Each week, our Regional Roundup delivers the most important and timely life sciences news from around the region. From groundbreaking research to fundraising, new development projects, and who’s hiring — we bring you the top stories that matter most. Stay informed with a curated selection of the latest news, delivered directly to your inbox weekly.
Greater Philadelphia didn’t want to wait this week, and more and more it doesn’t have to. Across the region, companies found ways around the parts of drug development that usually take the longest: waiting for new capacity to come online, running an outside search for a key hire, and sitting on a filing until the data lands. What made that possible is that what they needed was already here: the facilities, the people, and the know-how.
Annovis Bio isn’t waiting on Phase 3 results to start building its NDA for buntanetap, and is using Weave Bio’s AI platform so the filing work runs alongside the trial. Made Scientific skipped the build-out with an 85,000-sq-ft Pennsylvania cell therapy site that’s operational from day one, just as sponsors are locking in their 2027 supply.
Some of this week’s hires never had to be recruited from outside. PABC and the Blumberg Institute named their own Entrepreneur in Residence, Nick Spring, as their first-ever VP for Strategy, and GSK brought back Rachel Chiaverelli, who started there as a co-op more than a decade ago. Meanwhile, Madrigal is staffing up while it has momentum, adding a commercial marketing lead and a scientific strategy lead in the same week, both around its approved MASH therapy.
If your company can’t afford to wait either, Capital House applications close September 28.
Financial
Tracking the capital moving through Greater Philadelphia— funding rounds, M&A activity, and investment trends shaping Philadelphia, Southern New Jersey, and Delaware’s life sciences companies.
Pitch to Investors at Capital House, Applications Close Sept. 28
Capital House is opening applications for its October 23 event, where roughly 30 companies will get six minutes each to pitch a room of venture investors, angel investors, and corporate leaders. Selection isn’t guaranteed and the application window closes September 28, with notifications going out October 2. Read More >
CHOP’s New Morgan Center Invites Innovation and Impact
CHOP has opened a 17-story research tower built around a simple bet: put scientists, clinicians, and engineers in the same building and pediatric breakthroughs move faster. The nearly half-billion-dollar project, named for a $50 million gift, will house hundreds of researchers working on everything from microbiome therapeutics to AI-driven analytics. Here’s what’s inside, and why it’s a big deal for kids’ health research. Read More >
N-Zyme Biomedical Wins $2.76 Million NIH Award to Advance Fosamprenavir for Treatment-Resistant GERD
N-Zyme Biomedical has landed a major NIH grant to test whether an existing, repurposed drug can succeed where standard acid-reducers fail, treating GERD in patients who don’t respond to conventional therapy. The approach targets something other than stomach acid entirely, a shift that could open up a new way to treat reflux disease. Read More >
People
Who we’re buzzing about this week — the leadership moves, board appointments, and rising names shaping the region’s life sciences community.
Rachel Chiaverelli Joins GSK as Executive Director, Oncology Early Translational Biomarkers
Rachel Chiaverelli has joined GSK as Executive Director, Oncology Early Translational Biomarkers, returning to the company where she started as a co-op more than a decade ago. She brings oncology translational medicine and clinical biomarker experience from Daiichi Sankyo and Prelude Therapeutics. Here’s how her career came full circle, and why the return means so much to her. Read More >
Madrigal’s Momentum Just Got a New Marketing Hire
Michael Utz has joined Madrigal Pharmaceuticals as Senior Director, Commercial Development – Marketing, bringing three decades of pharma marketing experience to a company riding real momentum right now. Here’s where he’s coming from, and what he’ll be working on next. Read More >
PABC’s First-Ever VP for Strategy Was Already in the Building
Nick Spring has been named PABC and the Blumberg Institute’s first-ever VP for Strategy and Commercial Development, a new role filled by someone who was already in the building as Entrepreneur in Residence. He also brings executive experience from Merck and a founder run that ended in a Sanofi acquisition. Here’s why leadership calls him the obvious pick. Read More >
A Moderna and Pfizer Veteran Just Joined a Stroke-Recovery Biotech’s Board
Neuro-Innovators has added a communications and corporate strategy veteran of Moderna, Amgen, Johnson & Johnson, and Pfizer to its board as lead preferred shareholder director. The move comes as the clinical-stage company pushes forward with NIV-001, its lead therapy for stroke and neurological recovery. Read More >
Madrigal’s MASH Momentum Just Got a New Scientific Strategy Lead
Stella Han has joined Madrigal Pharmaceuticals as Director, R&D Scientific Engagement Strategy & Operations, bringing nearly two decades of cardiovascular and metabolic medical affairs leadership from Bristol Myers Squibb, Merck, and AstraZeneca. Here’s what she’ll be working on next at a company already making waves with its FDA-approved MASH therapy. Read More >
Workforce
The hiring activity, team expansions, and talent trends driving growth across Philadelphia, New Jersey, and Delaware life sciences and biotech employers.
Workforce Development Month: How Pristinology’s Emmanuel Is Building a Micro-Internship Pipeline for STEM Careers
Emmanuel Ortiz started sterilizing glassware at Penn as a 15-year-old from North Philadelphia; today he owns Pristinology, the city’s first Latino-owned scientific cleaning company, and he’s turning that same path into a micro-internship for students in the University City Science Center’s FirstHand Biotech Sprint. Beyond teaching contamination control and GMP fundamentals, Emmanuel is showing students something harder to teach: that someone who looks like them, and comes from where they come from, can build a career in science too. Read More >
Bristol Myers cuts another 265 jobs tied to New Jersey headquarters
Bristol Myers Squibb is cutting 265 more jobs at its Princeton headquarters, its third round of New Jersey layoffs this year alone. The cuts are part of a much bigger cost-reduction push as BMS pivots away from legacy medicines toward its newer pipeline. Read More >
Glanua targets US growth with Pennsylvania expansion and 200 new jobs
An Irish engineering firm has opened its first US office just outside Philadelphia, with plans to create over 200 jobs chasing growing demand from pharma and advanced manufacturing plants. The move comes as the company’s workforce has grown fast in under a year. Read More >
Who’s hiring?!
Top feature employer (linked), a couple of lines on who they are, their goals, how they view talent/hiring/ no. of open roles (specific region), followed by CTA
Other employers and available roles we’re paying attention to this week:
Top Employer
A century-old leader in injectable drug packaging and delivery, West designs and manufactures the components that keep medicines safe from vial to patient, including containment systems, prefillable syringes, self-injection devices, and cartridge systems used across the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. Operating under the tagline “By Your Side for a Healthier World,” the company works alongside drugmakers from early-stage concept through commercial-scale manufacturing, positioning itself as a critical link in the pharmaceutical supply chain rather than just a component supplier.
West describes its culture as a close-knit, collaborative community “where everyone has a voice and opportunity to learn and grow,” with giving and community service woven into the company’s identity over its 100-plus-year history. Headquartered in Exton, Pennsylvania, West is a homegrown pillar of the Greater Philadelphia life sciences ecosystem whose regional roots make it one of the area’s most consistent sources of manufacturing, quality, engineering, and R&D roles.
They are currently hiring across 15+ roles in the Greater Philadelphia region. Apply Now >
Other employers and available roles we’re paying attention to this week:
- Johnson & Johnson (Horsham, PA) is hiring a Product Director, IDN Channel Strategy | Apply Now >
- Incyte (Wilmington, DE) is hiring a Director, Incyte Inclusion & Foundation Scientist | Apply Now >
- ICON (Blue Bell, PA) is hiring a Manager, Clinical Operations | Apply Now >
- Cabaletta Bio (Philadelphia, PA) is hiring a Sr. Data Scientist, Technology Development Data Analytics | Apply Now >
- Charles River Laboratories (Horsham, PA) is hiring a Necropsy Technician I | Apply Now >
Clinical + Commercial
The latest clinical trial progress, regulatory milestones, and commercial launches from companies advancing science from the lab to the market across Greater Philadelphia.
Can AI Really Speed Up Drug Discovery? One Partnership Just Bet Big on It
Novo Nordisk and Anthropic have announced a collaboration to put Claude to work on drug discovery, testing Anthropic’s AI workbench on real R&D workflows where Novo’s scientists see the biggest potential impact. CEO Dario Amodei says the technology could “compress a century’s worth of biological and medical breakthroughs into a decade”, a claim worth unpacking. Read More >
A Philadelphia Biotech Just Tried Something No One’s Done Before for SMA1
GEMMABio has dosed its first patient in a trial testing a next-generation gene therapy for the most severe form of spinal muscular atrophy, a disease that rarely lets untreated infants live past 18 months. The Philadelphia company is also deepening a key manufacturing partnership to keep the program moving. Here’s what makes this trial’s approach different from anything tried before. Read More >
Why One Drug Developer Isn’t Waiting for Trial Results to Start Its FDA Filing
Annovis Bio is turning to AI to get a head start on its own regulatory filing, partnering with Weave Bio to begin building its NDA for buntanetap before Phase 3 data even lands. The move could shave real time off the path to FDA filing for a therapy targeting major neurodegenerative disease. Here’s how the partnership actually works. Read More >
Ecosystem
The partnerships, programs, and policy moves building Greater Philadelphia’s life sciences infrastructure — and the organizations driving it forward.
Merck Wants HIV Care to Look Different — Here’s the “Hive” Behind It
Merck has launched “Your Hive of Whole Health,” a new initiative helping people living with HIV build a personal support network that goes beyond viral suppression to address mental, social, and emotional health. Unveiled at the U.S. Conference on HIV/AIDS, the program comes as more people with HIV are aging and managing co-occurring conditions. Read More >
Made Scientific Just Skipped the Ramp-Up Everyone Else Deals With
Made Scientific just added a massive Pennsylvania cell therapy facility to its network and skipped the ramp-up delays that usually come with new capacity. The acquisition significantly expands the CDMO’s East Coast footprint right as sponsors race toward 2027 supply needs. Here’s what’s inside, and why “operational on day one” is a bigger deal than it sounds. Read More >
Boiron Just Consolidated Two Warehouses Into One — Here’s Why
Boiron has opened a nearly 79,000-square-foot logistics center in Newtown Square, consolidating two warehouses into one temperature-controlled facility built for growth. The global homeopathic medicine leader marked the milestone with over 200 guests and a new local hiring push. Here’s what’s driving the expansion, straight from the company’s own words. Read More >
Other [Good] Reads
Editor’s picks from across the web — the stories, videos, and podcasts shaping the conversation in PHL biotech and life sciences this week.
CHOP Research Firsts: Leading the Way in Cell and Gene Therapy
CHOP researchers have racked up a string of medical firsts, from curing a 6-year-old’s leukemia with the first CAR T-cell therapy to designing a personalized CRISPR treatment for a baby, built from scratch in weeks. Their work has since led to four licensed therapies and tens of thousands of patients treated worldwide. Read More >
Inside Qai™: How Catalent is Teaching AI to Think Like a Quality Expert
Catalent has built its first enterprise AI system, Qai, to tackle a problem that’s quietly slowed drug manufacturing for years: hours spent digging through past cases every time something goes wrong on the line. Rolled out across nearly 40 global sites, it drafts investigation findings in minutes, though a human still signs off. Here’s how it works. Read More >
On the Calendar
A few of the upcoming events, conferences, and networking opportunities across Greater Philadelphia’s life sciences ecosystem that you don’t want to miss.
Pharmaceutical Microbiology Forum 2026
Wednesday, September 30-Thursday, October 1 • 9:30 AM – 4 PM • Philadelphia, PA
Hosted by Microbiology Network | Register Now >
KLSC Job Seeker Series – Ecosystem Navigation
September 29, 2026 • 10:30 AM – 12 PM • Zoom Meeting
Hosted by Life Sciences PA | Register Now >
2026 Bio NJ Manufacturing Summit
September 29, 2026 • 9:00 AM – 4:30 PM • Princeton, NJ
Hosted by Bio NJ | Register Now >
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