Biotech slump means fewer Ph.D. grads are joining industry

From my colleague Jonathon Wosen: Just a few years ago, freshly minted life science Ph.D. graduates were headed for lucrative jobs in private industry in record numbers. But with the biotech market stuck in a slump, that trend has sharply reversed, according to new data released yesterday by the National Science Foundation.

The Survey of Earned Doctorates, an annual census of graduates, found that, in 2024, 52% of biomedical scientists with a job lined up were bound for industry. In 2023, that rate was 62%. That’s the largest year-to-year drop since 2013, according to STAT’s review of the data.

Meanwhile, for the first time since 2014, the percentage of biomedical graduates planning to do postdoctoral research increased, rising from 58.1% in 2023 to 64% in 2024 among those with definite plans.

The data lay bare the precarious position early-career scientists are in, with tenure-track faculty posts in short supply and a crowded field of biotech job-seekers that includes industry veterans who’ve been laid off. That was all true before the Trump’s seismic disruptions to science this year; the NSF census won’t offer insight into the administration’s impacts until 2026.

vaccines

Cassidy demands delay of CDC vaccine meeting

Senate health committee chair Bill Cassidy (R-La.) is urging the CDC to postpone the upcoming ACIP meeting in September after a wave of leadership resignations and the firing of CDC Director Susan Monarez.

Cassidy warned that “serious allegations” about the advisory panel's agenda and its membership undermine its legitimacy. Cassidy, who previously criticized HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s purge and replacement of the panel with vaccine skeptics, said any vaccine recommendations issued amid the turmoil — including on Covid-19 and childhood shots — should be rejected until proper oversight is possible.

Kennedy is scheduled to testify before the Senate Finance Committee next Thursday on the administration’s health agenda.

podcast

The ouster of CDC's director, and a look at VCs

What is happening to the leadership of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention? Which biotech venture capital firm has generated the best returns for investors? And how did cat hair show up inside a major drug manufacturing plant?

We discuss all that on this week’s episode of the “The Readout LOUD,” STAT’s biotech podcast. We bring on Washington correspondent Chelsea Cirruzzo to explain the ouster of CDC Director Susan Monarez and the resignations of other top officials.

We also chat about STAT’s annual VC rankings report, as well as ongoing issues at a major drug manufacturing site that was owned by Catalent and now owned by Novo Nordisk.

Listen here.

alzheimer's

FDA orders earlier MRI scans for Leqembi

The Food and Drug Administration is tightening safety rules for Eisai and Biogen’s Alzheimer’s drug Leqembi, calling for an earlier MRI scan between the second and third infusions of the biologic. This comes after regulators identified six deaths linked to brain swelling, or amyloid-related imaging abnormalities with edema. Up until now, scans were only required before the fifth, seventh, and 14th doses.

The move brings Leqembi closer in line with Eli Lilly’s rival Kisunla, which already mandates earlier monitoring, as regulators aim to catch potentially fatal complications sooner.

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