A 2025 Pharma Look Back and Look Forward: Editor Style
By Katie Anderson, Chief Editor, Pharmaceutical Online
It’s crazy to think that I entered the pharmaceutical industry a mere seven months ago when I took on this role as chief editor of Pharmaceutical Online! And, what a busy seven months it has been—full of meeting new people and never-ending learning.
Though I still have a great deal to learn about the pharmaceutical industry, I am surrounded by a warm and incredibly bright cast of editors that I gain knowledge from every day. We get together every week, if not more frequently, to report happenings from our industry segments, to collaborate on ideas, and to share key insights from recent interviews or discussions.
Late in 2025, chief editor of Bioprocess Online, Tyler Menichiello, suggested we make one of our editorial get togethers official, and so we did as the new year immediately approached.
In this Better Biopharma podcast, you’ll hear from—yours truly, Menichiello, Erin Harris (Chief Editor of Cell & Gene), Anna Rose Welch (Chief Editor of Advancing RNA), Ray Dogum ( Chief Editor of Drug Discovery Online), Jeff Buguliskis (Deputy Chief Editor of Outsourcing Pharma), and Ben Comer (Chief Editor of Life Science Leader)—on the outcomes of their 2025 expectations, happenings that surprised them in 2025, the biggest developments in their segment, their biggest accomplishments of 2025, trends they anticipate for 2026, and their goals for the upcoming year.
A Look Back at Pharma 2025
It was apparent to several editors that funding for drug research and discovery to have slowed. Comer expected the funding situation to have improved but found it still sluggish in the public markets. Dogum echoed this observation, adding that the funding environment for drug discovery is still hostile. In cell and gene therapies, Harris added it is a more risk adverse investment climate.
Conversely, investing is at an impressive level in pharma manufacturing. Bugaliskis doesn’t see CDMOs dealing with funding issues. He continued that everyone was antsy with impending tariffs and satisfying the demand for GLP-1 manufacturing, but their businesses remained resilient. Of course, we have all been surprised by the billions of dollars allocated for facility expansions and new manufacturing facilities in the U.S.
As far as 2025 surprises go, some of the most notable surprises were those at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Both Harris and Welch were shocked by the resignation and reinstatement of Vinny Prasad. CDER also saw a revolving door of directors in 2025, making us all wonder who will carry the new initiatives. Harris added that she is hoping to see a more stable regulatory leadership in 2026.
A Future Look into 2026
Much like most of the industry, the editor roundtable sees the utilization and application of AI growing in 2026. Harris also is looking forward to cell and gene therapies being used to treat widespread diseases as opposed to niche diseases. Comer and Dogum have both seen China emerge as a biotech powerhouse, particularly in research and development.
In drug discovery, Dogum was excited that the NIH is no longer funding proposals that rely exclusively on animal models. New Approach Methodologies (NAMS) has been and will continue to be an important topic for Dogum.
Welch noticed the competition for RNA therapies heating up in 2025, which she sees as an exciting sign of market maturity. She believes 2026 is the year where we see what mRNA is capable of therapeutically.
Onshoring manufacturing is sure to impact the pharma industry in several ways. After a waning year for bio professionals, Menichiello is hopeful that onshoring will bring more bio jobs to 2026. In large pharma, we are already seeing an increase in the job market. As manufacturing increases, we likely have a few years of innovation in automation and process optimization, including advanced manufacturing techniques.
We hope you enjoy this roundtable discussion by the editors here at Life Science Connect. We look forward to what is sure to be an exciting year in pharma, and each one of us is eagerly anticipating the happenings and innovation that 2026 holds.