👋 Good morning! Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla did not come to Davos to network politely and sip bad espresso. He came to clear his throat and point fingers.

While much of Big Pharma has been tiptoeing around the Trump administration’s health leadership, Bourla went full “say it with your chest,” calling HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s vaccine stance “anti-science” and making it clear who he thinks is clogging the pipeline. “It’s a different world when you start discussing vaccines,” Bourla said, describing policy debates as less evidence-based and more belief-driven.

The irony? Just a year ago, Bourla was talking up his “good relationship” with Kennedy after a Mar-a-Lago dinner. Now he’s essentially saying the quiet part out loud, in a room full of billionaires, about why vaccine progress in the U.S. feels stuck in neutral. He also used the moment to warn that while the U.S. debates, China is sprinting.

Call it a pivot. Call it frustration. Or call it the most animated vaccine commentary Davos has seen in years. Either way, Bourla definitely did not whisper it.

🤑 Johnson & Johnson Eyes the $100B Club
Johnson & Johnson says 2025 was a “catapult year,” and the numbers back it up. The company is projecting 2026 revenue between $100 billion and $101 billion, comfortably ahead of analyst expectations and flirting with a milestone only Pfizer has ever hit. Unlike Pfizer’s COVID-fueled spike, J&J’s growth looks sustainable, driven by a diversified pharma portfolio and steady operational execution. With 2025 sales up 6% to $94.2 billion and double-digit growth expected later this decade, J&J may be quietly building a $100B-plus annual revenue streak that actually lasts.

💰 GSK Pays $2.2B for a Longer-Lasting Allergy Bet
GSK is buying Rapt Therapeutics for $2.2 billion, betting big on an IgE antibody that could challenge Xolair with fewer injections. The drug, ozureprubart, is still in phase 2b for food allergies but promises similar efficacy with dosing every 12 weeks instead of every two or four. Rapt only licensed the asset from China’s Jemincare a year ago, making this a rapid value unlock. GSK is paying a 39% premium to secure rights outside China, signaling it wants a stronger foothold in allergy and immunology fast.

🏭 Roche Doubles Down on North Carolina and Obesity Drugs
Roche is more than doubling its investment in a Genentech manufacturing facility in Holly Springs, North Carolina, pushing total spend to roughly $2 billion. The plant, set to open in 2029, will focus on next-generation metabolic and obesity treatments and marks Genentech’s first East Coast production site. Once complete, it will support more than 500 manufacturing jobs and use advanced automation and digital manufacturing tools. The move also fits neatly into Roche’s broader $50 billion U.S. investment pledge and its strategy to stay tariff-proof.

💸 Pfizer Sells Its ViiV Stake for a Quick $1.9B Fix
Five weeks after warning investors about a revenue dip, Pfizer found some spare change in the couch cushions. The company is selling its 11.7% stake in HIV-focused ViiV Healthcare for $1.875 billion, with Shionogi picking up the shares and GSK collecting a special dividend. GSK keeps control, Shionogi boosts its exposure, and Pfizer shores up its balance sheet without touching core assets. Sometimes capital discipline really does mean selling the thing you forgot you owned.

💉 In Other Pfizer News: Novavax Gets a Matrix-M Check
Pfizer is paying $30 million upfront to license Novavax’s Matrix-M adjuvant technology for up to two vaccine programs. If things go well, Novavax could see up to $500 million more in milestones plus royalties. Details are light on which diseases are targeted, but the move reinforces Matrix-M’s growing appeal after Sanofi signed on in 2024. Pfizer may be publicly beefing over vaccine policy, but privately, it is still very much in the vaccine improvement business.

⚖️ FDA Opens the Door to Faster Myeloma Approvals.
The agency released draft guidance supporting minimal residual disease and complete response as endpoints for accelerated approval in multiple myeloma trials.

🧳 Takeda Cuts 243 U.S. Commercial Roles.
The layoffs hit field-based neuroscience staff as the company braces for Trintellix losing exclusivity.

💉 GSK Bets $285M on a Subcutaneous Jemperli.
Tesaro, GSK’s oncology subsidiary, licensed Alteogen’s hyaluronidase tech to develop an injectable-light version of its oncology drug.

🎉 Merck and Moderna’s Cancer Vaccine Holds Up at Five Years.
The combo with Keytruda sustained a 49% reduction in melanoma recurrence or death.

🧬 Novo Nordisk Offloads Cell Therapy Assets to Aspect.
Aspect picked up dropped diabetes programs, with Novo retaining an option to reenter later.

🦟 Valneva Pulls Its Chikungunya Vaccine from the U.S.
The company made the withdrawal permanent following FDA safety concerns and an ongoing investigation.

For years, AI in biotech has lived in pitch decks and conference panels. Now it is showing up where it actually matters: clinical trial outcomes. Early data suggests AI-native biotechs are not just moving faster but winning more often, especially in early-stage trials where failure has historically been the default setting.

PitchBook’s early analysis shows AI-first companies hitting Phase I success rates as high as 80% to 90%, compared to an industry average hovering closer to a coin flip. Phase II numbers are smaller and still volatile, but even there, AI-driven programs are outperforming historical norms. The dataset is young, but the signal is loud enough that investors are paying attention.

The upside ripples outward. Faster trials mean capital gets recycled sooner, which is a big deal in a sector famous for long timelines and locked-up cash. Smaller biotechs benefit the most, gaining leverage that used to belong exclusively to Big Pharma. Suddenly, running multiple shots on goal without lighting money on fire is not just possible, it is becoming expected.

Big companies, meanwhile, face a different problem. AI is harder to scale inside bureaucratic org charts, even when leadership is bought in. Sanofi’s aggressive AI partnerships show it can be done, but adoption speed may become a competitive divider. In a few years, “AI-enabled” may stop being a buzzword and start being table stakes.

The real test is still ahead. As these assets move into later-stage trials, the industry will find out whether AI’s early promise compounds or plateaus. If the success rates even half-hold, biotech’s risk math changes permanently.

This is how much shares of Corvus Pharmaceuticals surged after Phase 1 data showed its oral eczema drug may match or beat Dupixent-level efficacy. The early results sent investors scrambling, and Corvus quickly followed with plans to raise $150 million to fund Phase 2. Small trial, big reaction, classic biotech. 😎

Here’s what biotech Redditors had to say this week:

😬 Is Biotech Even Worth It Anymore?
A Reddit thread asking whether people are abandoning biotech sparked a familiar divide. Some argued stability matters more than passion and pointed to healthcare careers with geographic flexibility and steadier paychecks. Others fired back that leaving during a down cycle is short-sighted and ignores how brutal and temporary biotech downturns can be. Same industry, wildly different time horizons.

⏳ Laid Off and Still Waiting.
Another thread asked how long it took people to land a new role after layoffs. Answers ranged from six months to over a year, with some still waiting. Several users vented about interviewing for roles that vanished mid-process, and Thermo Fisher caught heat for posting jobs that allegedly no longer existed. The consensus: it is not you, but it also might take a while.

👩‍⚕️ Amazon Launches an AI Health Assistant for One Medical Members.
The tool uses patient records and lab data to answer questions, manage meds, and book appointments without replacing doctors.

💊 Insilico Splits Rights to a Brain-Penetrant Parkinson’s Drug.
A new Chinese biotech is paying $10M upfront plus milestones to co-develop an AI-designed NLRP3 inhibitor.

💰 “ChatGPT for Doctors” Hits a $12B Valuation.
OpenEvidence raised $250M and has now pulled in $700M total in under a year.

💻 Chai Discovery Wants to Be CAD Software for Antibodies
Founded in 2024, Chai Discovery has already raised hundreds of millions and locked in a partnership with Eli Lilly. Its Chai-2 platform aims to design antibodies the way engineers design hardware, faster, cheaper, and with fewer dead ends. With a $1.3B valuation and roots tied back to early OpenAI conversations, Chai is quickly becoming one of AI biotech’s loudest names.

🛸 January 22, 1997 — The First Human Hit by Space Junk
Lottie Williams became the first recorded person to be struck by orbital debris when a piece of a Delta II rocket fell from the sky and clipped her shoulder during a walk in an Oklahoma park. The fragment was about the size and weight of an empty soda can. She was completely unharmed. A reminder that space exploration is incredible… and occasionally forgets where it leaves its trash.

It’s 2026. There’s more space junk than ever (thanks Elon), and pharma CEOs are throwing elbows in Davos. Might be safest to stay inside where you can’t get hit by orbital debris or Albert Bourla’s bows. 😆

See you Tuesday for the next issue. 👋

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