The Top Line

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&rd...

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. Th...

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 ...

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 ...

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 seriousne...

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 adv...

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 Depu...

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 an...

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 di...

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 i...

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 202...

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...

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 touchp...

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 beh...

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 r...

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 b...

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 ...

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 ...

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 r...