Pharmaceutical Executive Daily: September 15, 2025

Welcome to Pharmaceutical Executive Daily, your quick briefing on the top news shaping the pharmaceutical and life sciences industry.

In today’s Pharmaceutical Executive Daily, we cover Novo Nordisk’s return-to-office mandate from its CEO, the evolving COVID-19 vaccine landscape in 2025, and Capsida’s decision to halt a gene therapy trial following a patient death.

Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen has announced a global return-to-office mandate, requiring employees to spend at least three days per week in the workplace. The move follows the company's decision to downsize its workforce. Management emphasized that in-person collaboration is critical to sustaining innovation and operational efficiency. While the decision aligns with broader trends across multinational corporations, it also raises questions about talent retention, as flexibility remains a key factor for employees in the post-pandemic labor market.

Meanwhile, the COVID-19 vaccine landscape continues to evolve heading into 2025. With multiple updated vaccines authorized to protect against emerging variants, the market has shifted from emergency response to long-term management. Demand has stabilized, with uptake concentrated among high-risk populations such as older adults and those with underlying conditions. Manufacturers like Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, and Novavax are focused on ensuring availability ahead of the fall respiratory season, while also working to adapt vaccines more efficiently as the virus continues to mutate. The long-term outlook suggests COVID-19 vaccines will remain a recurring, seasonal business line for major biopharma players.

And finally, Capsida Biotherapeutics has halted its CAP-002 gene therapy trial in patients with STXBP1-related disorders following the death of a participant. The company expressed condolences to the patient’s family and is working closely with regulators to investigate the incident. The pause underscores the inherent risks of advancing novel gene therapies, particularly in rare diseases with limited treatment options. While setbacks like this are challenging, industry experts note that patient safety must remain the top priority as the field continues to push the boundaries of innovation.

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