The Top Line

The Fierce Biotech team published a four-part series this week exploring cell therapy, a modality that has faced clinical challenges, manufacturing constraints and multiple practice-changing events.  

In today’s episode, Fierce’s Annalee Armstrong and Gabrielle Masson discuss the series of special reports and key insights from their interviews with multiple experts.  

To learn more about the topics in this episode: 

• Cell t...

This week’s episode of “The Top Line,” is the final part of a three-part series diving into the latest advancements in cell and gene therapy manufacturing. 

In this episode, Fierce Pharma’s Fraiser Kansteiner is joined by Bruce Levine, Ph.D., who is the co-inventor of Kymriah and the Barbara and Edward Netter Professor in Cancer Gene Therapy at the University of Pennsylvania. He’s also joined by executives from CGT technology prov...

In the fast-paced field of life sciences, digital pathology is poised to be a game-changer.

In this episode, we sit down with Grace Lee and Douglas Clark of Agilent Technologies to explore the opportunities and challenges associated with companion diagnostics (CDx).

Clark kicks off, shedding light on the current levels of digital pathology adoption in both clinical trials and practice. Thereafter, Lee outlines several opportuniti...

What is the transformative potential of digital health technologies in advancing health equity? Rabin Martin, a global health consulting firm, explores those possibilities in this engaging episode.

The conversation highlights the excitement surrounding digital tools and advanced analytics in achieving deeper insights, consistent care delivery, workforce support, and addressing social determinants of health.

Listen in now.

Host: ...

This week’s episode of “The Top Line” is the second part of a three-part series exploring the latest advancements in cell and gene therapy manufacturing.

In this episode, Fierce Pharma’s Fraiser Kansteiner interviews Delara Motlagh, head of cell therapy at Catalent; Becky Butler Cap, senior vice president of biotherapies at Vitalant; and Kevin Kyle, CEO of Germfree.

The conversation covers cell collection, the critical first step...

This week’s episode of “The Top Line,” kicks off a series diving into the latest advancements in cell and gene therapy manufacturing. 

In this episode, Fierce Pharma’s Fraiser Kansteiner sits down with Ori Biotech CEO Jason Foster and the Cell Therapy Manufacturing Center's CEO, Jason Bock. They delve into the current state of cell and gene therapy manufacturing and consider if the existing production methods can keep up with the ...

This week on "The Top Line," we're diving into the details of the spree of big-money biopharma deals in 2023 and examining what that means for this year.

Fierce Pharma Senior Writer Kevin Dunleavy sits down with Cody Powers, a consultant who advises companies on business development and franchise growth strategy, to discuss the reasons behind the numerous high-value deals in 2023, which companies are primed to make major moves thi...

Fierce Pharma publishes a yearly special report highlighting the top 20 pharmas based on their revenue. The most recent edition, published this month, ranks each pharma based on their total revenues for 2023.  

This week on "The Top Line," Fierce Pharma Senior Editor Eric Sagonowsky and Senior Writer Kevin Dunleavy break down the numbers, highlight key trends and share some of the biggest changes at the top and bottom of the ranki...

This week on “The Top Line,” we're joined by Fierce Biotech Senior Editor Annalee Armstrong and Fierce Pharma Marketing Senior Editor Ben Adams. We're diving into our recent spin on March Madness at Fierce.

This time around, Fierce Biotech kicked off its inaugural Best Biotech Name tournament, while over at Fierce Pharma Marketing, we held our biannual Drug Names tournament.

The editors discuss what makes a company or drug name t...

Jeff Beck of BioCare is in the hotseat for this edition of The Top Line.

Beck is the Chief Development Officer at the company, which stands tall as a pioneer in specialty product distribution with over 40 years of experience dating back to hemophilia therapies.

During the conversation, Beck provides an inside look at the rapidly evolving specialty distribution landscape. He outlines how the patient-centric model is working well a...

This week on "The Top Line," we explore biopharma layoffs in the first quarter of 2024. 

Using data from Fierce Biotech's layoff tracker, Gabrielle Masson and Max Bayer analyze the trends of layoffs in the first quarter of 2024, comparing them to previous years. With a notable number of layoff rounds marking the start of the year, they examine the factors behind this ongoing challenge while also highlighting positive industry deve...

This week on “The Top Line,” we explore peripheral arterial disease, a serious health issue that is often overlooked and undermanaged.  

Join Editor-in-Chief of Fierce Life Sciences and Healthcare Ayla Ellison as she sits down with Kumar Madassery, M.D., Director of the Peripheral Vascular Intervention & CLI Program at Rush University Medical Center. They discuss the hidden dangers of PAD, and Dr. Madassery emphasizes the impo...

This week on "The Top Line," we explore our annual special report on the top money raisers in the biotech industry.

Which company raised the most funding in 2023? What does the biotech financing landscape look like for this year? Fierce Biotech's Annalee Armstrong and Max Bayer answer those questions and many more in today's episode. They also discuss the details of the special report and share some of the stories behind the numbe...

This week on “The Top Line,” we explore the European biotech investment landscape. 

Fierce Biotech’s James Waldron sits down with Maina Bhaman, a Partner at Sofinnova Capital Strategy, who provides insights into how investors are approaching the European biotech sector. 

To learn more about the topics in this episode: 

• 'The fundamentals are really strong': Why investors are staying loyal to European biotech in 2023
• 'Optim...

This week on “The Top Line,” we’re diving into the topic of diversity in clinical trials, examining both the progress made and the ongoing work needed to ensure inclusivity. 

In this episode, Fierce Biotech Senior Editor Annalee Armstrong engages in a conversation with Karen Correa, Ph.D., Head of Global Clinical Operations at Takeda and Executive Sponsor of Trial Diversity. Correa shares her insights into why it's imperative for ...

This week on “The Top Line,” we’re speaking with Jared Baeten, MD, Ph.D., Vice President, HIV Clinical Development, Gilead Sciences about how advancements in HIV treatment research have enabled individuals to lead longer and healthier lives by taking and staying on medication. Nevertheless, HIV persists as a significant public health challenge. To end the HIV epidemic, it is crucial to go beyond a biomedical approach and fully inte...

The FDA recently asked the six marketed CAR-T therapies to add a new boxed warning item on their labels to reflect the risk of secondary T-cell cancers. This decision follows an investigation into the new safety signal from postmarketing adverse event reports and clinical trials. 

In today’s episode, Fierce Pharma’s Angus Liu talks with regulatory experts Mwango Kashoki, M.D., SVP, Global Head of Regulatory Strategy at Parexel, an...

This week on “The Top Line,” we explore the impact of environmental, social and governance measures, commonly known as ESG, on the pharmaceutical industry. 

Fraiser Kansteiner of Fierce Pharma engages in a conversation with Jim Greffet, Head of ESG Strategy at Eli Lilly, to gain insights. Greffet makes a compelling business case for integrating ESG into the core of drugmakers' DNA. He also discusses Eli Lilly’s specific ESG initia...