space. In an email to BioSpace, she listed updates on the “promising” allele-specific RAS inhibitors zoldonrasib and elisrasib in KRAS-mutated non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) among the presentations she’s looking forward to at AACR 2026.

Revolution Medicines—which already made the biggest splash of this week with its pancreatic cancer data—is sharing preliminary safety and clinical activity data on another asset, zoldonrasib, which targets the G12D mutation in KRAS-dependent cancers. The biotech reported a 61% objective response rate in a Phase 1 NSCLC trial last year, though that figure included unconfirmed responses. Merck reportedly engaged in talks early this year to acquire Revolution for about $30 billion.

Meanwhile, elisrasib is a KRAS G12C inhibitor in development at D3 Bio. At AACR 2025, the Chinese biotech reported Phase 2 data showing a 30% response rate in 20 NSCLC patients who progressed on other KRAS G12C drugs such as Amgen’s Lumakras and Bristol Myers Squibb’s Krazati. This year’s update will include Phase 1/2 monotherapy data on elisrasib in advanced NSCLC patients previously treated with or without a KRAS G12C inhibitor.

Luo’s excitement for the zoldonrasib and elisrasib readouts reflects her expectation that “there will likely be multiple approved targeted treatment options for RAS [mutant] cancers in the coming years.”

Zoldonrasib and elisrasib also reflect the ongoing use of small molecules in oncology. Companies are still using the well-established modality in exciting new ways, Allan Jordan, vice president of oncology drug discovery at Sygnature Discovery, told BioSpace via email. Jordan named intrinsically disordered proteins, transcription factors and mRNA as challenging targets that researchers are tackling with small molecules.

Drugs targeting enzyme classes such as helicases “remain a vibrant field” for small molecules, Jordan said. Amgen and Eikon Therapeutics, which raised $381 million in an IPO this year, are among the companies sharing data on helicase inhibitors at AACR 2026.

ADCs enter new era

KRAS-targeted therapies made Lillian Siu’s top areas to watch at AACR 2026, but in an email to BioSpace, the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre medical oncologist also named modalities such as antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) among the updates she is most looking forward to. Timothy Yap, a medical oncologist at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, also highlighted ADCs in his email to BioSpace.

The clinical trials plenary on April 19 will feature data on ADCs including CSPC Pharmaceutical’s EGFR candidate, Qilu Pharmaceutical’s claudin 6 prospect and a B7-H3-targeted asset that GSK licensed from Hansoh Pharma for $185 million upfront. Those candidates are traditional ADCs, with each featuring a targeting antibody conjugated to a cytotoxic topoisomerase I inhibitor.

AACR 2026 will also feature presentations on candidates that diverge from the standard ADC design. Astellas is presenting preclinical data on an ADC that carries two payloads to cells expressing TROP2, the receptor targeted by Gilead’s Trodelvy and AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo’s Datroway. Duality Biologics, which has deals with BioNTech and GSK, is among the other companies sharing data on a dual-payload ADC.

The types of payloads are changing, too. Sygnature’s Jordan said it is interesting to finally see the ADC field move “away from traditional cytotoxic payloads toward more cancer-selective payloads which have the potential to improve tolerability and patient benefit.”

Elsewhere, multiple companies are sharing data on degrader-antibody conjugates (DACs), which deliver molecules that drive protein degradation rather than the cytotoxic payloads used in ADCs. Roche recently struck an up to $1 billion DAC deal with C4 Therapeutics, joining rivals including BMS in the emerging field.

At AACR 2026, Helioson Pharmaceutical is sharing late-breaking research on a DAC designed to degrade IKZF1/3, transcription factors needed for the growth and survival of multiple myeloma cells. CSPC, which like Helioson is based in China, is also presenting data on a DAC targeting IKZF1/3. Orum Therapeutics, a partner of BMS and Vertex, is among the other companies showcasing DAC data at the event.

The various projects illustrate the potential benefits of DACs, with CSPC using a CD38 antibody to trigger a dual mechanism of action and Orum leveraging the modality to achieve a wider therapeutic window than is possible with standard GSPT1 degraders. However, traditional degraders remain viable and the field continues to evolve, with Jordan naming the rise of glues targeting E3 ligases other than cereblon as a trend to watch.

ADCs, DACs and protein degraders are just some of the modalities that will be showcased at the event. Multispecific antibodies and novel induced proximity strategies are among the other areas Yap will be keeping an eye out for, while Siu will be watching for data on CAR T cell therapy and immunotherapy in precursor malignancies.

AACR runs from April 17 to April 22. Stay tuned to BioSpace for coverage of the most notable presentations.

Erica Schwartz, a former deputy surgeon general and member of the U.S. military, will take over from what has amounted to a rapid succession of CDC leaders over the past year.
Jay Bhattacharya has one less hat to wear after President Donald Trump announced he is nominating Erica Schwartz as the next director of the CDC.

The president nominated Schwartz, a former deputy surgeon general in Trump’s first administration, to the Senate-confirmable position in a post on his social media network, Truth Social, on Thursday afternoon.

“She is a STAR,” Trump said after listing Schwartz’s professional and educational accolades.

Schwartz—who served 24 years in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and as a rear admiral in the Coast Guard, and also holds a medical degree from Brown University and a law degree from the University of Maryland—becomes the fourth person to lead the CDC in the past year.

Susan Monarez, the first CDC director to be confirmed by the Senate under a 2023 law, was fired less than a month after clashing with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr last year. In an opinion published in The Wall Street Journal in September, Monarez said she had been asked to “preapprove” recommendations from Kennedy’s newly instated vaccine advisors regarding COVID-19 immunization guidelines—which she refused to do.

The top CDC role was then filled in an acting capacity by Health and Human Services Deputy Secretary Jim O’Neill until February, when National Institutes of Health head Bhattacharya took over as acting director.

In the same social post, Trump appointed a cadre of nominees to the CDC leadership team. FDA Principal Deputy Commissioner Sara Brenner will be a public health adviser to Kennedy, while Jennifer Shuford, current commissioner of the Texas health department, will serve as Schwartz’s deputy director and the agency’s chief medical officer.

Shuford will step into the CMO role once held by Debra Houry, who resigned after Monarez was forced out. Both Monarez and Houry testified in front of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions in September 2025, during which Houry said that “Trust and transparency have been broken. The problem is not too much science but too little.”

Sean Slovenski, a former executive at Walmart and Humana, will become a deputy director and chief operating officer at the CDC. Slovenski holds a BA in Health and Physical Education, according to his LinkedIn profile.

“These Highly Respected Doctors of Medicine have the knowledge, experience, and TOP degrees to restore the GOLD STANDARD OF SCIENCE at the CDC, which was an absolute disaster focused on ‘mandates’ under Sleepy Joe,” Trump said in his post, referring to former President Joe Biden.

Meanwhile, Kennedy also alluded to the new team during a congressional budget hearing on Thursday.

“We’re bringing in an extraordinary team. … The team has been leaked, and it’s gotten applause from both Republicans and Democrats,” the secretary said while testifying in front of the House Appropriations subcommittee on health, CNN reported. “I think this new team is really going to be able to revolutionize CDC and get it back on track and get it doing the job that it does better than any other health agency in the world.”

The FDA is asking Eli Lilly to submit cardiovascular and liver safety data from an ongoing Phase 3 trial of Foundayo by July.

Eli Lilly’s newly approved oral obesity drug Foundayo has already run into a speedbump after the FDA detected safety risks affecting the heart and liver—signals that the regulator found serious enough to necessitate a postmarketing clinical trial.

“We have determined that only a clinical trial (rather than a nonclinical or observational study) will be sufficient to assess” these risks, the agency wrote in its approval letter for Foundayo, issued April 1. The FDA in particular zeroed in on “retained gastric contents” as well as “unexpected” cases of major adverse cardiovascular events and drug-induced liver injury (DILI).

Lilly is already running the Phase 3 ACHIEVE-4 trial of daily Foundayo in patients with type 2 diabetes who are obese or overweight and are at heightened cardiovascular risk. The FDA in its letter asked that the study also assess DILI. ACHIEVE-4’s estimated completion date was last month, and the agency expects a final report by July.

Aside from the cardiovascular and liver assessments, the FDA in its letter asked Lilly to conduct a slew of other postmarketing studies directed at other safety outcomes, including Foundayo’s impact on pregnancy and child development and potential risks of thyroid cancer.

BioSpace has reached out to Lilly for its statement on the matter.

While the FDA classified these signals as “serious,” analysts at BMO Capital Markets told investors in a note on Tuesday that the agency’s requests “appear manageable.” Asking Lilly to run several postmarketing trials is “notable,” the firm conceded, but “we do not expect these studies to have any meaningful impact on the competitive positioning” of Foundayo.

“We view this as a reflection of conservatism from FDA,” BMO analysts continued, framing the requested trials as a positive for Foundayo. “Over time, successful completion of these studies would further de-risk the asset and continue to support broad confidence in oral, small molecule incretin therapies.”

The FDA signed off on Foundayo on April 1, restarting the heated rivalry between Lilly and Novo Nordisk, this time in the oral arena. The Danish drugmaker was first to the field with its Wegovy pill, which the regulator approved late last year, but many analysts expect Foundayo to put up a considerable challenge.

For starters, Foundayo is a small-molecule drug, which is easier and faster to produce that the peptide Wegovy, potentially giving Lilly a step up in supply chain over Novo. The manufacturing advantage “could be potentially influential in the fight for the oral obesity market,” BMO’s Evan Seigerman told BioSpace in August 2025.

Lilly looks poised to press this advantage. Even before Foundayo’s approval, the pharma had prepared a stockpile of the drug worth $1.5 billion, ready for launch. Investors are now turning their focus to the pharma’s first-quarter earnings call on April 30 for updates on how the drug is rolling out, BMO said on Tuesday.

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.

Pharma M&A deals tend to revolve around key assets that can bolster the pipeline and provide growth. But sometimes, the buyer sees a lot more in the expertise within the target organization.

That was the case with Gilead Sciences’ recent acquisition of Tubulis GmbH, where the antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) biotech will be housed as a specialized R&D unit within the parent company and continue to crank out new assets.

With any acquisition, there’s bound to be some redundancies. Often top-level leaders like the CEO move on to lead other companies. But bench-level expertise sometimes can’t be replaced, particularly at platform companies or biotechs developing cutting-edge therapeutics like radiopharmaceuticals.

On the flip side is when a company only wants an asset and none of the staff. That was the case when GSK bought the Canadian chronic cough biotech BELLUS Health for $2 billion in 2023. A year later, almost the entire staff was let go as the P2X3 receptor antagonist camlipixant was integrated into the U.K. pharma’s pipeline.

Below, BioSpace takes a look at recent deals where the staff was just as much of a prize as the assets within the biotech.

Gilead snags an ADC R&D factory thanks to Tubulis

There is nothing hotter in the cancer space than ADCs right now. To get up to speed, Gilead bought Tubulis for $5 billion earlier this month, pledging to tuck the biotech in as a dedicated ADC R&D unit.

Tubulis CEO Dominik Schumacher, who is also co-founder of the German company, said the two companies will work together now to incorporate the biotech’s platform and capabilities into Gilead’s oncology research group.

“We and Gilead believe our team is one of our greatest assets and was an important consideration as part of this transaction,” Schumacher told BioSpace in an email. “We strongly believe that Gilead saw not only the full potential and depth of our pipeline and technologies but also the expertise of our world-class team as a core asset.”

Gilead and Tubulis have worked together since 2024 through a licensing deal. The initial focus post-merger will be on the ovarian cancer asset TUB-040. But Gilead executives were clear that the acquisition offers much more.

“Oncology, ovarian cancer and then other areas in oncology are the first directions, but there is real opportunity to build out and move into inflammation and into virology,” Chief Medical Officer Dietmar Berger said on a conference call discussing Gilead’s recent deal strategy.

CEO Daniel O’Day agreed that bringing the partners together under one wing was the best way to maximize value and blend the scientific expertise on both sides.

“There is no one size fits all for how those partnerships will eventually evolve,” O’Day said. “Some of them we feel just would be helpful for us to fully integrate into the further strength of Gilead.”

Biogen gets launch ready with Apellis

In the $5.6 billion acquisition of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Biogen wasn’t after the scientists exactly. Those experts had already done their work, bringing kidney disease drug Empaveli and eye disease therapy Syfovre to FDA approval in 2021 and 2023, respectively.

Instead, Biogen wanted Apellis’ nephrology team to help launch an asset from a previous deal called felzartamab, a CD38 targeting antibody being tested in three different kidney diseases.

“We just think that if the clinical trials work out for felzartamab as we hope, that we will have a running start into the launch, and we could actually potentially achieve peak sales faster than we would if we were just doing this on our own,” CEO Chris Viehbacher said on a conference call discussing the deal.

The strategy makes sense. Kidney disease is a new area for Biogen, but not for heavy-hitters like Novartis, which is developing medicines in the space as well. With Apellis’ experience with Empaveli —approved for paroxysmal octurnal hemoglobinuria, C3 glomerulopathyand glomerulonephritis—Biogen will have the expertise to pull off the launch.

“We feel comfortable that we’re going to be able to work with the Apellis teams to really pull the teams together and do even more with these two products than either company could do on their end,” Viehbacher said.

AstraZeneca buys a radiopharma brain trust in Fusion

If you want to develop therapies using radioactive materials, you better find yourself some pros. That’s exactly what AstraZeneca did in 2024, amid a pharma deal craze for radiopharmaceuticals.

The U.K. pharma bought Fusion Pharmaceuticals for $2.4 billion in March 2024, adding on a portfolio of radioconjugate assets including a lead prostate cancer med called FPI-2265. But equally valuable to AstraZeneca were the experts who developed Fusion’s pipeline—and helping to establish a base in Canada.

“The acquisition brings new expertise and pioneering R&D, manufacturing and supply chain capabilities in actinium-based RCs to AstraZeneca,” the pharma said in a statement at the time of the acquisition. “It also strengthens the company’s presence in and commitment to Canada.”

That supply chain aspect is key in radiopharma, where manufacturing has been a top concern for budding biotechs and pharmas in the space. Fusion in particular had an established supply chain of actinium-225, which supported its next-gen radioconjugate platform.

The companies had already worked together, getting to know each other in a licensing collaboration before AstraZeneca ultimately swallowed the biotech whole.

“This acquisition combines Fusion’s expertise and capabilities in radioconjugates, including our industry-leading radiopharmaceutical R&D, pipeline, manufacturing and actinium-225 supply chain, with AstraZeneca’s leadership in small molecules and biologics engineering to develop novel radioconjugates,” Fusion CEO John Valliant said in a statement at the time.

AstraZeneca tucks Amolyt into Alexion to continue rare disease mission

In rare disease, it’s best to go with the pros. That was AstraZeneca’s thinking in March 2024, when Amolyt Pharma was tucked into its existing Alexion rare disease unit for about $1.06 billion.

You may remember Alexion as one of the biggest deals of 2020 at $39 billion, and one where the workforce and footprint were just as important as the assets. The unit has retained the Alexion name since joining the U.K. pharma and Amolyt was purchased to fit neatly inside.

“Alexion is looking forward to welcoming talent from Amolyt Pharma,” AstraZeneca said in a statement at the time of the deal.

Amolyt in particular would boost Alexion’s pipeline beyond complement inhibition and expand on existing work in bone metabolism. Amolyt’s lead asset was eneboparatide, under development for hypoparathyroidism.

“As leaders in rare disease, Alexion is uniquely positioned to drive the late-stage development and global commercialization of eneboparatide,” Alexion CEO Marc Dunoyer said at the time. “We believe this program, together with Amolyt’s talented team, expertise and earlier pipeline, will enable our expansion into rare endocrinology.”

Amolyt CEO Thierry Abribat recently received an award for best biotech exit. The executive credited the Amolyt team, which is still working to get eneboparatide approved.

“This award is first and foremost for the Amolyt Pharma team. A successful exit is fantastic, but it’s not the end of the story. The story will end when our drug candidates are available to patients internationally,” Abribat said in his acceptance speech, translated from French by Google Translate. “The Amolyt Pharma team, now part of Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., is working tirelessly every day to complete the development of eneboparatide for the treatment of hypoparathyroidism and to continue developing the other products in our portfolio.”

Vertex anchors pipeline-in-a-product with Alpine team

One of the Holy Grails of pharma is always the pipeline-in-a-product asset—a drug that can be used in multiple indications and secure numerous approvals. That’s what Vertex Pharma was seeking with the $4.9 billion acquisition of Alpine Immune Sciences in April 2024.

At the center of the deal was povetacicept, a dual antagonist of the BAFF and APRIL cytokines believed to activate B cells, under development initially for IgA nephropathy (IgAN).

The deal was a good fit for Vertex, which was looking to pick up assets in specialty markets, CEO Reshma Kewalramani said at the time. But she also credited the Alpine team—specifically welcoming them to Vertex—as well as the potential of the biotech’s protein engineering and immunotherapy capabilities.

Alpine CEO Mitchell Gold said the fit was clear on a person-to-person level, too.

“It became clear during our discussions with the Vertex team that we share many core values, including a commitment to patients, our employees, and an intense drive for innovation,” Gold said in a statement at the time of the deal. “We could not have picked a better steward of povetacicept,” he added after Vertex posted late-stage results for the asset in March.

Honorable mention: Galapagos seeks new employees through acquisitions

This deal has not exactly happened—yet. But Galapagos CEO Henry Gosebruch told BioSpace in January that part of his goal in finding companies to acquire is to retain the workforce. He framed this as a plus in negotiating deals because the target company leadership won’t have to worry about losing staff.

“One of the things we can offer to a potential transaction party is that if there’s a strong R&D team or a strong commercial team, they could, as a full team, come to Galapagos and be our team going forward,” Gosebruch said.

Amidst rising layoffs in key biotech hubs, global demand for specialized life sciences talent is driving a more borderless, distributed model of scientific work.

The biotech sector has always been cyclical, shaped by changeable funding environments, regulatory evolution and the drawn-out timelines of scientific innovation. But the recent wave of layoffs across the industry, particularly in major U.S. hubs, signals more than a temporary lull. As products, services and innovation director at global HR supplier Mauve Group, I have decades of experience observing market and sector-specific trends. To me, the recent spate of redundancies indicates that there may be a global reshuffling of life sciences talent on the horizon.

For professionals in biotech, especially those in geographically flexible roles, this moment is dual-sided, presenting both uncertainty and opportunity. As companies recalibrate, a growing number of highly skilled scientists and experts are simultaneously entering the job market. At the same time, global demand for this expertise remains high and increasingly borderless.

The result is a change in how remote, work-from-anywhere life sciences careers are structured, with skills applied across borders, making international mobility an expected capability, even if not a permanent move.

From layoffs to global opportunity

Recent workforce reductions across biotech hubs—such as Boston, where biopharmaceuticals companies enacted a series of layoffs in 2023 and 2024 and where cuts have continued since then—reflect a cooling period following years of rapid expansion. However, it’s important to note that such layoffs do not necessarily eliminate demand for talent. Often, they redistribute it.

Over my career, I’ve seen time and time again that when large numbers of experienced professionals become available simultaneously, other markets move quickly to absorb them. Governments and innovation ecosystems are acutely aware of this dynamic.

The U.K. remains a top destination for life sciences talent from Eastern Europe. Along with Switzerland, it is also a leading location for Western European migrants, due to moves such as rejoining Horizon Europe, the EU’s flagship funding program for scientific research, and establishing visa routes designed to make it easier for scientists and academics to move to the U.K.

Recently, Canada introduced policies in its 2026 budget specifically aimed at attracting U.S.-based researchers, offering relocation incentives and streamlined pathways for entry.

Meanwhile, dozens of U.S. researchers will moved to France as part of a high-profile initiative to recruit foreign researchers to the country with the promise of greater academic freedom. At the same time, established life sciences hubs such as Basel, Switzerland; London; and Singapore continue to compete aggressively for specialized talent.

For professionals, this means that a layoff in one market does not necessarily equate to fewer opportunities. It may instead open doors globally.

A move toward distributed biotech teams

One of the most significant changes I’ve seen driving this trend is how biotech companies are structuring their workforce.

Traditionally, life sciences roles were concentrated in physical clusters, at locations like research labs and clinical sites. While this remains true for hands-on laboratory and clinical work, a growing share of biotech roles are now geographically flexible and can be performed from anywhere. Jobs in regulatory affairs, clinical trial design, data analysis, bioinformatics, quality assurance and artificial intelligence–driven research can all be completed online—perfect for international hiring.

Therefore, rather than relocating entire functions to a single place, organizations are creating dispersed global teams that allow them to access specialized talent wherever it exists. This model not only expands the available talent pool but also enables companies to operate more flexibly while managing costs and mitigating risk.

What this means for life sciences professionals

Naturally, for individuals navigating layoffs or considering their next move, these changes have significant implications.

Geographic flexibility is becoming a major advantage. Professionals who are open to international opportunities are more likely to access a broader range of roles, particularly in high-demand specialties.

There is growing evidence that international mobility is already a defining feature of scientific careers. According to Cornell University, 25% of STEM Ph.D. graduates trained in the U.S. eventually work abroad, with these science, technology, engineering and math professionals contributing to a globally interconnected research ecosystem.

The realities of cross-border hiring

While the idea of working globally is appealing, the practicalities of cross-border employment can be complicated. Countries have distinct immigration systems, tax structures and employment laws, and ensuring compliance is key to any successful overseas venture, for employers and employees alike.

For companies hiring global talent, this complexity influences how roles are built internationally. Not all positions can be filled with equal ease. In particular, hands-on laboratory and clinical roles often require local employment due to regulatory and insurance considerations.

This is why the current wave of global hiring is particularly focused on location-independent roles that can largely be performed remotely. For professionals, this means that developing expertise in areas like regulatory affairs, data science or clinical trial strategy can open more global doors than primarily lab-based roles.

A new model for career development for biotech professionals

Many organizations are introducing international career frameworks that allow employees to move between hubs, backed by investment from bodies such as the EU, which in 2025 spent 19 million euros (around $22 million) on projects aimed at improving working conditions and career prospects for early-stage researchers. These pathways not only support individual growth but also help companies to retain valuable expertise.

At the same time, increased flexibility is giving individuals greater control over how and where they shape their careers, making it easier to align professional ambitions with personal priorities. As companies invest in new innovation hubs, such as Henkel’s expansion into Singapore Science Park, professionals benefit from access to emerging centers of excellence, exposure to cutting-edge research and opportunities to work within globally connected teams.

Competitive employers are also offering comprehensive relocation packages, including assistance with housing, schooling and integration. This reflects a growing recognition that attracting global talent requires a properly strategized approach, covering more than just the job itself and instead offering the scaffolding on which can be easily constructed a rounded life, encompassing job, living situation and familial support.

Looking ahead: a more connected talent landscape

The current wave of biotech layoffs may be unsettling, but it is also driving a longer-term repositioning toward a more global, interconnected talent market. For life sciences professionals, this means that career opportunities are no longer confined to a single city or country. Instead, they exist within a global network of innovation hubs, each offering unique advantages and opportunities.

Ultimately, the question is not whether biotech talent will go global. It already did. The real question is how quickly professionals and organizations can adapt to this new reality. In a sector defined by discovery and progress, the ability to think and work beyond borders may prove to be one of the most important innovations of all.

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.

Pharma M&A deals tend to revolve around key assets that can bolster the pipeline and provide growth. But sometimes, the buyer sees a lot more in the expertise within the target organization.

That was the case with Gilead Sciences’ recent acquisition of Tubulis GmbH, where the antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) biotech will be housed as a specialized R&D unit within the parent company and continue to crank out new assets.

With any acquisition, there’s bound to be some redundancies. Often top-level leaders like the CEO move on to lead other companies. But bench-level expertise sometimes can’t be replaced, particularly at platform companies or biotechs developing cutting-edge therapeutics like radiopharmaceuticals.

On the flip side is when a company only wants an asset and none of the staff. That was the case when GSK bought the Canadian chronic cough biotech BELLUS Health for $2 billion in 2023. A year later, almost the entire staff was let go as the P2X3 receptor antagonist camlipixant was integrated into the U.K. pharma’s pipeline.

Below, BioSpace takes a look at recent deals where the staff was just as much of a prize as the assets within the biotech.

Gilead snags an ADC R&D factory thanks to Tubulis

There is nothing hotter in the cancer space than ADCs right now. To get up to speed, Gilead bought Tubulis for $5 billion earlier this month, pledging to tuck the biotech in as a dedicated ADC R&D unit.

Tubulis CEO Dominik Schumacher, who is also co-founder of the German company, said the two companies will work together now to incorporate the biotech’s platform and capabilities into Gilead’s oncology research group.

“We and Gilead believe our team is one of our greatest assets and was an important consideration as part of this transaction,” Schumacher told BioSpace in an email. “We strongly believe that Gilead saw not only the full potential and depth of our pipeline and technologies but also the expertise of our world-class team as a core asset.”

Gilead and Tubulis have worked together since 2024 through a licensing deal. The initial focus post-merger will be on the ovarian cancer asset TUB-040. But Gilead executives were clear that the acquisition offers much more.

“Oncology, ovarian cancer and then other areas in oncology are the first directions, but there is real opportunity to build out and move into inflammation and into virology,” Chief Medical Officer Dietmar Berger said on a conference call discussing Gilead’s recent deal strategy.

CEO Daniel O’Day agreed that bringing the partners together under one wing was the best way to maximize value and blend the scientific expertise on both sides.

“There is no one size fits all for how those partnerships will eventually evolve,” O’Day said. “Some of them we feel just would be helpful for us to fully integrate into the further strength of Gilead.”

Biogen gets launch ready with Apellis

In the $5.6 billion acquisition of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Biogen wasn’t after the scientists exactly. Those experts had already done their work, bringing kidney disease drug Empaveli and eye disease therapy Syfovre to FDA approval in 2021 and 2023, respectively.

Instead, Biogen wanted Apellis’ nephrology team to help launch an asset from a previous deal called felzartamab, a CD38 targeting antibody being tested in three different kidney diseases.

“We just think that if the clinical trials work out for felzartamab as we hope, that we will have a running start into the launch, and we could actually potentially achieve peak sales faster than we would if we were just doing this on our own,” CEO Chris Viehbacher said on a conference call discussing the deal.

The strategy makes sense. Kidney disease is a new area for Biogen, but not for heavy-hitters like Novartis, which is developing medicines in the space as well. With Apellis’ experience with Empaveli —approved for paroxysmal octurnal hemoglobinuria, C3 glomerulopathyand glomerulonephritis—Biogen will have the expertise to pull off the launch.

“We feel comfortable that we’re going to be able to work with the Apellis teams to really pull the teams together and do even more with these two products than either company could do on their end,” Viehbacher said.

AstraZeneca buys a radiopharma brain trust in Fusion

If you want to develop therapies using radioactive materials, you better find yourself some pros. That’s exactly what AstraZeneca did in 2024, amid a pharma deal craze for radiopharmaceuticals.

The U.K. pharma bought Fusion Pharmaceuticals for $2.4 billion in March 2024, adding on a portfolio of radioconjugate assets including a lead prostate cancer med called FPI-2265. But equally valuable to AstraZeneca were the experts who developed Fusion’s pipeline—and helping to establish a base in Canada.

“The acquisition brings new expertise and pioneering R&D, manufacturing and supply chain capabilities in actinium-based RCs to AstraZeneca,” the pharma said in a statement at the time of the acquisition. “It also strengthens the company’s presence in and commitment to Canada.”

That supply chain aspect is key in radiopharma, where manufacturing has been a top concern for budding biotechs and pharmas in the space. Fusion in particular had an established supply chain of actinium-225, which supported its next-gen radioconjugate platform.

The companies had already worked together, getting to know each other in a licensing collaboration before AstraZeneca ultimately swallowed the biotech whole.

“This acquisition combines Fusion’s expertise and capabilities in radioconjugates, including our industry-leading radiopharmaceutical R&D, pipeline, manufacturing and actinium-225 supply chain, with AstraZeneca’s leadership in small molecules and biologics engineering to develop novel radioconjugates,” Fusion CEO John Valliant said in a statement at the time.

AstraZeneca tucks Amolyt into Alexion to continue rare disease mission

In rare disease, it’s best to go with the pros. That was AstraZeneca’s thinking in March 2024, when Amolyt Pharma was tucked into its existing Alexion rare disease unit for about $1.06 billion.

You may remember Alexion as one of the biggest deals of 2020 at $39 billion, and one where the workforce and footprint were just as important as the assets. The unit has retained the Alexion name since joining the U.K. pharma and Amolyt was purchased to fit neatly inside.

“Alexion is looking forward to welcoming talent from Amolyt Pharma,” AstraZeneca said in a statement at the time of the deal.

Amolyt in particular would boost Alexion’s pipeline beyond complement inhibition and expand on existing work in bone metabolism. Amolyt’s lead asset was eneboparatide, under development for hypoparathyroidism.

“As leaders in rare disease, Alexion is uniquely positioned to drive the late-stage development and global commercialization of eneboparatide,” Alexion CEO Marc Dunoyer said at the time. “We believe this program, together with Amolyt’s talented team, expertise and earlier pipeline, will enable our expansion into rare endocrinology.”

Amolyt CEO Thierry Abribat recently received an award for best biotech exit. The executive credited the Amolyt team, which is still working to get eneboparatide approved.

“This award is first and foremost for the Amolyt Pharma team. A successful exit is fantastic, but it’s not the end of the story. The story will end when our drug candidates are available to patients internationally,” Abribat said in his acceptance speech, translated from French by Google Translate. “The Amolyt Pharma team, now part of Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc., is working tirelessly every day to complete the development of eneboparatide for the treatment of hypoparathyroidism and to continue developing the other products in our portfolio.”

Vertex anchors pipeline-in-a-product with Alpine team

One of the Holy Grails of pharma is always the pipeline-in-a-product asset—a drug that can be used in multiple indications and secure numerous approvals. That’s what Vertex Pharma was seeking with the $4.9 billion acquisition of Alpine Immune Sciences in April 2024.

At the center of the deal was povetacicept, a dual antagonist of the BAFF and APRIL cytokines believed to activate B cells, under development initially for IgA nephropathy (IgAN).

The deal was a good fit for Vertex, which was looking to pick up assets in specialty markets, CEO Reshma Kewalramani said at the time. But she also credited the Alpine team—specifically welcoming them to Vertex—as well as the potential of the biotech’s protein engineering and immunotherapy capabilities.

Alpine CEO Mitchell Gold said the fit was clear on a person-to-person level, too.

“It became clear during our discussions with the Vertex team that we share many core values, including a commitment to patients, our employees, and an intense drive for innovation,” Gold said in a statement at the time of the deal. “We could not have picked a better steward of povetacicept,” he added after Vertex posted late-stage results for the asset in March.

Honorable mention: Galapagos seeks new employees through acquisitions

This deal has not exactly happened—yet. But Galapagos CEO Henry Gosebruch told BioSpace in January that part of his goal in finding companies to acquire is to retain the workforce. He framed this as a plus in negotiating deals because the target company leadership won’t have to worry about losing staff.

“One of the things we can offer to a potential transaction party is that if there’s a strong R&D team or a strong commercial team, they could, as a full team, come to Galapagos and be our team going forward,” Gosebruch said.