Discovery in China, manufacturing in Korea, pricing in the US: three stories, three roles

Putting together BIO:ON Insight Issue #19, I noticed that laying the three stories on top of each other shows a split of roles between countries. It also shows a split between jobs: every story is real work for a particular team. In this post I map each story to the role that handles it, using public job postings and industry sources to describe that role.

1. Novartis × Abogen → Business development (BD)

What happened: On 2 October 2026, Novartis licensed ABO2203 from China's Abogen [1][2]. ABO2203 is an mRNA-encoded CD19×CD3 T-cell engager. Novartis took exclusive worldwide rights to it, plus exclusive options on several next-generation candidates from Abogen's RNA platform.

• The upfront payment is $575M [1].
• Up to about $7.2B more is payable only if every option is exercised and every milestone is met. That's where the "up to $7.8B" headline comes from [1][2].
• So roughly 7% of the headline figure is guaranteed today.

The role: BD (business development and licensing)

BD job postings tend to describe four stages of work [3][4]:

• Search: scouting for in-licensing candidates across global biotech.
• Evaluation: reviewing clinical data, patents and regulatory pathways, and building the business case.
• Due diligence: a deeper review, including CMC (manufacturing) due diligence.
• Deal closure: negotiating the terms and signing the deal.

In an "asset plus platform options" deal like this one, the hard question for BD is how to value the options.

Something to try: pick a recent licensing story, work out what share of the headline value is upfront, and write one line on whether the deal buys a single asset or platform options.

2. CMS's GLOBE model → Market access and pricing

What happened: On 30 September 2026, CMS released the final rule for the GLOBE (Global Benchmark for Efficient Drug Pricing) model [5][6].

• How it works: for certain Medicare Part B drugs, the benchmark is set from prices in 19 comparable reference countries. It is a mandatory model, and manufacturers pay rebates to CMS tied to those international prices [5].
• Timing: the model starts on 1 January 2027, and its performance period runs from 1 April 2027 to 31 March 2032 [5].
• What's excluded: the scope was narrowed after consultation. Orphan-only drugs are out, as are biosimilars and their reference biologics once a biosimilar launches, plasma-derived products and certain cell and gene therapies [5][6].

The role: market access and pricing

• What it does: market access is described as making a product available to as many patients who could benefit from it as possible. Strategic pricing and securing reimbursement sit at its core [7].
• A career path: an ABPI job case study follows one person from a sales role, through field-based access work, to a national Head of Market Access role [8].
• What GLOBE changes: because foreign prices now feed into the US benchmark, where and at what price a drug launches first starts to affect US revenue. That is why global pricing teams have to plan country prices together.

Something to try: look at the product types excluded from GLOBE (orphan drugs, biosimilars and so on) and write down a guess at why each one was left out. It's good practice in reading the logic behind policy design.

3. Teva × Samsung Bioepis → Alliance management and biosimilar development

What happened: On 1 October 2026, Samsung Bioepis and Teva agreed to develop and commercialise up to six biosimilar candidates together [9][10].

• Two named candidates: SB41 (referencing Fasenra, benralizumab) and SB44 (referencing Ilaris, canakinumab).
• More to come: options on four more, as yet unnamed.
• Who does what: Samsung Bioepis handles development, regulatory work and manufacturing, while Teva commercialises in the US, Europe and Canada.
• History: the partnership builds on Epysqli in the US and Opuviz in Canada [10].

The roles: alliance management, plus biosimilar regulatory and CMC

• Alliance management: once a deal moves over from BD, the alliance manager makes sure the agreed milestones and deliverables happen. Job postings describe the role as [11][12]:
  • the main point of contact with the partner
  • running the joint steering committee
  • tracking the timeline and the risks
• Regulatory and CMC: on the side doing development, regulatory and manufacturing, the key people are the analytical and CMC scientists who show biosimilarity, and the regulatory team preparing the US and EU filings.

Something to try: split this deal into two columns, "developer's job" and "seller's job". Whatever happens at the boundary between them is the alliance manager's job.

What I've learned

The same week of news looks different to each team. BD asks "what did we buy, and for how much?" Market access asks "how does this price affect other countries?" Alliance, regulatory and CMC teams ask "how do we deliver what was promised?" My own view is that when you discuss industry news in an interview, turning it into the question your target role would ask makes it far more convincing. I've written up how in Using industry news in interviews.

Sources

1. Fierce Biotech — Novartis pens $7.8B deal for Abogen's in vivo autoimmune T-cell engager
2. BioPharma Dive — Novartis, Abogen pipeline collaboration
3. Built In — Head, Business Development and Licensing, Pharmaceutical Sciences (job posting)
4. DiJobs — Business Development Manager of Pharmaceutical Sourcing & Licensing (job posting)
5. Skadden — CMS Finalizes the GLOBE Model
6. Covington — CMS Finalizes MFN Pricing in Medicare Part B Through GLOBE Model
7. RxComms — How to get started in Market Access
8. ABPI — Job case study: Head of Market Access
9. Fierce Pharma — Teva, Samsung Bioepis deepen bonds in pact for up to 6 new biosimilars
10. Samsung Bioepis and Teva Expand Strategic Partnership to Advance Up to Six Potential Biosimilar Candidates (press release)
11. Foundation Medicine — Manager, Alliance Management (job posting)
12. Novartis — Academic Alliance Manager (job posting)