Pharma M&A deals are up and layoffs are trending down. But executive hiring is still lagging, according to Leslie Loveless, the CEO and managing partner of the executive search firm Slone Partners.
In the first four months of 2026, there were 24 deals with upfront values eclipsing $64 billion. More recently, GSK announced a $10.6 billion agreement to acquire Nuvalent, an oncology specialist, while UCB pledged up to $2.2 billion in a deal with Candid Therapeutics, a bispecific drug developer.
Initial public offering and investment activity is also rising this year, Loveless noted. Investment activity, in particular, is continuing a trend from 2025 when it was up 11% from the prior year, according to an EY report.
“What I find to be most interesting is that, while this is happening, I don't see the pace of hiring advancing or growing commensurate with the activity that we're seeing,” she said.
After a huge surge in biotech investment in 2021 and 2022, the industry saw an abrupt pullback, which started in 2023.
“The impact on companies was that they had to think differently about their hiring,” Loveless said. “They started operating much more leanly.”
That operational mindset is lingering. In addition, even amid today’s more favorable economic signs, the market still faces uncertainties from a looming potential loss of $300 billion in revenues due to the patent cliff to increasing cost pressures.
A cautious approach to hiring
Despite increasing evidence of an industry turnaround, Loveless said biotech companies appear cautious about taking on new full-time leaders. Many have turned to alternate strategies such as the use of fractional executives, which are consulting arrangements used to tap into the functional expertise of clinical, scientific or business leaders.
In these arrangements, an executive might devote a percentage of their time to a particular company, some in short-term arrangements, others for a year or longer.
Historically, companies have hired fractional executives mainly in finance or human resources, Loveless said. But they’re expanding into new areas, including clinical roles. These hires are highly strategic, used to bring in leaders who can get the company to its next milestone or to carry out deals. This trend also aligns with an industry push toward specialized, instead of broadly homogeneous, pipelines.
Fractional roles don’t only offer advantages to companies — many workers prefer them, particularly those who are facing increased pressure to return to the office or relocate for jobs.
“A lot of candidates have made a choice to look at their career differently and do a lot of fractional work projects, because that allows them to control how they work, where they work, how much they travel, how much they're on site,” Loveless said. “They have more control over their career.”
When companies do hire for permanent roles, a lot more thought goes into the decision.
“Boards are more engaged and involved in hiring at different levels than they used to be,” she said.
While boards have always overseen C-suite hires, Loveless has noticed that, in the last couple of years, there's much deeper involvement below those levels.
“It goes back to [the idea that] every single hire matters,” Loveless said.
While executive hiring is moving at a slower pace so far this year, Loveless said a shift could be around the corner, provided indicators continue to trend in the right direction.
“Folks are wanting to see sustainability in that activity, and then, I think that we'll start seeing the uptick in hiring,” she said.
