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.
September marks Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and Leukemia and Lymphoma Awareness Month, and this week’s news in Greater Philadelphia made that timing feel less like coincidence and more like momentum. Across financial, clinical, and ecosystem headlines, cancer research kept surfacing again and again, from new drug licensing deals to fresh grant funding to trials reaching their first patients.
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.
Wistar Institute Wins $15M+ NIH Investment to Advance HIV Cure Research Strategies
The Wistar Institute has won over $15 million in NIH funding across two grants, including $11.2 million to renew the BEAT-HIV Martin Delaney Collaboratory, coordinating more than 100 investigators across four HIV cure research strategies through 2028. A separate $4.3 million grant funds work engineering next-generation NK cell immunotherapies, building on two completed clinical trials that laid the groundwork for this next research phase. Read More >
Pfizer, Medicus ink licensing deal worth up to $1B for antibody drug conjugate
Conshohocken-based Medicus Pharma has licensed PF-08046031, an antibody-drug conjugate Pfizer inherited through its $43 billion Seagen acquisition and shelved earlier this year, paying $12 million upfront with Pfizer eligible for over $1 billion in milestones and royalties. The drug targets CD228, a protein found on melanoma and several other solid tumors with no currently approved treatments, giving Medicus a clinically validated asset to anchor its new precision oncology focus. Read More >
The V Foundation for Cancer Research Awards $1.8 Million in Grants to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Researchers
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia has won $1.8 million in combined V Foundation grants, $1 million to develop a CAR T-cell therapy targeting P2RX5 for T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a disease more prevalent among children of African and Hispanic ancestry, and $800,000 to pilot a blood-based early detection test for Li-Fraumeni syndrome, a rare inherited cancer condition. It’s CHOP’s largest single-year V Foundation award since the partnership began in 2010, bringing total funding to nearly $6 million. 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.
CRB Bets on Client Relationships With Its First Chief Growth Officer
CRB has named Helga Margrethe Salling Chief Growth Officer, tasking her with connecting the firm’s growth strategy more closely to how clients are actually making decisions today. Salling joins from Jacobs, where she served as SVP of Global Growth & Strategy for Life Sciences, bringing over 25 years of business development experience across firms including IPS, DPS Group, and Novo Nordisk Engineering. Read More >
Veteran Medical Technology Executive Sean M. Salmon joined Teleflex Board of Directors
Sean M. Salmon joined Teleflex Board of Directors, where he’ll also serve on the Growth and Operating Committee. Salmon spent over two decades at Medtronic, most recently as EVP and President of its Cardiovascular Portfolio, a business generating roughly $12.5 billion in fiscal 2025 revenue, bringing that capital allocation and portfolio strategy experience to Wayne-based Teleflex’s board. Read More >
AdaptHealth Welcomes Harriss Currie as Chief Financial Officer
AdaptHealth has named Harriss Currie Chief Financial Officer, succeeding Jason Clemens, who will assist with the transition through October 1. Currie brings decades of healthcare finance leadership, including over 15 years as CFO of Luminex Corp and more recent roles at Health Track Rx and 3D Systems, to the Plymouth Meeting-based company as it positions for revenue and EBITDA growth. Read More >
Latus Bio Appoints Donald Hayden as Chairman of the Board and Michael MacLean as Independent Director and Audit Committee Chair
Latus Bio has appointed Donald Hayden, who has chaired boards at REGENXBIO, Insmed, and Amicus Therapeutics, as Chairman, alongside Michael MacLean, former CFO of Avidity Biosciences through its $12 billion Novartis acquisition, as Independent Director and Audit Committee Chair. The pair joins as Latus Bio advances two lead AAV gene therapy programs into the clinic, built on novel capsid variants designed for low-dose, tissue-specific delivery. Read More >
Workforce
The hiring activity, team expansions, and talent trends driving growth across Philadelphia, New Jersey, and Delaware life sciences and biotech employers.
Merck trims another 54 jobs in New Jersey amid multiyear cost-cutting initiative
Merck is cutting another 54 jobs at its Rahway, NJ headquarters in two phases, December 2026 and January 2027, as it works toward a $3 billion annual cost-cutting target by 2027, part of a plan projected to eliminate roughly 6,000 positions globally. The cuts come as Merck’s blockbuster Keytruda, nearly half its total revenue in 2025, faces patent expiration in 2028 and looming biosimilar competition, with the company redirecting savings toward new product launches. Read More >
Delaware: Where Careers and Life Sciences Thrive
Delaware Prosperity Partnership breaks down why the First State keeps attracting life sciences talent and companies, from a workforce of over 10,000 life science professionals to infrastructure like NIIMBL, the Delaware Innovation Space, and the Graduated Lab Space Grant Program. Anchored by the University of Delaware and companies like Incyte and Prelude Therapeutics, the piece argues Delaware’s compact size and tight industry-academia connections let ideas move faster from concept to commercialization. Read More >
Who’s hiring?!
Top Employer
A global biopharma leader focused on the science of the immune system, GSK is advancing vaccines and specialty medicines across infectious diseases, HIV, respiratory/immunology and inflammation, and oncology. The company pairs disease area expertise with a large scale vaccines platform and a growing specialty medicines pipeline to prevent and treat disease for people around the world.
With one of its largest R&D hubs at Upper Providence and biopharmaceutical manufacturing in Upper Merion, both in Montgomery County, PA, GSK is a cornerstone of the Greater Philadelphia life sciences ecosystem. The site brings together scientists, clinical researchers, and manufacturing experts working to move new vaccines and medicines from discovery through to patients.
They are currently hiring across 40+ roles in the Greater Philadelphia region. Apply Now >
Other employers and available roles we’re paying attention to this week:
- Incyte (Wilmington, DE) is hiring a Manager, BI Rept Delivery Lead, Oncology | Apply Now >
- AbbVie (Wilmington, DE) is hiring a Clinical Account Executive, Oncology | Apply Now >
- West Pharmaceutical Services (Exton, PA) is hiring a Senior Solution Architect, Network and Cybersecurity | Apply Now >
- Ecolab (Philadelphia, PA) is hiring a Market Sales Representative | Apply Now >
- PCI Pharma Services (Philadelphia, PA) is hiring a Senior Purchasing Manager | 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.
Globus Medical Announces CE Mark for Excelsius3D™ Imaging System
Audubon-based Globus Medical has won CE Mark approval for Excelsius3D, its mobile 3-in-1 imaging system combining 3D cone-beam CT, 2D fluoroscopy, and digital radiography, clearing the way for commercial sale in the EU and UK. The system, already FDA-cleared since 2021, integrates directly with Globus’s ExcelsiusGPS robotic navigation platform, giving European surgical teams a combined imaging and robotics workflow for spine and cranial procedures. Read More >
HR HealthCare Launches Liv™ Pre-lubricated Intermittent Catheter for Women
York-based HR HealthCare has launched Liv, a pre-lubricated intermittent catheter designed specifically around the daily realities of women who self-catheterize, entering a bladder-management category that’s historically overlooked sex-specific anatomy and lifestyle needs. The launch builds on HR HealthCare’s broader urology push this year, following its June acquisition of SteriGear’s Fig Leaf drainage brand and a March expansion of its EZ-Series catheter line. Read More >
Context Therapeutics Announces First Patient Dosed in Phase 1 Trial of CT-202
Philadelphia-based Context Therapeutics has dosed the first patient in a Phase 1 trial of CT-202, a bispecific antibody targeting Nectin-4, a protein overexpressed across bladder, colorectal, and breast cancers that’s clinically validated but carries real toxicity risks with traditional antibody-drug conjugates. CT-202 is designed to stay preferentially active within the tumor microenvironment, with initial Phase 1a data expected in the second half of 2027. Read More >
Ecosystem
The partnerships, programs, and policy moves building Greater Philadelphia’s life sciences infrastructure — and the organizations driving it forward.
Two CDMOs Just Partnered to Fix a Persistent Cell and Gene Therapy Bottleneck
Philadelphia’s Minaris has partnered with Bionova Scientific to expand access to plasmid DNA, the critical starting material for AAV and lentiviral vector manufacturing that’s long been a supply chain chokepoint for cell and gene therapy developers. The combined platform offers 13 production-ready plasmids, with two already supporting active customer programs and research-use materials expected within four weeks. Read More >
Medicus Pharma Sharpens Its Strategy Around Precision Oncology
Medicus Pharma is transforming into a precision oncology-led company, making CD228V, a melanoma-targeted antibody-drug conjugate using Pfizer’s vedotin linker-payload platform, its flagship program while shifting other assets toward capital-efficient partnerships. The company is also narrowing SkinJect to focus specifically on Gorlin syndrome to pursue FDA Orphan Drug designation, while pursuing Teverelix’s prostate cancer development through partnerships rather than in-house funding. Read More >
USP to Open BioPharma Analytical Innovation Summit with Plenary on Monoclonal Antibody Standards
USP will open the BioPharma Analytical Innovation Summit on September 16 in Malvern with a plenary on closing gaps in monoclonal antibody characterization, where no common global standard exists for which analytical methods are appropriate or what performance should look like. The free, Agilent-powered summit brings analytical development and QC scientists from across the region together for live instrument demos and three modality tracks, with registration capped at The Desmond Hotel. Register Now >
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.
Minaris’ Chief Quality Officer on Why Cost Alone Shouldn’t Drive CDMO Selection
On Pharma’s Almanac’s latest roundtable, Minaris Chief Quality Officer Luciana Mansolelli explains why the cheapest CDMO isn’t necessarily the lowest-risk choice, especially in cell and gene therapy, where delays or quality issues can carry significant downstream costs. She breaks down what organizations should actually be evaluating: risk management, regulatory readiness, transparency, and the ability to respond effectively when something goes wrong. Read More >
Harmony Biosciences’ Take on the “GLPs of Neuroscience”
Plymouth Meeting, PA-based Harmony Biosciences’ leadership, CEO Jeffrey Dayno, COO Peter Anastasiou, and CMO Kumar Budur, spoke with Fierce Biotech about the growing race among orexin agonists, therapies some experts believe could become the “GLPs of neuroscience.” Harmony’s BP-205 stands out for its safety profile and once-daily dosing potential, with a Phase 1b trial in sleep-deprived volunteers set to begin later this year ahead of a broader Phase 2 program launching in mid-2027. Read More >
Penn Med responds to FDA guidance on gene therapy
The FDA issued new guidance urging gene therapy developers to reuse existing manufacturing and safety data rather than repeat redundant studies, a move designed to speed development and cut costs across the sector. Penn Medicine Dean Jonathan Epstein publicly endorsed the proposal in a September 1 letter, while pressing the agency for clarity on how it interacts with prior requirements and for a path to knowledge-sharing between qualified manufacturing facilities. The exchange underscores Philadelphia’s outsized stake in the policy shift, as one of the world’s leading hubs for gene and cell therapy research and development. 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.
Philly 5th Annual Symposium for Life Science Innovation and Development
Tuesday, September 15, 2026 • 8:00 AM- 3:30 PM • Philadelphia, PA
Hosted by The Philly Builds Bio | Register Now >
The Future of Life Sciences: Exploring the Greater Philadelphia Innovation
Tuesday, September 15 • 5:30 AM- 8:00 PM • Newtown, PA
Hosted by The German American Chamber of Commerce, Inc. (GACC Philadelphia) and Verder Scientific Inc. | Register Now >
BioBreakfast
Thursday, September 17, 2026 • 7:30 AM • Newark, Delaware
Hosted by Delaware BioScience Association | Register Now >
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